anyone keeping these??? Nanochromis parilus (Blue Congo Dwarf Cichlids)

[GaryE15 13]

They get to about 9 cm.

I would love to see this old favourite become a new favourite again. It's time for this one to make a comeback.

I don't know how @Magnum Man 's group tank will work. It just might, as I'm growing and sorting a group of the related Nanochromis nudiceps and teugelsi (caught together, mixed), and they have been remarkably easy going for such a territorial fish. I'd always pulled pairs as soon as they formed. N parilus could work out the same way, though I don't know for how long. Other tanks at the ready!

 

[Magnum Man55 169]

Dan’s lists them at 2.5 - 3 inches

 

[GaryE15 13]

Dan's has a conservative measure there. It isn't a big fish, but add at least half an inch to his max for an adult male. Some of the other Nanochromis, like splendens, can be 2.5 inches, but you'd have to starve a parilus to get that size. Females are smaller though. Linke and Staeck, the 1980s bible of African riverine Cichlids, puts them at 7cm or so, 3 inches. That was early in the game. I've had them reach 9cm (3.5 inches). Anton Lamboj's book puts them at a possible 9cm.

Linke and Staeck is very dated, but is a solidly researched book. Lamboj's book is still the best on the group, and he's currently the main researcher for Cichlids of the region. So a little bigger is to be expected. They don't act that big though.

 

[Magnum Man55 169]

assuming, Dan’s is just going by his suppliers info, which I don’t think he divulges, but I would guess Glasser???

 

[GaryE15 13]

Could be Reheboth in the US. They get wonderful west African fish.

 

[Magnum Man55 169]

a couple new pictures today… before the new ones arrive…

 

[Magnum Man55 169]

2 more blues today, they look a little bigger, in the bags

 

[Magnum Man55 169]

ok… that shakes up things a bit… you could almost never see the blues in this tank, they seem shacked up in an old pleco hole… the 2 new ones showed up, and the others must have been mating, as a gang war broke out… the jewels and the butterfly’s got out of the way, and all 4 blues were flying all over the tank… since there are more caves than fish, I’m hoping things settle down… but maybe I have 3 males and 1 female???

 

[GaryE15 13]

In the bags, the first is a female.

 

[Magnum Man55 169]

everything is mellow again… but one of the new blues, stands up to the jewels..

 

[Magnum Man55 169]

 

[GaryE15 13]

It's hard to tell without knowing where each fish is in the photos, but I think you may have started with 2 males, and have added at least one female. If I were you, I would give them a dose of praziquantel. In one of the photos, a fish looks a bit sunken bellied. It may just be one dominated off his food, but gutworm treatments are cheap and effective.
N parilus is a thin bodied fish at all times, though females will develop striking bellies with their breeding tube down as they develop.

 

[Magnum Man55 169]

all 4 are still doing well, and we’re all out at feeding time …. this one saying good night, tonight

 

[Magnum Man55 169]

this particular blue, has been hanging around this huge peace lily root ball lately