Project Victorian Pheonix

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rithunder916

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Michael
Hey all,

Winter is approaching, so once again I'm stuck inside the confines of my basement, surrounded by my tanks. As some may have noticed, I moved my rift lake from my 75 to the 130. Since moving, the 75 has been empty :(. I think, its time for a re-birth of that tank.

I have the filtration, heating, lighting, etc needed, just working on substrate and decor.

But without a stocking plan, I have no further to go.

So I ask, for suggestions. I'm looking for a 1-2 species tank of Victorians.

I would rather go with a smaller species, 3-5" so i can have more in the tank, aka, a pretty display.

So i'm asking Current Victorian keepers what there might be for options for stocking, any help is appreciated :)


As always, pictures will be put up as soon as I have something to show!

Mike
 

rithunder916

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I was thinking about those, or one of the other haps species that look interesting. My problem is there isn't as much info on these guys as the Malawi species, making it harder to research.
 

saveone

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Have you cked out cichlidsofvictoria dot com. There are lots of pics and some information to help.

I have Xystichromis phytophagus (Christmas fulu) and Pundamilia nyererei "mwanza".

I had flamebacks and my heater malfunctioned and cooked them all...that was the pits.

The mawanzi are carnivores and very aggressive. I would not keep any less that m/f ratio of 1:3. Anything I have put in with them have have hunted down and killed so they will remain alone. They are beautiful fish, even the females who are a silver blue but the males are drop dead gorgeous. My mawanzi are F1. I bought them on Aquabid. I could give you the address to the man I purchased them from if you would like. They can be registered with the CARES program. I don't think there are many F1s in the country. Mine have colored up and should be breeding soon.

The xmas fulus are very outgoing. They breed early and easy. They are the convicts of victoria. Mine are 1.0 to 1.5 inches and I have had two females holding.

Out of the three the flamebacks were my favorite. They had it all looks and personality. He took very good care of his harem.

I find all of them easy to care for. Just meet their needs and they are fine. I do keep all of these in species only tanks as they are too close in looks...don't want any crossbreeding.

I don't think you can go wrong with having vics. They are showy and have great personality. What more could you want?

I know the answer to that...more vics...some dayglows, ruby grns and and and...:) ...more flamebacks and some blue bars...get the picture???

Have a great day.
 

Lab_Rat

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Dec 3, 2009
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I love my Astatotilapia latifasciata. They're one of the few vics where the females are almost as attractive of the males. Also, they don't tend to be as uber aggressive as the other vics.
 

rithunder916

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THanks Saveone!

I'll have to go visit there. My Desire is to have a sampling from the major lakes, I've got Malawi, Will have Tangs in the 55, Vic's in the 75, and central americans in my 30 long, if i get around to setting them all back up this winter :)

I love the cichlids, every day I learn something new from my group of malawi's, and they are as exciting to watch as ever. Many times i have the tv on, and pay more attention to them, than the tv.

Mike
 

rithunder916

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Thanks Lab_rat!

I'll look into those.

I have to say, that cichlids of victoria is...umm...amazing...now i know what's out there :)


I have just found Pundamilia Nererei "Ruti Island"

I would almost consider swapping the malawi colony back to the 75 just to stock the 130 with them!
 
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rithunder916

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alright, this weekend I got the overflow built, and i have a decent wet/dry setup. Right now its not flowing at the best rate.

I am using the 1" pvc, and have to throttle my quietone 2200 down via a valve to keep from flooding the tank.

That being said, i'm going to grab a few pics tonight hopefully and let you all see it. next up is a background and substrate.

Mike
 

Lab_Rat

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Dec 3, 2009
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Like saveone said, most vics hybridize easily. You'll probably want to stick to a species only tank to prevent hybridization. I'm excited to see how your tank progresses. Vics are very cool fish.
 
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