Pair - photo thanks to watfish


Photo thanks to watfish


Photo thanks to watfish – Pelvicachromis Taeniatus Dehane male

Name:
Scientific name: Pelvicachromis Taeniatus
Common name: Striped kribensis
AKA: Bone Back/ Kribensis/ Nigerian Cichlid/ Pelmatochromis calliptera/ Pelmatochromis klugei/ Pelmatochromis kribensis/ Pelmatochromis kribensis klugei/ Pelmatochromis pulcher klugei/ Pelmatochromis taeniatus/ Pelmatochromis taeniatus klugei/ Pelviacachromis kribensis/ Tilapia
AKA: By their type locations: Bandewouri/ Bipinde/ Calabar/ Dehane/ Edea/ Kienke/ Lobe/ Lokundje/ Lokunje/ Moliwe/ Nange/ Nigeria green/ Nigeria Red/ Nigeria yellow/ Nyete/ Ogelle/ sp. “Blue fin”/ Wouri

Country of origin: Africa – Nigeria, Camaroon

pH: 5.0 – 7.5
Temperature: 22 - 26c
Hardness: 5 - 12 dGH
Water flow: low - standard
Oxygenation: standard

Maximum size: Male: 8.0 cm, Female: 6.0 cm

Diet: Live foods, frozen, flake and pellets, with an emphasis on live and frozen foods. They also appreciate some vegetable matter. They are micropredators.

They are bottom feeders.

Breeding:
Males: larger, pointed dorsal & anal fin, slimmer
Females: smaller, rounded dorsal & anal fin, rounder, pink on belly when spawning
NB. This is one of the few Pelvachromis species where males are as colourful as females.

They are cave spawners. They are able to spawn in a community tank with dither fish – but corys and other bottom dwellers may eat the eggs. The male defends territory, while the female cares for the eggs & fry. Some females will attack the males once the fry are free-swimming. Fry should be left with the parents until they show signs of spawning again – the female’s belly becomes a deep purple/pink.

Given the chance, they are monogamous for life. 2 fish which are not a pair can fight, resulting in the death of at least 1 fish.

They are amongst the easiest African Dwarfs to breed.

Lifespan:

Tank companions:
They are NOT good tank companions with shrimp.

They should not be kept in groups unless it is a breeding trio, or more females to the one male, as they are harem breeders – the females each need sufficient space, lots of caves to spawn in and lots of visual breaks between them. If they are kept in pairs in a large tank, each pair should be given at least 2 square feet, with line of sight broken between each pair (so, give or take, 2 pairs in a 5ft tank).

They should not be kept with other Pelvicachromis species, due to the risk of interbreeding and/or fighting, which can easily lead to fish being killed.

They are able to be kept as a single fish or pair in a community tank, with pencilfish, hatchetfish or even killifish and other fish that are large enough not to be eaten, but small enough not to eat the kribensis, and require the same conditions. Some of these fish are relatively peaceful and will fit easily into community tanks, others become extremely aggressive and will attack any other fish, including their partner, and are easily capable of killing them. They should be kept in a species only tank, with another tank as backup to separate them when necessary, particularly during spawning. They are far more likely to attack fish which swim in the same area (the bottom of the tank), such as bristlenose catfish.

In a biotype they could be kept with Norman Lampeye.

As with any fish they will eat any fish small enough to fit in their mouths, and equally can be eaten by any fish large enough to eat them. This should be taken into account when choosing tankmates.

Stocking plans can be checked with aqadvisor.com

Tank:
Minimum tank size is 2 ft for a pair.

They could be kept in a heavily planted tank with floating plants and open areas for swimming. Alternately they could be kept in a biotype. They appreciate multiple caves – either driftwood or ceramic pots are frequently used.

They need a sand or fine gravel substrate, as they dig holes to spawn in. This makes 2Tone’s DIY substrate ideal for a planted tank for them.

