Blue Congo Dwarf Cichlid (Nanochromis parilus)
Blue Congo Dwarf Cichlid (Nanochromis parilus) for sale from Dans Fish at $19.99 each. Shipped Next Day Air.
dansfish.com
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anyone keeping these??? Nanochromis parilus (Blue Congo Dwarf Cichlids)
- Thread starter Magnum Man
- Start date
dansfish.com
I have kept them. Right now I have their close relatives, Nanochromis teugelsi and nudiceps. Nice fish. They need good flow as they come from a fastwater region, caves, opportunities to dig out those caves and bug based type foods. They're a pretty basic dwarf Cichlid, soft water African style.
Pretty fish, shame I am likely to have to go back to hardwater cichlids if I get any more. I have been looking at some of the smaller Lake Malawi fish for a future possible aquarium.
I highly recommend Nanochromis parilus if you have soft water (sorry @Jennet ) and have an interest in African forest fish. You probably should avoid keeping them with other bottom dwellers, and you need to give them space because when a pair first meets, they can be rough in both directions. As is often the case, males are larger and less colourful, but females can defend themselves.
They move close to the bottom, and don't have a lot of interest in the upper tank. A lot of fish from fast water have slightly (like parilus) to very (like buffalohead group Cichlids) reduced swim bladders, as rising from the bottom would get them swept out of their territories. They're interesting to watch as they move over and around rocky habitats, and they love to dig in sand. They'll excavate complex set ups if the tank lets them.
They were on my list of fish to return to when I retired (my bucket of fish list), as I have kept parilus a couple of times and enjoyed every one. I only bred them once, by softening the water quite a bit. They would spawn, but the eggs wouldn't develop properly in my medium hard water at the time (140 ppm). I recently got teugelsi and nudiceps instead, as they're similar and just as much fun to watch. My soft water now is ideal and I have hopes.
In old books, the fish called nudiceps is parilus - it was yet another importer's misidentification that caught on. They were once very common fish in the hobby, because blue Cichlids were really rare before the discovery of what was in the hardwater Lake Malawi. The really easy to breed, many blue mbuna species turned parilus into an uncommon find.
@anewbie has a thread on Nanochromis teugelsi at his place, and keeping them is much like keeping parilus in my experience.
They move close to the bottom, and don't have a lot of interest in the upper tank. A lot of fish from fast water have slightly (like parilus) to very (like buffalohead group Cichlids) reduced swim bladders, as rising from the bottom would get them swept out of their territories. They're interesting to watch as they move over and around rocky habitats, and they love to dig in sand. They'll excavate complex set ups if the tank lets them.
They were on my list of fish to return to when I retired (my bucket of fish list), as I have kept parilus a couple of times and enjoyed every one. I only bred them once, by softening the water quite a bit. They would spawn, but the eggs wouldn't develop properly in my medium hard water at the time (140 ppm). I recently got teugelsi and nudiceps instead, as they're similar and just as much fun to watch. My soft water now is ideal and I have hopes.
In old books, the fish called nudiceps is parilus - it was yet another importer's misidentification that caught on. They were once very common fish in the hobby, because blue Cichlids were really rare before the discovery of what was in the hardwater Lake Malawi. The really easy to breed, many blue mbuna species turned parilus into an uncommon find.
@anewbie has a thread on Nanochromis teugelsi at his place, and keeping them is much like keeping parilus in my experience.
well, the jewels are telling me they think the increasing cichlid population needs more caves…
the blues got here today, before the new small ceramic caves, and everyone had their territory already marked out… so the blues are now blending in on this resin hollow log… the bigger of the two colored up the 1st hour, with blues and reds, but is now blending in on the log… the ceramic caves a plenty for everyone arrive tomorrow…
the blues got here today, before the new small ceramic caves, and everyone had their territory already marked out… so the blues are now blending in on this resin hollow log… the bigger of the two colored up the 1st hour, with blues and reds, but is now blending in on the log… the ceramic caves a plenty for everyone arrive tomorrow…
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I also, since this is a tall ( 24 inch ) tank, ordered a few more tetras, ( Brycinus longipinnis ) to keep the top more active, since the tetra numbers have slowly diminished over the last year, since I had added anyone to this tank…
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I'm a little jealous. I'd love to have Brycinus again, though they aren't as good looking as many similar African tetras. And those exsul... they intrigue me.
well the Nanochromis parilus, made it through the 1st night, found a place to hide for the night, however the dominant exsul, keeps moving them around, I’m hoping when the caves show up, it’ll change the terrain enough, to take some pressure off the new guys…
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I hate to be a doubter but aren’t you mixing too many species together ? That makes me nervous and afraid for the fish . I’m a firm believer in species only aquariums but not everybody is .
I'm kind of with @Back in the fold . The needs and original habitat of the parilus are wildly (pun intended) different from lake dwelling exsul or stream dwelling thomasi. Most of the fun of a fish like that is seeing how its lifestyle is adapted to fast water, and how different it is from a Rubicatochromis or an Anomalochromis. Those last 2 were my daily typing practice.
The first time I saw one the aquarist had a male parilus with 6 thomasi and 3 angels. It was a 10 gallon. The fish made it about a week.
