Nanochromis Nudiceps Wild Caught.

[Balloons&killies]

Hey guys! just ordered these guy in at petland and they will come in on thursday.
They were caught in the democractic Republic of Congo.

Do you guys know any good info on the guys?
And will they give any diseases to my other fish?

Thanks:Garett

 

[Wills]

Ah cool sounds interesting, dont know why it was moved here they are african? But yeah good profile I found on them http/www.seriouslyfish.com/profile.php?genus=Nanochromis&species=nudiceps&id=506 Looking forward to pics.

 

[dave_oddballs]

i used to keep a small group of nudiceps, they are gorgeous cichlids, amazing watching them build their little pits, moving mouth fulls of sand around.
once you have your aquarium set up, i.e. correct ph, hardness, temperature etc they are fairly easily maintained fish. i never really did much to mine. they are meant to be quite hard to come by now, and i don't know many people that keep them.
its one of the small fish i have been contemplating for a corner set up im getting soon for my bedroom tank, i can get them ordered in through my lfs for about £5 each which is reasonable for them.
one thing i'd say is they can be quite aggressive towards others when the males are building their pits and even more so once he has a partner and are going about breeding, ideally if you wanted them to breed as opposed to just keeping them in a community they should be put in a species aquarium with a few rocks, maybe some branch style bog wood and a fine substrate and from my experience they definitely preferred dimmer lighting than usual. you should also, unless you have a large aquarium only have one male, to cut down on aggression, and a few females.
look forward to seeing pictures, they are stunningly patterned fish.

 

[Balloons&killies]

Ya they are african and ive got know clue why they moved it over here.
I will have bogwood in there for them and a few rocks.
On a few sites they said they be good with kribs and hopefully they will.
I did get a male and a female.so i can try to get a pair.

There tails look pretty cool.

Do you guys think since there wild caught,that they might have diseases?

Id really like to see some pics of someones.

And by the way which picture do they look like

This 1?

Or this 1?

 

[Wills]

Top ones are WAOW!! not sure as to which is which though dave will be more help on that. But as for the wilds having diseases, it is something you have to be careful with wild caught fish, they can sometimes have built up an immunity to something that tank bred fish wont have. So sometimes have to watch for that, the other thing to watch when mixing wild fish is that they can sometimes be more aggressive to tank bred fish because they are used to competing for food much more where as tank bred fish will have had regular feedings in shops and farms if you see what I mean.

How many are you getting? If you get a pair I think that could work but not sure if they need to be in hareems but I think that kribs might be okay, cant remember your tank size but if its about 30g I think you might be okay. But I would try and get wild kribs just to make sure they are on a level playing field with regards to what I said about wild aggression.

Wills

 

[Balloons&killies]

Ok thanks,

I do have a 30g.

and i could always get rid of the kribs for just a speices tank.

And ya i know that top picture is really awesome especially the females color.
I am just getting a male and a female.
I asked my mom if i could keep them in my 10g thats still sitting in my room and see if there okay but she said its been sitting there too long with out a filter running so i couldnt.
My ph is 7.2 right nowq and some places say they need a ph like 6.5 and under. that will be tough to do. lol. i could probibly get a ph decreaser at my lfs though.

Do you know how big do they get or are they pretty much as big as kribs?

Do they breed as easy as kribs?

 

[Wills]

Honestly I dont know enough about africans I would ask a mod to move it back to that section I dont get why they moved it here. But as for water softening, with them being wild it will be pretty essential for you to match it as it could shock them too much, maybe consider using RO water rather than tap as it will be low Ph just something to consider. Have to say though didnt realize you got softwater fish in Africa pretty amazing to find that out but not too surprising I guess as asian water is mainly soft/neutral...

 

[Balloons&killies]

what RO stand for.

Sorry im not good at these things.

 

[Wills]

RO is reverse osmosis your LFS should sell it for about £1.99 for 25 liters, or you can buy your own RO machine. Basically it purifies your water but drops your Ph down closer to that of the water the fish are coming from. You could also try almond leaves to drop your Ph as well which does quite a good job I think..

 

[dave_oddballs]

they are more or less the same as those in the bottom picture, just slightly different pattern on the tail and underside i believe.
They arent as easy to breed as kribs, but it can be done, you would be better off with a species tank if this was your intentions. Mine seemed to stop growing at just short of 4 inch. If you want something different to go with them, look into african butterfly fish, these like the same water stats and stay at the surface so wouldnt bother the pair of any babies that might pop along!

 

[Balloons&killies]

Ok thanks.

Do you guys think PH decreaser would begood to use or almond leaves?

 

[Wills]

Again I would wait for someone to say just how necessary the lower ph is going to be, but I would use almond leaves because of the problems you hear about when using Ph down or similar stuff.

 

[Balloons&killies]

Ok

So if i do go with the almond leaves do i just stick them in the tank?

 

[dave_oddballs]

yes just drop a few in the tank, they will float but sink after a day or so, also if you can get some bogwood this will help hold the lower ph, 1 thing i found good at lowering ph is aquarium peat, just put it in a filter bag and put it in the tank and hold it down with a rock or similar, unless you have an external filter then put the bag in there.
what is your ph now? if it is neutral or lower then don't mess with it, if it is anything above a ph of 7.0 then maybe give it a helping hand. about 6.5 would be good but 6.8 would be fine and 7.0 would possibly work once they settled in. you would be best asking the lfs to find out what the ph was at the place they was caught, some won't have a clue but if you can find out that would be perfect!
let us know how you get on, seriously considering a small group myself once i get the other tank set up.

Dave

 

[Balloons&killies]

Ok thanks!

Just put in another peice of bogwood in today.
My ph Was 7.2 and now is still 7.2
i am going to try almond leaves.
Do you just get them at a grocery store?

Will have pics tomorrow if they come in !!

Cant wait!