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Lawrenze
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 Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2005 5:41 pm Post subject: African cichlids |
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Hey guys
... Was just wondering, how many of u guys are interested in african cichlids especially malawi cichlids? I know quite a few who are mostly into american cichlids like Lancelot for instance  ... and there are some senior aquarists who are into tanganyikan cichlids ... what about malawians??? anyone :wink:
Rgds
Lawrence |
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madhu_ulysses
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| Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2005 6:11 pm Post subject: |
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One major problem sincere aquarists have with malawians is most of them available are hybrids and its pretty rare to see pure bloods. The reason is if kept in a malawi setup tank, these cichlids hybridize very easily.
Two pure blooded malawian carnivores i have are N.venustratus & N.livingstonii |
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Dolphy
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| Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2005 6:30 pm Post subject: |
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My first fish was a Melanochromis auratus, and he was the most problematic of all my fish. He was so aggressive, and killed all of his other tankmates. He had a tank to himself and I finally had to give him away to one of the LFS guys for free.
That's my experience with African Cichlids. 
Jenny |
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murthy
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| Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2005 7:33 pm Post subject: |
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| madhu_ulysses wrote:
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Two pure blooded malawian carnivores i have are N.venustratus .....
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hi madhu...did you mean venustus?or has the name been revised,or is it a different nimbochromis?(sincere enquiry)
What madhu says about malawi(maybe they shld be called mawalis!!!)cichlids is true. If kept with sufficient members of their own species,they do not hybridise,even in a mixed tank.However,commercial breeders dont seem to have taken proper care in this regard.
Dolphy,as far as the aggression is concerned,its part of the fun of keeping mawalis.Its all about aggression management.If you do intend to keep malawi cichlids again(and i strongly recommend it!!)try keeping atleast 6-8 of each species,and at least 3 different species of similar size.Use plenty of rocks and caves.Sit back,and enjoy the politics!
Lawrence,I am also waiting to collect some really good,pure,hormone free malawi cichlids.As far as I know,only malawi cichlids can rival marine fish in terms of color...added bonus of easy,fun breeding! |
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Lancelot
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| Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2005 4:36 am Post subject: |
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lawrence,
you got me all figured out... 
however, i also have a couple of malawi cichlids... blue dolphins, orange morphs, and auratus....
but you right... i got these fishes to amuse my family, who are interested in "colourful" fishes.... don't know why they think my vieja, texas, etc. are not colorful...
but malawi's are fun too.. |
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madhu_ulysses
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| Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2005 8:18 am Post subject: |
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| murthy wrote:
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hi madhu...did you mean venustus?or has the name been revised,or is it a different nimbochromis?(sincere enquiry)
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Sorry murthy, my mistake its Nimbochromis venustus.
| murthy wrote:
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What madhu says about malawi(maybe they shld be called mawalis!!!)cichlids is true. If kept with sufficient members of their own species,they do not hybridise,even in a mixed tank.However,commercial breeders dont seem to have taken proper care in this regard.
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Very true murthy. Sometimes hybridization is deleberately done and sometimes by accident. For a very long time when i had a very little access to the internet, i was scrathing my head to find the sci name of blue morph (which eventually was a hybrid). Some other common examples are Yellow haps with bars, Electic blues with yellow and/or red, Boulinger's cichlid with more prominent bars and the list goes on. |
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ZedLepp
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| Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2005 3:05 pm Post subject: |
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among malawi cichlids, its mostly the mbunas and the large piscivores that are aggressive. there are several mild malawians - aulonocaras/peacocks, copadichromis/utaka, and other sand dwellers like lethrinops and haps like placidochromis, scianochromis are fairly non aggressive.
even with mbunas, if one picks all the fish that go into the tank to have similar levels of aggression, and go by the basics of sizes, hiding places and crowding and harem sex ratios, they should be easy fish to keep. very colorful too.
and if i'm not mistaken, all malawi cichlids are mouth brooders (except for a tilapia from the river deltas). so having a spare holding tank might be a good idea. |
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beta
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| Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2005 10:16 pm Post subject: |
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| Blue morphs ??? thought they were not hybrids. Are you referring to Metriaclima lombardoiwhich is sold as blue morph? |
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madhu_ulysses
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| Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2005 11:10 pm Post subject: |
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| beta wrote:
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Blue morphs ??? thought they were not hybrids. Are you referring to Metriaclima lombardoiwhich is sold as blue morph?
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Thanks for the clarification Beta
The ones you are refering to, do they turn out to dull yellow as they grow? Thats what made me assume them to be hybrids of electric yellow haps and have found some 'so called' yellow haps very close to blue morphs! |
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ZedLepp
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| Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2005 2:53 am Post subject: |
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| Metriaclima lombardoi aka kenyi males turn yellow, sometimes with some dark barring. females stay blue, but turn yellow while holding. |
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retro_gk
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| Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2005 10:52 am Post subject: |
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| BTW, electric yellows, L.caerulus are a naturally occurring variant of a blue fish...caerulus refers to the blue colour of the originally described fish. |
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Lawrenze
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| Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2005 12:21 pm Post subject: |
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Hi
| beta wrote:
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Blue morphs ??? thought they were not hybrids. Are you referring to Metriaclima lombardoiwhich is sold as blue morph?
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...So,they are lombardoi?...i was under the impression that the so called blue morphs were cynotilapia afra 
...hybrids...hormoned...whatever...theres nothing to beat the malawians when it comes to personality ...these guys are some of the most interesting fish to observe :lol:
Rgds
Lawrence |
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Gags
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| Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 8:31 pm Post subject: Re: African cichlids |
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Sorry to bump Really old thread...
I love Malawi Cichlids too 
Yes they they display very vivid color when grown up
Main problem is people Still lack knowledge about it African cichlids..
But scene Has be improved since this thread started
We can get Malawi Haplochromines/Mbuna easily
Those following Malawi Cichlids that available in Indian market
Electric Yellow Lab (Labidochromis Caeruleus)
Electric Blue Johannii (Melanochromis Johanni)
Giraffe Cichlid (Nimbochromis Venustus)
Kadango (Copadichromis borleyi)
Kenyi (Pseudotropheus lombardoi) [hybrid version]
Dolphin Cichlid (Cyrtocara moorii)
Malawi Eye Biter (Dimidiochromis compressiceps)
Livingstonii (Nimbochromis livingstonii) Have come across very few times Very rare to find Now in market
I still have't seen Peacock variety in local market here |
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jainagda
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| Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2012 1:19 am Post subject: Re: African cichlids |
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| Where could one get pure breed malawi cichlids ?? |
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Gags
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| Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2012 9:12 am Post subject: Re: African cichlids |
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Just do research before buying them.
if you talking wild caught F0 and F1 Malawi's.We don't get here in india...
For eg f0 of Labidochromis Caeruleus come with $XXX price tag |
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