Malawi or Tanganyikan tank?
- Thread starter Oddball~
- Start date
Fewer is better. From what I hear even a few breeding females (and they will breed) will fill your tank with fry within a few months
Fewer is better. From what I hear even a few breeding females (and they will breed) will fill your tank with fry within a few months. I think the cool thing is that the parents will tolerate multiple generations in the same tank.
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At the auction they were labled N. brevis "blue face" (katabe).
I was refering to the multis allowing multiple generations (no personal experience), but have heard the brevis will tolerate them as well. Am I misinformed?
I was refering to the multis allowing multiple generations (no personal experience), but have heard the brevis will tolerate them as well. Am I misinformed?
No I don't think you were misinformed. I believe they will but from my limited experience they are pretty bad parents that wont fend for their own young, almost at all. So beacuse of this I have reason to belive that they wont colonize just tolerate. Just my opinion. But I have never kept fry in the tank for that long.
oddly the variant I have are from from Katabe, brevis "orange cap " katabe. Do you have any pics?
oddly the variant I have are from from Katabe, brevis "orange cap " katabe. Do you have any pics?
O.K. that's what thought.
Multis will form colonies and work as a group to defend a territory, while brevis will simply tolerate the fry in the same tank. The key is that both species allow you to raise fry (to a point) without a separate grow out tank in a reletively small space. Correct?
I don't have any pics yet, but the fish are too young to tell the difference between variants anyway. For what it's worth, I take any geographical designation with a grain of salt. Who knows what the lineage of the fish we keep really is. I will be able to tell better in a few months. Since every brevis i've ever seen has had both orange/yellow and blue around it's face both common names are doable. I think when I sell the fry I will call them N. brevis (katabe) "tutty fruity"
Multis will form colonies and work as a group to defend a territory, while brevis will simply tolerate the fry in the same tank. The key is that both species allow you to raise fry (to a point) without a separate grow out tank in a reletively small space. Correct?
I don't have any pics yet, but the fish are too young to tell the difference between variants anyway. For what it's worth, I take any geographical designation with a grain of salt. Who knows what the lineage of the fish we keep really is. I will be able to tell better in a few months. Since every brevis i've ever seen has had both orange/yellow and blue around it's face both common names are doable. I think when I sell the fry I will call them N. brevis (katabe) "tutty fruity"
Regaurding the Julies, You would be best to stick with J. transcriptus, as they are the smallest specie maxing out at 3'' and can be kept solitary or in pairs. Getting a pair means buying several juvies though and allowing them to pair. J. ornatus is also small but tends to be more aggressive. Most of the other julies get 5-6'' and are also colony species, so they are not suitable for 20g tanks. J. transcriptus, IME, don't bother shellies if giving plenty of space for both to have defined territories, which should be easy in a 20 
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HTH
.HTH
Brevis definitely don't form colonies like multis do. In fact, many parents will hunt down their own offspring if there isn't enough room for the young to go off and set up their own territory. They are devoted couples, though.
Brevis and J. dickfeldi or J. ornatus will work as two separate pairs in a 20 long, but you need already established pairs for it to work well. If you can get the fish very small, you could start with 4 of each species and see if a pair forms.
Eric
Brevis and J. dickfeldi or J. ornatus will work as two separate pairs in a 20 long, but you need already established pairs for it to work well. If you can get the fish very small, you could start with 4 of each species and see if a pair forms.
Eric
