View Full Version : Bought a new pair of Bubmblebee cichlids
jdheff1982
12-22-2002, 3:14 PM
I bought a pair of bumblebee cichlids today from petsmart. Very active and very cool fish!! I have trying to find info on these guys and haven't been very successful. I do know they get up to about 4" in length when fully grown. Other than that, nothing else. Any info will be very helpful! BTW, I also bought a pair of spotted raphaels today!! These guys were croakin while being transfered!! Really cool! Info on these guys will be helpful too!! Thanks!
tuthelimit
12-22-2002, 3:31 PM
Hmm, I would be careful with those new fish. The "bubble bee" will get about 9" long in the aquarium and get VERY nasty. I am not sure if they were the best purchase for your tanks.
Give me a quick update. Do you still have the FMs in the 29 and Kribs in the 37?
Raphaels are cool. One of our families best friends has had one for 15 years or at least he claims to. Its really old looking.
GL
ttl
jdheff1982
12-22-2002, 3:50 PM
I don't have the FM's anymore. They just wouldn't leave each other alone. The kribs have breed and now have free swimming babies. The are now in a 20 gallon tank. The 29 turned out to be a 20 gallon. They are the only fish in that tank. BTW, why would the lfs have printed that they only get 4 inches in length?? That is one of the main reason why I bought them. We'll see what happens. If they do get too big, I'll have to trade them in for something else. For the moment, I think I have a male and female. The one I believe to be a male has vertical stripes going all the way up to his dorsal fin. The female does not. Right now they are about and inch and a half to two inches in length.
fishlips
12-22-2002, 7:19 PM
I thought they attained a size of 6 inches?
tuthelimit
12-22-2002, 9:07 PM
Nope, that info is wrong. They can easily get 9", they are one of the largest mbuna.
It would be nice if you had a pair. At 1.5 it would be pretty impossible to tell. So they are in the 37? What are their tankmates?
ttl
jdheff1982
12-23-2002, 12:24 AM
2 spotted rafael. That's it!!
jdheff1982
12-23-2002, 1:31 AM
BTW ttl, I have been doing some research and all the sites I have been to say 4 to 5 inches max!! I don't know where you are getting your info, but I believe that the majority of bumble bee cichlid owners say they only get 4 to 5 nches in length!!
Pseudotropheus crabro aka Maylandia crabro are often considered "larger" mbuna. However, 9" is more the exception than the norm.
I'd say 6" would be a bit more average.
oscarlvr
12-23-2002, 9:23 AM
my crabro got to be at least 6" after 3 years, a nice chunky size, but they are very agressive almost as much so as our kenyi, good luck with yours
bob
jdheff1982
12-23-2002, 11:33 AM
Why is it that when a pair of verocious (spelling?) fish get in a new tank, they always stay together for a while then split into territories?? This always confuses me.
tuthelimit
12-23-2002, 7:18 PM
I agree, 9" would be THE max size. However, I stand by this number. I have see so many 7"+ crabro's over the years.
Not sure I read this anywhere in particular. If I had to guess Silve Shark some of your info could wrong for a couple of reasons.
1) Many of the books written address cichlids in the wild. As useful as these books are, some fish grow larger in the aquarium under optimal conditions.
2) Anyone can run a website with info they find or ...make up. Heck I could have a webpage saying I have a great white shark in a 20g tank. Read carefully and cross reference info. I would imagine many cichlid sites are full of regurgitated information with no first hand experience.
3)LFS info is ALWAYS favorable. Remember they want you to buy the fish! Who would buy a 9" bumble bee?
The fish seem to group together for protection. Once they have settled in and feel comfortable they will establish territories.
Mbuna pair behavior does not include swimming around together side by side anyway. Chasing and dancing is more like it.
ttl
jdheff1982
12-23-2002, 7:45 PM
What would be good dither fish for these guys?? They seem to hide a lot and thought maybe some dither fish will surpress their aggression when they get older.
tuthelimit
12-23-2002, 8:53 PM
I have never kept dither fish w/ my rift lake cichlids. I don't have experience with that. To tell you the truth mbuna don't need dithers. If the stocking levels are correct you won't need them. I think the tank may be too small as it is.
Give the fish some time. They will come out.
jdheff1982
12-24-2002, 7:24 AM
TTL, can you desribe more of their "courtship" behavour?? I have noticed that my 2 will chase each other a bit, but I don't know what you mean by dancing??? I know it is too soon to tell, but I want to know in advance. Thanks for the great info ttl!!
tuthelimit
12-24-2002, 11:02 AM
I could ramble on about mbuna courting for quite sometime. The best thing I would advise you to do is go and buy a good book on them.
I said dancing. Included in this is: circling, quivering, flashing, brightening up... etc. Basically, you'll know it when you get there. At 1.5 inches, you'll have a long way to go.
ttl
Maybe some pictures would help? At 1.5" I could not even guess at the sex. Perhaps someone with more breeding experience with the crabro could help. Just sit on them for a while, let them reach 3".
jdheff1982
12-24-2002, 9:06 PM
Got a new toy for Christmas..... a Filstar XP3!!!!! Took me about half an hour to setup and about 5 minutes to prime it and I was ready to go!! It is a neat setup!! Reason why I got such a large filter was so I have rom for bigger tanks!! I hope anybody else who has this system is as happy with it as I am!!