Westies...

[aquaticclarity]

Is it just me or are there a steadily growing number of West African cichlid keepers on the forum?

It's nice to see!!!

 

[firetank]

Absolutely love em
just got 4 microctenopoma ansorgii last week aswell stunning fish even at 1" ish.... a big 6' west african biotope beckons one day.....

cheers
Craig

 

[Gillie]

I just joined the westie ranks. I picked up some Pseudocrenilabrus Nicholsi and Philander ridiculously cheap at an auction saturday

 

[dfea]

I just joined last week. I currently have C. Guentheri Guentheri and of course a pair of Kribs. These are my first foray into Westies. I know they aren't the flashiest or exotic but I have to say I like these guys.

- Dan

 

[Gillie]

I saw C. Guentheri at the store the other day. I was going to get a pair but they only had a male left. We sometimes get something besides Kribs here but not often.

 

[tjudy]

Compared to other types of fish the West African 'genre' does not have as many fans... but those of us that do like them are certainly loyal.

 

[Gillie]

Compared to other types of fish the West African 'genre' does not have as many fans... but those of us that do like them are certainly loyal.

I don't have many but the ones I do have are great.

 

[Bill C]

I think you are right in the growing interest in Westies. I hope so.
They pack a lot of punch in small packages.The more of us that show are interest hopefully will lead to a larger availability. I was sorry to see Two Fish Guys drop their Westies due to price and demand, but I can't blame the. They have to be able to sell what they bring in. We Westie fans need to spread the word on these fish. Ted's visit to the Rocky Mountain Cichlid Assoc. in Denver next month is an example. The club officers are trying to expand the interest to include more that Rift Lake chichlids. Club members need to "talk up" Westies.

 

[Nebraska_cichlids]

I second all of the above. Westies may not be the flashiest fish and may be hard to find, but they have lots of personality. Gillie and Dan: I have some juveniles from various Westie species. I charge forum members only a nominal fee. Your major expense would be having the fish shipped your way. Let me know by PM. I hope to make it to the MCA Expo in September, but that's not for sure yet. My job, family, and fish keep me very busy.

I also auction off some Westies on Aquabid every now and then.

Janos

 

[viejo]

Hemichromis species have lots of flash but the are still the 'Rodney Dangerfields' of the cichlid hobby !

 

[electric eel]

i still have not figured out why hemichromis lifalili is not more popular.not to insult anyone out there that keeps cichlids from malawi but mine were as pretty and colorful as any cichlid from malawi i have seen or maybe more so.i have not seen many fish with that intense of a red color and they really were'nt that aggressive UNTIL they spawned (killed everything else in the tank that i did not remove in time)then wow!i suspect if you kept only males or only females you could keep them in a community tank.

 

[Mike Wise]

they really were'nt that aggressive UNTIL they spawned (killed everything else in the tank that i did not remove in time)then wow!i

I think that you answered your own question (above):biggrin:. There is written report somewhere of this species driving other cichlids in a 6ft long tank into only a 6'' of section. If I recall correctly many of the cichlids were Central American guapotes that usually eat fish the size of these jewels.

 

[viejo]

On the other hand, I have regularly raised hemichromis in .community' tanks with non-territorial fish= rainbows, characins, etc. with no bloodshed whatever. merely minor chasing when the other fish come too close to the fry. Before you ask, this has often been in tanks of only around 30 gallons. Of course, aggression seems to vary with the species. H. species 'Bangui' seems to be especially tolerant of other fishes.

 

[Mike Wise]

Schooling fish do not try to take over territory like other cichlids do. Most cichlids aren't as aggressive toward non-territorial fish. Isn't H. lifalili considered one of the more aggressive jewels?

 

[tjudy]

Ok.. here we go wink: I have been waiting for this!!!)... Anton L. is going to publish that the fish that we have been getting imported as H. sp. 'Moanda' is in fact the TRUE H. lifalili. He is publishing a revision of the entire genus HOPEFULLY in early 2010. But Anton makes it no secret and tells everyone about the H. lifilili.

The fish that we have been trading in the hobby as lifilili for years is most likely a tank-strain H. guttatus (at best) or a tank-bred hybrid with some H. gutattus in it (at worst). The aggression that we now relate to H. lifilili is probably more attributed to the H. gutattus. I have kept and bred the H. sp. 'Moanda' and did not find them to be overly aggresive.

 

[Bill C]

Breeding H "Moanda"

I have been breeding this fish for over a year. My originals were two pair from Ted. I still have one pair and one male. They are no way as aggresive as other Hemichromis, unless you try to Breed them in too smal a tank, however my pair has bred in a 10 Gal holding tank and have done an excellant job so far. I hope the fish gets more attention, it ireally is a jewel. No one in either of the clubs in Denver knew what this fish was when I brought them to th Fall Auctions.

 

[Nebraska_cichlids]

Very informative Ted. Thanks. I have a group of five Moanda that I brought home from a business trip to San Francisco. I believe the store's name was Ocean Aquatics, but I might be wrong. The owner gets his fish (lots of Westies!) directly from Toyin. I house my group of five in a 75G and they are very peaceful. And yes, they are beautiful.

Janos

 

[viejo]

Dammit! Now I'm going to have to find some 'sp Moanda' / Lifallili to go with my bangui's & cristatus ( I don't mean 'with' literally, although I am losing my scepticism about Andre's (How does he pronounce his surname?) theory that hemichromis species are reluctant to hybridize. Easy to breed yes, but back in the days when 'red' jewels were all one species there were a number of occasions when there was 'no way in hell' that a pair of obviously dissimilar looking jewels would spawn for me dispite being of obviously different sexes. Also, the other day I had a male bangui pick out the smallest female in a group as a consort. My first reaction was 'ain't it always the way' but upon closer examination, all the other females (4 or 5) were in fact of the cristatus persuasion and bangui & cristatus seem to be very close morphologically, perhaps even variations of the same species ( that's my 'lumper' component talking :wink. Could just be 'happenstance' but I am beginning to think not.
As to lifallili, I believe that the fish in the hobby under that nomen ( unless they are my old H.B. II strain of guttatus ) are the fish described in Loiselle's paper & probably a separate species. We shouldn't let them become extinct or written off as 'heinous hybrids' just yet.

 

[jmtrops]

3-5 years ago Ken Davis was breeding F0 H. lifilili which I had a F2 pair from his line and spread out fry to many people. Most of the ones on Aquabid are from this line. Do we have any Idea as to which species these are? Ted I can email you a bad pic if it helps. Also are we to assume that all H. sp. Moanda are H. lifilili?

Jim

 

[Nebraska_cichlids]

I have a decent shot of one of my Moanda. The store owner bought wild-caught Moanda from Toyin, and the fish spawned in the store. My group is from that F1 spawn. Not much of an opportunity for hybridization there.