malawi sand diver Posted February 13, 2014 Author Share Posted February 13, 2014 A progress report - the male is gaining size rapidly and is gobbling up a lot of live food. The female has started eating New Era rift lake red pellets but isn't in as good condition as the male although is doing OK. The male is a dominant fish and displays quite a bit to her. Lucky she can retreat to the safety of the rock modules whenever she wants. I am hoping the male will start getting his blue head soon, not sure at what age they acquire the blue head, but he seems to be getting better with age - showing a brighter yellow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myster619 Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 Hey mate, love the fish and the background.Nice Lethrinops too. What size did they start showing color? I have 5-7cm male Red Caps which are not showing any colors yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malawi sand diver Posted February 14, 2014 Author Share Posted February 14, 2014 Hi, thanks, your Lethrinops should be starting to show colour in another month or so, I have found they are slow growing to start with, but once they reach about 2cm bigger than your size, they grow a lot quicker. The larger ones contrary to what you will read, hold their own against similar sized malawi haps. I have 2 large males and 3 females at the moment and they spawn all the time. For some reason though, the females only hold a few days, I think they squabble with the other females a lot and for some reason they lose their eggs. Next time, I will be tumbling them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malawi sand diver Posted March 15, 2014 Author Share Posted March 15, 2014 The exo pair is doing well in my 10 foot tank. They are not an assertive fish so far, mostly interested in trying to hunt smaller fish but don't seem interested in bossing around fish their own size or on territories. The female has really imjporved her health and both fish now eating pellets with supplemented live food.Update pic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ged Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 Looking superb in the 10 footer. Rock modules really set the tank off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malawi sand diver Posted September 16, 2014 Author Share Posted September 16, 2014 Thanks Ged.An update on the pair. I started out with one large dominant one and one smaller one. I just assumed the bigger one was male since it was so dominant over the other one. It turns out the big one is female and the egg tube is just about to come down.The smaller one I am assuming is male - the one pictured in the most recent update pic. But as I have found with a lot of haps, the female seems to mature earlier than the male, she is trying to spawn with the male but maybe he is still too young - time will tell.The good news is that both are in great condition. They are being fed on a diet of NLS, rosy barbs and the occasional cherry shrimp.I know now that I definitely have a female and am assuming the smaller one is male, I will vent to be sure after this possible spawning activity and post some update pics as they have grown heaps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckmeister Posted September 21, 2014 Share Posted September 21, 2014 Good luck with the exo's. I had the colony that came in some years years ago but they had some mystery disease and I lost the colony. They are a great fish and both my wallet and myself were upset at their loss but happy to see them back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Link2Hell Posted September 21, 2014 Share Posted September 21, 2014 Chuckmeister your a blast from the past buddyhow have you been Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malawi sand diver Posted September 21, 2014 Author Share Posted September 21, 2014 Hi ChuckmeisterI remember reading your posts about them a while back, they were a rare fish back then aswell. My aim is to get them breeding and make them available in the hobby again - they should be in the same league as champs, buccos, fuscos etc in terms of availability since they are such a cool fish. I could only afford a pair and haven't seen any around since. I feel if I don't breed this pair there will be a slim chance that they will be available.So I've made it my mission to focus on them - I have a pair in my 10x2x2 and its interesting to see the male chase the female all over the tank. Its lucky they are in a 10 footer because just having the pair I think the less dominant one would get smashed in something less unless there was a larger colony. Did yours ever breed and if so, what was their spawning activity like?Regards, Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buccal Posted September 21, 2014 Share Posted September 21, 2014 Hey, if your able to ship these to Perth,,,,, I would buy a big bunch at 2cm for your price of 6cm.I've got a account with AAE.Of course your going to want to keep your first batch or two for security. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malawi sand diver Posted September 22, 2014 Author Share Posted September 22, 2014 OK no worries mate, I will keep you posted on the progress. I'll post a couple of pics of my tank when I get a chance aswell. I'm going to reconfigure the tank to keep less dominant tankmates with the exos to share their tank with so that the male exo becomes dominant and gets a blue head on him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buccal Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 Cheers,, hoping it all goes well, breeding a polygamist fish only in pairs is always a bit of hard work,,,,, to get numbers and zoning aggression,,,, good to see they're in a big tank for best results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckmeister Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 G'day Link, yeah I've been well mate. Been out of the hobby for quite some time now and only have my 8by3 left. Am looking at replacing my 6by2 sump with a couple of eheim 2260's and thought I'd pop by and see whats happening.Hey Rob, I did get one small spawn of about 20 but the fry contracted whatever the adult had. They seemed to get a small sore on the right side of the body and then just stopped eating until death. treatments didn't work so