View Full Version : The Truth About Salvinis
dbcb314
06-10-2003, 7:04 PM
ive seen conflicting information on salvinis. i was hoping someone could tell me which is right
1. how big do they get?
ive seen anything from 6-12 inches.
2. how mean are they?
ive seen everything from as mean as a jd to as nice as a firemouth
3. what do they REALLY look like?
ive seen some really tight pictures, but then i see some really drab pictures. what do they look like NOT during mating.
lol yep thats accurate. Thats just how it is with Salvinis. You can have one thats nasty as can be, and then turn around and find one that would run from a guppy (not literally). As far as coloring I think thats alot to do with how you care for them. Length I'd say 6-12 inchs is about right but im thinking more of a ballpark like 6-8". The pictures you've seen I'd say have alot to do with the lighting affecting the coloring. Flash and/or aquarium lighting
you can look at these guys like the ford mustang of the fish world. You never know what you are gonna run into next. Almost like a box of choclates.
dbcb314
06-10-2003, 8:11 PM
well...
DarthV
06-10-2003, 8:57 PM
They are in the same grouping as a Dempsey and would expect them to be very close to the same aggression level. I've read that on the whole, they are a little bit more nasty than a JD. But like a lot of cichlids, aggression and homicidal activity varies fish to fish, tank to tank.
optix
06-10-2003, 10:08 PM
oh if you get ahold of a salvini like what im thinking of they will make a jack dempsey out to be a overgrown guppy. I have heard stories and seen a salvini liquidate fish twice its size. They are ambush predators and strike without warning. They aren't to be under estimated.
1. 5-8 inches for most
2. totally variable as others have said. they tend to get worse as they mature and can "snap" at any time from what i have heard. i keep a lone female in a larged mixed tank and she does very well except for her constant harassment of a male yellow lab which she believes is her mate. she now spends most of her day trying to corral him and has injured him several times which is why i will most likely have to get rid of her soon.
3. although i mentioned her mating attempts she has always looked like the following pics which do not even come close to doing her justice. i have heard the region the parents are collected from, inbreeding, and not choosing well colored parents are the primary reasons for many of the poorly colored fish you will often see in stores.
http://community.webshots.com/photo/65300232/65318060tbExpY
http://community.webshots.com/photo/65300232/65318113lkjjTQ
http://community.webshots.com/photo/65300232/65318179pxHBOz
just to add to my previous post(got to work late and then told i had the day off.... :D ).
1. they grow slower than many med. to large SA/CA cichlids.
2. although variable many (even the really mean ones) tend to be more reclusive. mine definately likes hanging out in shadowed areas behind large rocks or under plants.
3. my female does NO harm to any other fish in the tank besides the previously mentioned yellow lab. she even leaves .5" yellow lab fry unmolested. i currently keep her in a 125 gallon tank with a pair of blue acara's, yellow labs(3), demasoni(6), peacocks(9), 3 SA puffers, 2 f8 puffers, 7 syno multipunctatus and a couple of others.
4. here is a pic from a hobbiest who posted pics of his pair on another forum.http://community.webshots.com/album/76459737KdYitp
hope this helps.
dbcb314
06-11-2003, 1:08 PM
well, cross that off the list
for which reason in particular?
dbcb314
06-11-2003, 2:54 PM
the aggressiveness
As 05dr mentioned about the salvini being docile in a 125g I would have to fully agree. I have the same experience with JDs and other fish - if you give them enought water they will be quite calm but put them in smaller confined quarters and they will turn into a menace.
Basically you need to pick your fish with the tanksize in mind.
dragonfish
06-12-2003, 2:12 PM
How can you tell the difference between a male and a female? In one of the pictures in this post, there's a pic of a female salvini, but she has pointed dorsal and anal fins, I thought that only male species (chiclids in general) have this type of characteristic? My salvini looks exactly like the one in the pic, red belly and all. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Dragon_Lord_Tia
06-13-2003, 5:31 AM
going a a general cichild sexing rule
http://community.webshots.com/photo/65300232/65318297JkZKId
that looks like a female with the more rounded dorsel fin
Dragon_Lord_Tia
06-13-2003, 5:36 AM
05dr
what fish do you have in your tanks if the pictures you posted are yours and whats your ph etc lovely yellow labs by the way
First some pics:
male salvinis:
http://www.aquamojo.com/misc/Salvini2.jpg
female salvinis:
http://community.webshots.com/photo/65300232/65318179pxHBOz
http://www.aquamojo.com/misc/Salvini5.jpg
salvini pairs:
http://www.aquamojo.com/misc/Salvini.jpg
http://www.cichlidae.info/articles/a109.html
http://community.webshots.com/photo/76459737/76460229EwbwYo
to tell the difference between male and female salvini's.
