Brichardi Cichlids

[Balloons&killies]

Can anyone give me any info on these cichlids?Are they easy to find at local LFS?

Thanks:Garett

 

[kribensis12]

They are easy to find. Fairly peaceful. Beautiful fish. They max ouyt at 5 inches if given enough time. The fishs babies will take care of the next batch. Anything else you want to know?

 

[Balloons&killies]

Wow thanks for the info.
Im checking sometime this week to see if i can get them in at petland, but i wouldn't be getting them till the end of january when i set up my new tank.

So do the fry from the old batch take care of the new fry and all the adults?
And what would be a good tank mate for them???


Thanks:Garett

 

[kribensis12]

What size tank are you looking at? The adults take care of the fry. The fry take care of the next batch, and it keeps going on. The bigger tha family the more protection the babies get. Good tank mates, other fish from lake Tanganyika.

 

[Balloons&killies]

Ok thanks. They would be in a 27g. Would that be big enough for a trio with some tetras?


Thanks:Garett

 

[Dan Robbins]

Brichardi are a tanganyikan cichlid. They cannot be mixed with tetras due to the difference in water perameters. Tetras require soft acidic water. Brichardi ( along with any rift valley cichlid) require hard alkaline waters of ph usually > 8.2
Dan.

 

[Balloons&killies]

So what do you think would be a good tank mate?

 

[kribensis12]

Brichardi are a tanganyikan cichlid. They cannot be mixed with tetras due to the difference in water perameters. Tetras require soft acidic water. Brichardi ( along with any rift valley cichlid) require hard alkaline waters of ph usually > 8.2
Dan.

Well, that's definatley debatable. Yes, they have different water conditions IN THE WILD. But, not in the store. If your petshop can keep it in your local water, then you can too. But, I would not mix Brichardi with tetra's. The Brichardi will have a nice snack. I am tempted to recommend Neoplamgrous multifasciatus , but I am unsure how they would do together. They are both shell dwellers (if possible, coat the tank in snail like shells, cheap online), and both are from the same lake, but the size difference is what worries me. The multi's max out at 2 inches, the Brichardi at 5-6. So, who knows? The Brichardi wuld be fine in a 27g (I have 5 in a 30g).

 

[roadmaster]

Have never managed to keep much of anything with breeding Brichardi pair. When not breeding, I have kept them with Swordtails,mollies,and some Cichlids. When breeding however,,they would send all other fish to the other end of 75 gal tank.

 

[kiriyama]

Would strongly recomend not to introduce Multifasciatus, IME experiment went wrong, enough said other than the Brichardi made his presence and size felt, what about Lelupi, Caudopunctatus, Julidochromis, you would need to check out tank sizes, sorry to p**s on your parade ( I said pass ) just trying to avoid any stress both for you and your fishy buddies

 

[Balloons&killies]

well, they cant get them in at petland only these other kinds. But i think she felt bad so shes gonna check when she sends out the order. Anyway, i dont know if theyre shell dweller or what. they all started with neolamprologus. Could you guy tell me what they are? They looked quite small. in the picture.

heres one i think.

http/images.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http/culbertsons.smugmug.com/Aquariums/Cichlid-Tank-by-Bill/Cichlids-Again-11/471557230_AQXpD-D.jpg&imgrefurl=http/culbertsons.smugmug.com/Aquariums/Cichlid-Tank-by-Bill/2528415_GcyTB/3/471557230_AQXpD&usg=__-56OcnuVugK1wntW7v00QpBLBeY=&h=534&w=800&sz=139&hl=en&start=9&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=Jxg_2yWO8O7MoM:&tbnh=95&tbnw=143&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dneolamprologus%2Bshell%2Bdweller%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1R2TSHC_en%26sa%3DG%26um%3D1

 

[Dan Robbins]

quoteWell, that's definitely debatable. Yes, they have different water conditions IN THE WILD. But, not in the store. If your petshop can keep it in your local water, then you can too

That is indeed a very ignorant view. I see this as very poor husbandry. Rift valley cichlids require a hard water system.
Rift valley cichlids although hardy are quite intolerable of even slight fluctuations in the pH value of their environment. The Carbonate salts which make water "hard" act as buffer solutions, maintain a relatively constant pH value. Soft water systems lack these salts and the water is much more likely to fluctuate in these values.
A fish is livestock, keep it responsibly.

