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Protomelas sp.steveni "Taiwan Reef"


Cichlabxr

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Hi ,

In my 6x2 I have C.afras , Pseudo mpanga, Yellows, burtoni,lithobates,acei and the taiwan reef. They were all bought at about 3-4cms in January. The lithobates and taiwan reef have been the slowest to colour up ..I now have a dominant lithobate showing good colour but the taiwan reef..nothing. I have heard that in a community tank where you have more than one male in the Protomelas they can take a while to show colour. Apart from removing them and venting them are there other ways to tell how many males I have. ie early colouration on finnage etc or size . Should I seperate them? Wondering if I have any males at all.

Any advice would be appreciated .

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Patience is the key, they should be getting close if they were 3-4cm in Jan. In about 1-2 months you should be able to tell. They are slow growing to start, the fry are very small when they hatch from the eggs compared to other protomelas, but once they hit a size where yours are now, they grow a lot quicker.

Males start to develop blue in the cheek area. Males also seem to be a bit darker with their black stripes early on. Having more than one male will encourage them to colour up earlier.

Regards, Rob

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They can take ages to colour, particularly if they aren't dominant. Uncoloured males will have a bit of red in the anal fin and tinged of blue on the face.

In my colony I have 5 males and 5 females. Two males are coloured.

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I had over 20 in my colony as they got bigger and bigger more and more males showed up and females also get blue in the face very light

Your fish sound like all the ones I breed:) you getting mouthfuls of burtoni yet

?

Cheers

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Hi Lithoman,

Mouthfuls of burtoni.. yep they are like rabbits. :lol5: just as you said. Also one of the lithobates is looking exceptional..very happy with ALL my fish thanks . They are all extremely healthy.

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