1. females will often have a dark black spot sometimes surrounded by a flourescence on their gill covers. males may have a spot but will usually be of another color.
2. males tend to have both their dorsal and caudal fin be pointed. if you check out my female salvini pic in profile you will see that her caudal fin is as blunt as can be.
3. one of the more striking differences (especially as they grow older) is the difference in there heads. males tend to have a larger forehead and jaw creating an angel in the slope of their head right at their brow. females will tend to keep the basically flat profile between forehead and tip of their jaw almost the shape of a carot>.
4. females tend to have a lot more red in the belly region while males have more blue spots especially around the jaw where they can form many lines.
5. for a given age males will be larger and at the higher end of the average range at full age.
overall i think if you check out all the pics you can get a pretty good sense.
as far as my "male" blue acara:
in the pic he is actually swimming in a circle around the otherwise uninterested female behind him who is hoping i will drop some food in the tank. the last 1/3 of his body is angled away from the camera making it apear smaller and distorted. although i think the pointed fin thing is very unreliable in this case he actually does have both dorsal and anal fins which are pointed. i would post some of my newer and better pics but they are still on my parents hardrive far away. i can't wait till i get my own digicam! however, i would actually look more at anal fins as virtually every SA/CA cichlid i have kept(blue acara/salvini/rainbow/firemouth) has a pointed dorsal fin including my female blue acara. they have bred many times producing fry and the pictured fish above is definately the male.
Water parameters:
Temp: 79
ph: 7.6
hardness: can't remember, measured it a very long time ago and it check out ok
most people here in houston would only adjust their ph to make it more acidic. it works well for fish prefering neutral or basic water according to all those i have talked to.
inhabitants of my 125:
2 blue acara
3 yellow labs (1:2)
6 demasoni (2:4)
7 ngara peacocks (3:4)
1 male cobue peacock
1 male baenschi peacock
1 female salvini (hurt my male yellow lab again, will be selling her soon)
3 south american puffers
2 figure 8 puffers
7 syno. multipunctatus (3:4, givine one male to my brother soon)
1 syno. petricola (will soon be joined by more)
3 bristle nose plecos (giving the one brown one to my brother soon)
Dragon_Lord_Tia: almost forgot, thanks for the compliment on the lab.
anyone: feel free to ask questions!
Dragon_Lord_Tia
06-13-2003, 8:18 PM
its so bright it would hurt your eyes in real life not pictures
how does the labs go with the other fish in the tank??
dragonfish: so is your salvini a male or female?
Dragon_Lord_Tia: sorry i didn't answer your question the first time. the yellow labs are considered to be a low aggression mbuna and that characterization holds true in my tank. my tank actually has very little aggression despite having yellow labs, demasoni, salvini, and blue acaras, and a bunch of male peacocks. nipped fins are the exception, not the rule. i think it has a lot to do with the size of my tank, amount of rockwork, and getting rid of overly aggressive individuals as soon as they are identified. if you look at this pic: http://community.webshots.com/photo/65300232/65308699qkTsPu you will see that fish can hang out in a spot and avoid constant eye contact with each other. the same system has worked in my little brothers 100 gallon which houses 8 demasoni, 4 red zebras, 5 yellow labs, 3 red top kimpuma, 1 neolamp. tretcephalus, a pair of blue acaras, and a hemichromis elongatus (5 star general). believe it or not he has very few aggression issues. unfortunetly i don't have pics of his tank.
dragonfish
06-15-2003, 5:40 PM
05dr: Thanks for the great info! I believe my salvini is a female, she has a black spot on her gill cover surrounded by blue flourescent highlights around the edges. Her belly is bright red, but there are some blue spots on there, so I'm totally not sure, but I think its female. That could be the reason why her and my convict get along. If they were both males, they would've been fighting eachother a long time ago.
dbcb314
06-15-2003, 8:17 PM
man, i want one of these. is there anyway one would work in my 50 gal? just click the link below
1. you NEVER know
2. a lone female could work in one of your larger tanks but you must be prepared to take a fish back as soon as any real problems begin
i can't even tell yall how much i want to breed her but i have no extra tanks, am about to start a really difficult 7 months of my training, and now she is really getting rough on my male lab. i am considering posting some adds to give her away if someone will promise to give me a few nice fry down the way. anyways, it is a shame they have so many agression issues as a nice specimen is a truly spectacular sight.
Dragon_Lord_Tia
06-16-2003, 5:05 AM
how do your labs get along with your acaras????
1 fish 2 fish
06-16-2003, 2:24 PM
my zebras got along with my acaras.