The first time I saw one the aquarist had a male parilus with 6 thomasi and 3 angels. It was a 10 gallon. The fish made it about a week.
so I get the species only tanks, and desire to breed, but, I really strive for a community tank from each region, I know that is not really more natural, and often choices have to be made, as well as mistakes, but once in a while something interesting is achieved… so far the blues are still surviving ( maybe not thriving yet ) but will see how it goes with more caves… of course things could be peaceful for 6 months, only to have any 2 pair up, and murder everyone else… yes the tank bottom is full, no more bottom dwelling cichlids… I could probably get by with 4-5 more tetras mid tank, and have even been considering a butterfly fish ( Pantodon buchholzi )for the very top…
You have a really unfortunate substrate for bottom dwelling Cichlids there - it's beautiful but not practical for them. That will cut into their appeal. All 3 species are nest makers.
I'll make some communities of African riverine Cichlids. I have some Chromidotilapia kingsleyae now, and they are finally reaching breeding size. They're mouthbrooders. So I have some thomasi in there (open spawners) and could add some cave spawners. As long as the tank is large and the territorial needs are different, the communities can be created.
As far as having African tanks goes, we short sell the size and diversity of that continent. I have Gabonese, Beninois, Congolese species from both Congos, Guinean, Nigerian, and Cameroonian fish here, and they all come from different habitats. The Benin fish experienced serious warmth in their home waters, while the Gabonese forest fish didn't. We call these African community tanks, but it's a version of if we had a European tank with fish from Spain, Denmark and Ireland being kept together like that made sense geographically and climate-wise. My kingsleyae live with fish from thousands of km away, and those fish live with plants their ancestors would have needed an aquatic plane ticket to go see...
I'll make some communities of African riverine Cichlids. I have some Chromidotilapia kingsleyae now, and they are finally reaching breeding size. They're mouthbrooders. So I have some thomasi in there (open spawners) and could add some cave spawners. As long as the tank is large and the territorial needs are different, the communities can be created.
As far as having African tanks goes, we short sell the size and diversity of that continent. I have Gabonese, Beninois, Congolese species from both Congos, Guinean, Nigerian, and Cameroonian fish here, and they all come from different habitats. The Benin fish experienced serious warmth in their home waters, while the Gabonese forest fish didn't. We call these African community tanks, but it's a version of if we had a European tank with fish from Spain, Denmark and Ireland being kept together like that made sense geographically and climate-wise. My kingsleyae live with fish from thousands of km away, and those fish live with plants their ancestors would have needed an aquatic plane ticket to go see...
yes, the fish don’t know geographical regions… that is something in our minds… my “south American tetra” tank, for example… the fish may come from a dozen areas, but in my mind, it defines those fish, and I try not to put Asian fish or African fish in that tank…
back to Africa, the challenge has been a “catfish” of sorts to clean the bottom, or the glass, as there are regions within the tank, that I look for fish to fill… research says there are African gara, those just really aren’t in the hobby, and most african catfish are too large ( wouldn’t it be great if there was an African Cory species easily available, or an algae eating pleco species )… that tank is one of my hardest to work on, so that tank has elements to make it require less maintenance, dark water, highly shaded, to control algae growth, and larger substrate, for examples… sitting here sipping my cafeine, I can get a taste of Africa, south America, and Asia in 3 tanks next to each other, and while they are not biotopes, I am at least true to those continents, with the fish within each tank… because of availability, I actually have 3 multi-species south American tanks, needed, both because of the variety of fish, but also because they wouldn’t all thrive in the same aquarium, unless it was huge…
3 cichlid species may be too many for the African tank, but hopefully the species chosen, can be made to thrive in close proximity to each other…
the blues are looking good today, swimming around more freely… likely the negative attention they were originally getting had more to do, with the others being established, and them being the new guys, than them being species that wouldn’t tolerate each other… but my earlier south American cichlid tank did not turn out well, so time will tell if my choices work out…
back to Africa, the challenge has been a “catfish” of sorts to clean the bottom, or the glass, as there are regions within the tank, that I look for fish to fill… research says there are African gara, those just really aren’t in the hobby, and most african catfish are too large ( wouldn’t it be great if there was an African Cory species easily available, or an algae eating pleco species )… that tank is one of my hardest to work on, so that tank has elements to make it require less maintenance, dark water, highly shaded, to control algae growth, and larger substrate, for examples… sitting here sipping my cafeine, I can get a taste of Africa, south America, and Asia in 3 tanks next to each other, and while they are not biotopes, I am at least true to those continents, with the fish within each tank… because of availability, I actually have 3 multi-species south American tanks, needed, both because of the variety of fish, but also because they wouldn’t all thrive in the same aquarium, unless it was huge…
3 cichlid species may be too many for the African tank, but hopefully the species chosen, can be made to thrive in close proximity to each other…
the blues are looking good today, swimming around more freely… likely the negative attention they were originally getting had more to do, with the others being established, and them being the new guys, than them being species that wouldn’t tolerate each other… but my earlier south American cichlid tank did not turn out well, so time will tell if my choices work out…
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next would be to try to determine sex… one is definitely bigger, and colors up, when the mood is right, I’ve not seen the same level of color from the smaller, so, it could be a female, or just less mature???
this is the bigger one…
this is the bigger one…
You don't need any catfish or supposed cleaner fish. You have one in the picture, as most small Cichlids of the region will add detritus to their diets.
Female in front, male behind..
Female in front, male behind..
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