Confused with:
There are 8 recognised species in the genus:
Pelvicachromis humilis
Pelvicachromis pulcher - Rainbow Kribensis
Pelvicachromis roloffi
Pelvicachromis rubrolabiatus
Pelvicachromis signatus
Pelvicachromis silviae
Pelvicachromis subocellatus - Eye-spot Kribensis, Eye-spot Cichlid
Pelvicachromis taeniatus - Striped Kribensis, Nigerian Cichlid

Of these, P. pulcher, P. subocellatus & P. taeniatus are allowable imports to Australia under the current allowable import list (09/11/2013). Mistakes might be made regarding other species in the genus, or they may have been on previous allowable import lists. P. pulcher is the most commonly seen in the trade.

Pelvicachromis taeniatus has a more pronounced upper lip than others in the genus, often bright yellow in colour. Males have prominent outlining of the scales and a rounded, rather than spade-shaped, caudal fin.

There are over 12 type locations of P. taeniatus, defined by their location of origin. These should not be interbred. There is a list at the top of this page, under Names -AKA (also known as).

Pelvicachromis taeniatus are legal imports to Australia as of 9/11/2013 (list last updated 16/10/13):
http://www.environment.gov.au/system...mport-list.pdf

The IUCN Red List reports Pelvicachromis taeniatus as a species of least concern, with an unknown population trend, at 09/11/2013:
http://www.iucnredlist.org/search
http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/182648/0

It is very important not to release any aquarium specimens into our waterways. Any that are not sold or re-homed/ given away, can often be re-sold to aquarium stores. If they are homed in ponds, care should be taken that they cannot escape in run-off into our waterways. Even if fish are native & local they should not be moved from one waterway to another, as this can transfer disease. If they are not local fish, they can both spread disease and either out-compete or eat local fish, shrimp & plants, causing their demise.

They are good fish for beginners +1.

Relevant threads:
Advice & pics of various strains & species:
http://www.aquariumlife.com.au/showt...ight=taeniatus

Aggression between a potential pair:
http://www.aquariumlife.com.au/showt...ight=taeniatus

Setting up a tank for a pair:
http://www.aquariumlife.com.au/showt...ight=taeniatus

Spawning “dehane” with pics - Briztoon:
http://www.aquariumlife.com.au/showt...ight=taeniatus
http://www.aquariumlife.com.au/showt...ight=taeniatus
(this also contains links for checking type locations)

Tankmates:
http://www.aquariumlife.com.au/showt...ight=taeniatus

Type locations list - Fishchicks:
http://www.aquariumlife.com.au/showt...ight=taeniatus
http://www.aquariumlife.com.au/showt...ight=taeniatus

Pics and availability:
http://www.aquariumlife.com.au/showt...ight=taeniatus

References:

Fishbase:
http://www.fishbase.org/summary/8799

Seriously fish:
http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species...mis-taeniatus/

tfh magazine:
http://www.tfhmagazine.com/details/a...-conundrum.htm

Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelvicachromis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelvicachromis_taeniatus

Pics & threads with pics:


Photo thanks to watfish – Pelviacachromis taeniatus Dehane female


Photo thanks to watfish – Pelvicachromis Taeniatus Dehane male


Photo thanks to watfish – Pelviacachromis taeniatus Dehane female


Photo thanks to watfish – Pelviacachromis taeniatus Dehane female


Photo thanks to watfish – Pelviacachromis taeniatus Dehane female


Photo thanks to briztoon – Pelviacachromis taeniatus Dehane


Photo thanks to briztoon – Pelviacachromis taeniatus Dehane


Photo thanks to dachoo – Pelviacachromis taeniatus Kienke – male with fry


Photo thanks to dachoo – Pelviacachromis taeniatus Kienke – pair with fry


Photo thanks to Rod – Moliwe


Photo thanks to Rod – Nigerian red


Photo thanks to bettamuse – Nigerian red – male


Photo thanks to bettamuse – Nigerian red – female


Photo thanks to briztoon – Pelviacachromis taeniatus Ogele

Pics – briztoon
http://www.aquariumlife.com.au/showt...pelvicachromis

Pics – dachoo – “Kienke”
http://www.aquariumlife.com.au/showt...ot-Kienke-quot

Pics – Tucker - spawn
http://www.aquariumlife.com.au/showt...ight=taeniatus

Pics – watfish – “Dehane”
http://www.aquariumlife.com.au/showt...ight=taeniatus

DE
8/11/2013