mezzacam Posted February 26, 2005 Share Posted February 26, 2005 I currently have 5 of them in a 4ft on their own. The ratio is 1 male - 4 Females. I was just wondering, On what yous think about the ratio for breeding lombardoi in a 4ft. 4 Girls seems to be alright at the moment, But they are still small (4-6cm)... SO i don't know how many girls to eventually stop at, (5 or 6 girls) or whether to just stick with 4... What do yous think ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TropheusQueen Posted February 26, 2005 Share Posted February 26, 2005 Hey hey, Most Pseudotropheus do well with a 1:4 ratio. Increasing the harem doesn't always necessarily mean that the male will spawn with all of them The boys will have their favourites Your tank is large enough to house a few more females if you so wish, or another compatible species of fish which hopefully will not interbreed. Sometimes adding another species provides sufficient competition to generate breeding behaviour. Like most mbuna the lombardoi is not a placid fish but with sufficient tank decor for the females to take cover if needed, they seem to do okay. My colony 3:7 is in a 6x2x2 with a number of large Malawans to keep them company and they are pussycats . Cheers Aline Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canerod Posted February 27, 2005 Share Posted February 27, 2005 gday mezzacam I bred 1m and 4f in a std 3 ft tank about 2 years ago in a species only tank, and they got on quite well in there.I only kept them in there till they got to about 75-80mm, as i dont think the tank would have been big enough to keep them successfully to full size. You need to remember that lombardi are very high on the agro scale and that includes the females toward each other, as they stake out mini territories within the male territory. With regard to adding more fish to the tank, whether they are lombardi or something else of equal agro level, you will need to make sure that the existing fish cannot recognise the territories that they have set up, otherwise they will go homicidal on the invaders and death and serious injury are almost guaranteed. hth Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mezzacam Posted February 27, 2005 Author Share Posted February 27, 2005 Yeah, I've kept Lombardoi before, And yeah, I've got 1m, 4f at the moment. I'm just going to stick with this for the time being and see how it goes. Thanks all for your help. Cameron. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ant Posted February 27, 2005 Share Posted February 27, 2005 Cam, i had 1 male 6 females (Adults) in a 5ft tank, the male always had at least 3 females holding, and on a few occasions had all 6 females holding (when the male had become hyper dominant). I think 5 or 6 females is ideal. 4 you can get away with . Anthony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mezzacam Posted February 28, 2005 Author Share Posted February 28, 2005 Okay, I think i'll try find a couple more quality females, And maybe also a new male (To make sure of true different bloods) Also, Tank set-up.... At the moment the tank has sand as substrate, and rocks to make caves. The rocks are not stacked to the top of the tank but are just low laying on the ground. I was just wondering how you others have had your tanks set-up for optimal breeding... Would yous consider lombardoi to be kind of like Tropheus? More the merrier to spread out aggression? (I've been thinking about the situation and how to try limit agression problems) Just wondering about your ideas about, Say having at one end of the tank a little rock pile (The males territory) And having the rest of the tank bare (Bare bottom also) with floating black pieces of pipe on the surface (For holding females or fish that need a rest to hide in) Doing this would only allow the male to obtain a territory, and force the females to have no territory... Kind of like tropheus i guess, lol. I am not planning on doing this, But just a thought that crossed my mind... But yeah, How did yous have your tanks set-up for that amount of females? (6 - 8) I just don't want to stuff this colony up like i did my first one (The first fish i ever kept) So i'm trying to get as much information as i can before they get to breeding size... Also, At what sizes did your females start to breed? As i was watching my fish just before for 5 minutes and i was closely inspecting the females, And my 2 bigger girls are starting to fatten a fair bit up in the belly. The 2 largest females are 5-6cm and the Male is 7 - 7.5cm... Any information and ideas would be greatly appreciated. Cameron. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rol&Jas Posted March 1, 2005 Share Posted March 1, 2005 I agree with Aline, lombardois are not placid species especially when they are getting bigger. 1 male and 4 female ratio is perfect for breeding, but 5 mbuna in a tank is not a good ratio. I would also suggest to have other compatible fishes in the tank, that will not interbreed with them. I would recommend to keep at least 15 fishes in the 4 foot tank, otherwise the 5 lombardoi will decimate each other eventually. Roland Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mezzacam Posted March 1, 2005 Author Share Posted March 1, 2005 Can anyone reccomend a compatable fish that won't interbreed? That could stand up to the lombardoi? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ged Posted March 1, 2005 Share Posted March 1, 2005 I believe that you should be able to put the following in with your lombardoi and they should be able to hold their own against them. Melanochromis auratus Cynotilapia afra Labeotropheus trewavasae I think the key factor is put in species that are dis-similar to each other. Gerard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mezzacam Posted March 1, 2005 Author Share Posted March 1, 2005 So i should, in theory be able to keep Cynotilapia afra with 5 Lombardoi (1m, 4F, when they are breeding size) in a 4ft? Well if that's the case, How many Afras could i place in there? (And at what ratio, The tnak will be for the Lombardoi to breed) But if the afra decide to breed then i guess it'll be a bonus. Cameron. (Sorry for all the questions, i just don't want to stuff this up, lol.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ant Posted March 1, 2005 Share Posted March 1, 2005 Cam i got away with having just the 5 fish as i had a slate pile from one end of the tank to the other, the male dominated one end and the females had plenty of hiding places to get away from the male and each other. I also had PVC pipe attached with suction caps near the surface of the water (same concept as using Ag pipe) and had some PVC hiddenbhind rocks. The other thing i also did was move the rockwork around if i noticed the male becoming hyperdominant. Or i removed the male to another tank for a few days to let all the brooding females settle. Here is the tank setup i was using: (this was when i had brichardi but the setup was similar) http://www.sydneycichlid.com/gallery/album...rdi_species.jpg Anthony PS: Most other tank mates won't breed in with the lombardoi, at one stage i had Adult e-blues in the tank and they wouldn't breed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rol&Jas Posted March 2, 2005 Share Posted March 2, 2005 You can keep afras with lombardois, but do not forget that they will not grow bigger than 8-10cm while lombardois can reach 15cm, but that should still be OK. I kept a variety cichlids with them in the past when I used to breed them, like Labeotropheus fuelleborni (this fish is very similar to the trewavasae except it grows bigger), Melanochromis chipokae even kept Pseuodtropheus elongatus "gold bar" with them for a while and they were breeding side by side without crossbreeding. You could also keep L. hongis, M. maingano, M. interruptus, Ps. acei etc. I personally do not like to keep just a few fishes in a big tank. Reason 1: The agression will be extremely high. Reason 2: The fishes would always hide. Reason 3: I do not like empty tanks. Roland Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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