TimB Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 Hello everyone! I just had a peak in one of my local LFS's and got my first glimpse at these beautiful fish (C. furficer). It was love at first sight ! I just have some basic questions about them that I'm sure you guys could help me out with.-Is sandy substrate essential, or can fine gravel work too? -Tankmates?-How do more peaceful malawi haps go with them?-Male to female ratio?Much appreciated,Cheers Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 Hi Tim,IMO sand, be it beach sand or the finest coral sand is best. I have seen adults on gravel before and while they still pit etc it is nothing like what they will build given the correct substrate. They ones I saw the males also had damaged lips which could have been due to fighting but I put down to the substrate.Depending on the ratio M:F and tank size I am going to say a pleco or bristlenose and that's all. I had 2 males and 4 females in my original colony in a 6x2x2. The two males took an end each and kept the females in the center of the tank except when feeding or spawning. If you were to put anything else in the tank with them they will be rounded up to the center of the tank. Depending on what that tank mate is it might not like that idea and flog the finnage of the furcifer.Are we talking a tank bigger than 6x2x2? My males nests were 2 foot square and about 10 inches deep, doesn't leave much room for anything else in the tank. Here is an old pic of two males over one of their pits. It is a 6x2x2 tank with 40kg of coral sand. There was no sand in the middle of the tank it was all at one end or the other. During water changes I would knock the pits down and the next day they were back. It was the only way the girls could get a break from the boys was while they were rebuilding their pits.Two males worked best for me and 4-6 females in a 6x2x2. If your looking at a smaller tank 1 male and 3-4 females in a 4x2x2 would work but nothing smaller in my opinion.Now I want to go out and buy a new tank and some foai. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 Here's some video ViS took back in 2002, shows have huge the pit gets. I had added some rocks at this stage to try and keep some coral sand in the center of the tank, didn't work.Sorry about the video quality, it was 2002. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E4G13M4N Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 Now I want to go out and buy a new tank and some foai.You know you really want to Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimB Posted January 19, 2014 Author Share Posted January 19, 2014 Thanks for the info ben! Beautiful fish by the way.The tank they would go into would be a 6x1x1.5 (lxbxh) I don't want them as breeders just display fish, is this possible? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firthy13 Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 If you don't have females and he is not the dominant fish in the tank he will not show any color. When the males are not displaying and trying to breed he goes silver like the girls.These really are a single-species tank type of fish. You don't get the full experience if your not breeding them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shannon Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 Thanks for the info ben! Beautiful fish by the way.The tank they would go into would be a 6x1x1.5 (lxbxh) I don't want them as breeders just display fish, is this possible? The tank really is too narrow to house the fish adequately, an alternative could be aulonocranus dewindti. The still dig pits only on a smaller scale and aren't as sensitive as cyathopharynx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimB Posted January 19, 2014 Author Share Posted January 19, 2014 Thanks for the info firthy, look like I'm gonna have to give them a miss. Oh well, it's a good thing I asked about them so i didn't house them incorrectly. Shannon I'll look into aulonocranus, Are they readily available? What are their requirements? Eg. Tankmates, male to females etc. I'm happy to get females, the reason I was after the furcifer's was only for a mixed display tank, which I would have females in anyway, i just didn't want to raise any fry. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shannon Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 Dewindti are readily available throughout Sydney and are more robust than furcifer so you could house them with some less aggressive species. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buccal Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 Thanks for the info ben! Beautiful fish by the way.The tank they would go into would be a 6x1x1.5 (lxbxh) I don't want them as breeders just display fish, is this possible?You have to treat them as if you are breeding them to make them keep presenting their amazing colors.Definetely two males amongst females keep the colors locked in better.Sure you can keep them many different ways,,,, but as Ben has illustrated is the way to get the best out of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimB Posted January 20, 2014 Author Share Posted January 20, 2014 ok thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosco Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 Great looking fish Ben. I still remember Lauries and they were specular. Still the best variant going around imho Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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