Tilapia Snyderae

[dhm325]

Hello. Does anyone have experience with this fish? Paul Loiselle mentioned them during his presentation at the ACA convention last month and I recently acquired a small group of them. They have been eating both meaty foods (frozen blood worms, live black worms, brine shimp flake) and high quality vegetable flake. However, I don't know the ideal water parameters for this species. They are from Lake Bermin in the Cameroon. Any help would be appreciated.

I have also seen the name for this species spelled "Tilapia Snideri."

Thanks.

David

 

[Randall]

Tilapia "snyderae"

Dear David,

From what I understand, Tilapia "snyderae" from Lake Bermin, Cameroon, are usually imported as juveniles in a mixed shipment with other species, so we're not sure if our T. "snyderae" are actually T. "snyderae." This fish is quite similar to T. bakossiorum, among others.

Many of the tilapiines are essentially omnivores that eat vegetables and insects, so algae, some soft plant matter, vegetable flakes and insect larvae are probably a good idea.

Dr. Loiselle purchased his "snyderae" from Tony Orso this past Spring (2003). They are a dwarf cichlid and are open substrate spawners. I've not heard that water chemistry is overly important with the Lake Bermin tilapiines. 76 degrees F. ought to do it.

Good luck with them!

Randall Kohn

 

[Cyradia]

I received a group of these a few weeks ago myself. They were captively bred, and the breeder didn't know anything about their ideal water conditions. He claimed to have kept them in different tank set-ups, with varying water conditions, with no ill effects. Currently, I have them in a tank of 7.2 pH (and soft, despite my use of decorations I was hoping would act like a buffer.) They're eating frozen foods and flakes like it's going out of style and already showing breeding colors and behaviors. I've been told they're very easy to breed, and I hope they are and gain in popularity in the hobby.

I should also warn you that mine have completly mowed down all soft stem plants in the tank. The breeder said they didn't bother his crypts and anubias, but my stem plants were certainly another story.

 

[kribs]

ok i got these fish from pete mang of the fish place in new york. I got a trio from him and had them in a 12 gallon bare bottom tank. had driftwood and a buch of plants with some dithers.after a week the male and one of the female started chasing the other female and were about to kill her so i took it out and put it in a 55 gallon,and i thought that the pr would spawn but the male killed the female so i took the male and put it in the 55 with about 40 to 60 various fish in the tank. the 55 was a barebottom with just a peice of driftwood and no plants.A week later i had a spawn from the fish and i pulled the eggs out and hatched those artificially but they spawned again 5 days later and i left the eggs with them and they were taking care of them and were defending the eggs from all the other fish in the tank. the eggs hatched and the parents were taking care of the babies and were moving the babies around all over the tank. i mixed the ones that i had pulled with the ones they were gaurding and the parents were fine with it after 2 weeks i pulled the babies and the parents into a 12 gallon and next day the maled killed the female and was gaurding the babies.As to the water conditions the fish were in lake michigan water.

 

[dhm325]

Thanks for the information. By the way, what is the name of the lfs in New York that you got them from?

 

[Cyradia]

The Fish Place is the name...Pete Mang (their supplier?) is constantly all over aquabid and he's known for his great stock and "extras."

 

[kribs]

as cyradia said its the fish place its in N tonawanda NY. he is on AB with the name lotsoffish and also is big on apistos not really big on west africans

 

[Cyradia]

I was going to go update the original thread that had the juvie pics of my tilapia started in July, but I understand the mods were trying to cut down on having multiple threads so I'll post here...

I've finally gotten eggs out of these guys. There are some updated pics on my website, although the light is less than ideal so they're a little hard to see detail in. At the bottom you can see the mother guarding her eggs.

P.S. I'm a little confused about the forum rules. We're not supposed to use the image tag to direct link the pics, right?

http://www.jyken.com/Fish/dwarves/tilapia.htm

 

[kribs]

Great Going Cyradia.Just leave them alone and they should take care of them. Also it will be good to remove the male from the tank now. As he will end up killing the female.