H. Lifalili advice?

[coupedefleur]

Anybody keeping Hemichromis lifalili?

I got a bag of 14 fry at an auction this summer, and they're about 1-1/2" long now. They're currently in a 20L tank. At some point I will need to thin them out- eventually I'd like to end up with a pair or two- hauling the others to the LFS or another auction. They are starting to color up nicely, and look to be spectacular fish!

At what size can they be sexed? How can you tell, or do you wait for a pair to get ready to spawn and rescue the other fish?

Is it safe to keep any other fish with them? Jewel fish are known for being intolerant of any competition around spawning time! What conditions (tank size, etc) do you keep yours in?

[liv2padl]

At some point I will need to thin them out a 20 litre tank (5 gallons) is impossibly small for 14 Hemichromis lifalili, no matter that they are only an inch and a half right now. if you want to grow them out to the point where sex can be determined and pair formation occurs (around 2 inches in my experience), you need a 30 gallon tank right now or you'll lose the greatest portion of these wonderful fish.

males will become significantly darker than females and exhibit less blue spangling, in addition to the slightly more pointed unpaired fins.


Is it safe to keep any other fish with them that depends on the size of your tank. i have a group of 6 in my 300 gallon tank, together with about 25 other central american cichlids and all fish get along just fine. on the other hand, i've tried to keep Hemichromis with other cichlids in 40 gallon breeder tanks and was unsuccessful. as you suggest, the vast majority of Hemichromis are intolerant of other Hemichromis and not much more tolerant of ANY other fish in their territory.

[Jayhawk]

I'm guessing it's a 20 gallon long...which should be big enough once a pair forms, but it could be rough in there as they approach maturity.

Eric

[coupedefleur]

Oops- 20 Long, not litre! 12 x 12 x 30 inches long! They would certainly be dead if they were in a 5 gallon tank.

Could two pair co-exist in a 48" x 12 x 12 tank? Or is one pair per tank my best option if I don't have a swimming pool-sized tank?

Do you think a pair is better off with no other fish in a tank, if the tank is 50 gallons or less? How about some sort of dither fish, like giant danios? Or would they end up snitching too many fry and making life miserable for everyone?

I may take a guess on moving half of them to another 20 Long tank- I am seeing some color and size differences already. They chase each other occasionally, but it's been more "this is my food, this is my spot". I hate to split up a potential pair by randomly throwing half of them into another tank.

I've looked them up in several books, but it's good to get a personal perspective. Thanks!