 

[kribensis12]

quoteWell, that's definitely debatable. Yes, they have different water conditions IN THE WILD. But, not in the store. If your petshop can keep it in your local water, then you can too

That is indeed a very ignorant view. I see this as very poor husbandry. Rift valley cichlids require a hard water system.
Rift valley cichlids although hardy are quite intolerable of even slight fluctuations in the pH value of their environment. The Carbonate salts which make water "hard" act as buffer solutions, maintain a relatively constant pH value. Soft water systems lack these salts and the water is much more likely to fluctuate in these values.
A fish is livestock, keep it responsibly.

That's cute. It is the exact opposite of poor husbandry. You can not tell me with one hundred percent certainty that it is irresponsible to keep fish in harder water than in the wild. I can tell you with one hundred percent certainty that it is not. Fish adapt to new water conditions quite well. Once they have succsessfully (spelling?) been adapted to the new water, they will almost always do well. Once the fish breeds in the water, first off, you know that it is obviously enjoying the water conditions enough to breed, and secondly, if they hatch, the fish are being born into the water, not the 7.0 or lower their parent's orginated from. So, they do not have to adapt. You see this in fish all time. I met a Apistogramma cacatoudies breeder at a auciton this past saturday. He breeds his fish in a pH of 8.2. They do amazingly well. He does the same with his angelfish. He does not encounter any problems with them.

It would be considerd poor husbandry if you were to just throw a Neon Tetra (wild) into a tank of a higher pH. But, as a majority of them are not wild caught (unless you specify so), you will not encounter that problem. Even if they WERE wild caught, you can acclimate them to a higher pH.

 

[Dan Robbins]

Ah right. Ok. I was wondering where I was wrong all these years.
Ok, let me think...
All living organisms are governed by their metabolic activates, swift changes in pH can lead to catastrophic consequences. As mentioned earlier, the hardness of water is measure of the Carbonate, notably CaCO3 and MgCO3 levels in solution. These carbonates act as Buffers and resist pH changes. If you own a rift valley cichlid aquarium you will notice that this pH value remains very constant and fluctuate very little. Rift valley cichlids are one of the many fish which respond very poorly to such fluctuations. In an appropriate environment these cichlids are hardy and long lived.

Looking at the other extreme, Soft water is "soft" due to the absence of (or decreased concentration of such minerals) Looking at a soft water aquarium, you will find that the pH will fluctuate quite dramatically relative to hard water systems.
You cannot place millions of years of adaptations and evolutionary changes into different environments and expect them to continue as previous. Both biological processes of both soft and hard water fish are varied due to the hugely different environment that they both naturally live. Remember that a decrease from pH of 7 to 6 has left the water 10x more acidic, a further decrease to 5 has left the water 100x more acidic. These are very large values.
Keeping apistogramma in a pH of 8 as oppose to their natural value of approx 6 (sometimes lower) is extreme. This is 1000X more alkaline that it should be, and yes it has its effects. Keeping soft water fish under inappropriate alkaline waters causes mineral deposits within their anatomy. This will indeed result in death.
If you do not mind me asking sir, how old is you and secondly what do you do as a living?

It is the exact opposite of poor husbandry.

So its good husbandary to put your rift valley cichlids in soft water?

 

[kribensis12]

Umm, how old IS I? That was a poorly formed sentence. I am 16, and I work at a local Bakery Cafe. Thanks for the Chemistry lesson and all, but it does not prove a specific point. Good husbandry is taking care of your fish. I do not view putting your fish in non-normal water conditions poor husbandry. I know several people who keep neons and other soft water fish in my area with no problems. Their fish are vibrant, they are healthy, active eaters, and live several years. I believe someone locally bred some Neon Tetra's at one point and time.

Also, for your theory, my water is techinically soft. We have a water softner. I have never had a problem with cichlids. I never had pH flucuations. Heck, I can't even change the pH when I try! The only time my tanks have had a pH flucation is when I attempted to chemically alter the pH. Not a good choice.