it was a slow process of watching my colony die. With the first spawn I gave a few people some fry in the hope that they would survive but they didn't unfortunately. They seemed to breed like any malawi and the male was not overly agressive.Bad pictures I'm sorry but its all I have of them..this one is of mum holdinghttp://smg.photobucket.com/user/Chuckmeister/media/Anagenysgirl.jpg.html?sort=3&o=114Chuck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckmeister Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 for some reason the last img tag didn't work... here is the last pic of mum holding Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malawi sand diver Posted September 23, 2014 Author Share Posted September 23, 2014 Wow, thanks for the photos - great fish you had there. They looked to be in great condition back then aswell. How big did they get?For some reason I think the exos seem sensitive to disease, I have read that elsewhere. When I first got mine, they both had internal parasites and I had to treat them both in a separate 4x2x2 tank with dosed food and powder. And for some reason they didn't eat pellets in those early days, I had to raise them on live food so it was a challenge initially. But one day they took a liking to NLS and have since blossomed. Interesting in that last shot that the female has a blue coloured head - I never knew the females got a blue head.They are hard to sex by appearance alone. Mine are still only about 15cm (half the size of what they will become).One is taller than the other and bigger and one is more slender and smaller with less egg spots. I am pretty sure they are a pair but I will vent them before the major auction to be 100%.True that the heterospecific agression is low for such a big malawi predator. But the conspecific agression seems pretty high. For that reason, since I only have the pair, tankmate selection is important.I am planning the ideal tankmate selection for them and have so far come up with a mix of fish that the exos are dominant over. Mylochromis Lateristriga Makanjila is an ideal choice IMO, I have a pair of them in with them. I also currently have a small trio of 7 bar frontosa that they are dominant over. Then there is a trio of placidochromis phenochilus white lip mdoka that don't bother them. But I am thinking I need a boss that will diffuse his agression slightly towards the single female, so I will kepp a red empress pair in with them. Then observe the tank dynamics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Link2Hell Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 always welcome here Chuck great series of picsthe disease sounds like one that went through Electric Yellowswhere it started as a red spot and just grows till that and themstopping eating finished themI think they end up using an strong antibiotic the clear it up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ged Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 always welcome here Chuck great series of picsthe disease sounds like one that went through Electric Yellowswhere it started as a red spot and just grows till that and themstopping eating finished themI think they end up using an strong antibiotic the clear it upWholehearted agree with everything L2H said.I think there were some photos of the Yellows here somewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malawi sand diver Posted September 24, 2014 Author Share Posted September 24, 2014 Here are some progress shots of my 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buccal Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 The whole lot looks great,,,, nice tank and fish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckmeister Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 The females dont actually get blue heads but they have a blue hue in the scale that the camera flash picks up.Nice big tank you have for them..they will be loving the space Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tankmalawi Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 Here are some progress shots of my 2Very nice fish I would die for one , any updates? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n3wbi3 Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 May I ask what the going price is for a fish this rare?Updates would be great plz. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malawi sand diver Posted January 7, 2015 Author Share Posted January 7, 2015 Hi guysSorry its been a while since I updated the thread. I have some great news to share - we have some fry! The first time they spawned, the female spat or swallowed 3 days in.The second time they spawned, I stripped the female 4 hours after the event and tumbled the eggs carefully. This is the first time I have stripped this early and I don't normally do that, but this was an exception.Anyway, I now have 16 fry in a grow out tank. I am going to put all fry back into the 10 foot tank and grow a colony to go forth and multiply.My tank will have those and mdoka white lips in it. Should be an interesting tank when they approach adulthood. They are such an awesome fish, the pair is getting huge now and it will be great to have gold females instead of the usual silver malawi hap females for a change. I will post some update pics soon, I have been flat out with a new job doing ridiculous hours of writing code but I will update as soon as things settle.Regarding the price I got the 10cm pair for 300 bucks from interstate originally, I tried to get more shortly afterwards but they were not available. There were issues other people had raising the fry from that generation so these could be the only ones in Oz.But rest assured they are in good hands, as I write this, the male is shaking his stuff in the corner of my tank and I think they will be ready to spawn again in another couple of weeks.Reagrds, Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tankmalawi Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Well done! Can't wait to see some pictures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craigo Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Excellent work, I have Really enjoyed this thread have fun chasing the girl out of the 10 foot tank? ? J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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