Pseudocrenilabrus Nicholsi

[Tizer]

I so cant resist a nice looking fishy. Got a group of these today, 1 male 4 females. Going to go into my 90 litre tank for a while with neon dithers, which might end up as snacks.

Might have to look at a bigger tank if the male is overly aggressive and the females cant find a place to hide. Chucking in more wood tonight and rocks.

Anyone kept them? Forum doesn't come back with much info after a search.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

I kept a pair of them a few years back. I was given them as a gift so I could observe mouth brooding. They are the only African fish I have every kept.

Inch for inch these are some of the nastiest cichlids out there according to some. I do not disagree. I kept mine in a well planted 15 gallon tank. In order to get surviving fry I had to remove the male soon after I noticed the fm holding. I had to either strip the fm or else remove her after she spit because it takes very little time for the fry to go from looking like children to looking like food. I lost the first spawn in about 48 hours after she spit.

Eventually, the male killed the female. I was able to get a spawn or two from the male and one of his daughters before I lost him to java fern roots. He became entangled in a mass of roots where I discovered his corpse.

You are correct about the cover part for sure. But if a mom can eat her kids that fast, I would assume that other females would do so even faster.

Here are some of my bad pics.

Male shortly after putting him into the tank (when he settled in a colored up well he looked amazing.

Here is the female holding, As you know the ladies look quite drab compared to the males.

Here she is having let a few out to explore the moss.

 

[Tizer]

Cool cheers for info, someone has told me removing the female can be more beneficial until she spits then returning her to the main tank while raising the fry in a dedicated tank. Not sure what i'll do for now, just going to get them settled in i think and i might look for a larger tank.

 

[dh058977]

Nastiest? Strange, the only article ive ever read on them was http/www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/pseudo_nicholsi.php and in the first few sentences they are discribed as "peaceful, hardy, and beautiful" lol

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Intrested to see how this hareem turns out Tizer, I've been eyeing these up recently and wondering if I could mix a hareem of them with a pair of my Steatocranus casuarius or tinanti, in one of my 4-footers or even the 5x2x2.

 

[Tizer]

Aye i'll post a few pics at weekend, they settled in tonight quite nicely, male coloured up really well. Really stood out in the group.

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

How are they doing, Tizer? Seems like the stock at Wildwoods has gone rather quickly, so I might have to wait until you have some youngsters to sell.

 

[Tizer]

How are they doing, Tizer? Seems like the stock at Wildwoods has gone rather quickly, so I might have to wait until you have some youngsters to sell.

The male is on patrol and the females I think seem happy enough at the moment!

bloody hard fish to sex, i'm hoping all the females are actually female, only difference at the moment is that they are...smaller and lack the colour depth of the male!

 

[TwoTankAmin]

dh- you just have not read the tight places

The Greater Chicago Cichlid Association says:

A bigger challenge with Pseudocrenilabrus nicholsi is managing aggression. Despite their small size, this fish is pugnacious, especially to members of the same species. Provide ample cover for females and sub-dominant males. Do not keep this fish with other members of the Pseudocrenilabrus species or similar-looking fish. We have successfully kept this fish with larger Malawian cichlids without problems for a month, so we feel they match well with aggressive mbuna.

From http/www.gcca.net/west-african-cichlids/166-pseudocrenilabrus-nicholsi

Wetweb Media says:

Mixing Pseudocrenilabrus with other tankmates is challenging but not impossible. The key thing is that the male fish are highly territorial but their aggression is limited to fishes on or close to the substrate. Fast-moving fishes that swim in the middle and upper levels of the aquarium are essentially ignored. Pseudocrenilabrus are inept predators, and while they can and will eat very small fishes such as Neons or guppies, larger species such as rainbowfish, Congo tetras, silver dollars, and giant danios make excellent tankmates. In fact, the addition of surface-dwelling tankmates as dither fish will encourage the mouthbrooders to swim in the open more readily. Combining Pseudocrenilabrus with other cichlids is not advised though. Smaller and more gentle species, such as kribs and rams, are likely to be bullied mercilessly, whereas bigger fish such as jewel cichlids and mbuna will simply repay any aggression back with interest, invariably leading to the diminutive mouthbrooder getting harmed or killed.

From http/www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/pseudocrenilabrus.htm

Sam Borstein's Chichlids says:

Care: Even though this is a small fish, they have plenty of aggression. Pseudocrenilabrus nicholsi can easily be kept and bred in a 20 gallon tank with plenty of rocks. As they get larger a 40 would be better because with age the fish get more aggressive. Male Pseudocrenilabrus nicholsi will chase each other all day, so lots of hiding places need to be added.

Pseudocrenilabrus nicholsi can easily be mixed with rift lake cichlids. I've had luck keeping them with mbuna and haplochromines in the past.

from http/www.borstein.info/profiles/west_africa/pseudocrennicholsii.html

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Tizer, anything to report, have you managed to sex your group now?

Seemed I was wrong about availability at Wildwoods, found them again hidden away under a different category!

 

[Tizer]

Nice one, i found some more in another local Maidenhead Aquatics...not as many though, or as mature as mine.

I think i can safely say 3 of the 4 females are female, while 1 is 50/50 at the moment, however, from all accounts, if he is male, hes a soon to be dead male! Not great deal going on with them at the moment, they are feeding happily on Tetra Prima, flake and other pellets so no worries on that front. Not spotted any "action" yet, but i'm not around a lot at the moment so see it.