Lichnochromis

[malawi sand diver]

Hi all

Here is a shot of my dominant Lichno

Regards, Rob

[Ged]

Beautiful Lichnochromis acuticeps Rob.

How big is he?

[mattrox]

Awesome fish

[firthy13]

i have seen this fish in person. photos don't do it justice!

[malawi sand diver]

Thanks guys, I wake up every morning and go downstairs and hand feed him. He nips the pellets from between my fingers like he would be crevice feeding in the wild.

He is getting up around the 25cm mark now. I reckon he still could grow another 25-30%. Because he is the dominant fish in the tank he is coloured up all the time like that now, and when he is showing off to a female (which is pretty often) he loses the dark diagonal line and gets bright blue barring on the flanks.

[daci]

hi malawi sand diver

beautiful fish you've got there

i wanna have a crack at this sp myself and wondering if you could give me some pointers eg, tank size, care, and breeding these beauties.

i saw this info below and wondering what the author mean by 'seasonal spawners'. I could not find any info on 'breeding' when google so i figured you might able to help.

here is the link

http://www.perthcichlid.com.au/forum/index.php?showtopic=42095

thank you

daci

[malawi sand diver]

Hi mate

Thanks for that, I highly recommend you try this species. I have kept many types of cichlids and these guys are my favourites. In Perth there are a couple of breeders of Acuticeps that have had recent spawns, but currently they are rare here in the East.

The main thing with this species is that although they look like a mean predator - e.g. champsochromis/dimidiochromis, they are actually nowhere near as agressive as those.

Therefore the selection of tank mates is very important.

For example, I have mine in with 7 White lipped mdoka, 10 electric yellows, 4 red zebra, 1 Taiwan Reef in a 10x2x2. I have rocks at one end of the tank where the smaller sized mbuna live and the Lichno male hangs out in the other half of the tank with no rocks, where he defends a pit in that corner of the tank of open water without rocks where his boundary is defined by a couple of rocks about 4 foot away from the side. the rock on the edge of the 4 foot is like a channel marker - as soon as any fish stray past that he chases them out.

I currently have 6 Acuticeps in there including one larger female that he is showing off to. I have had a couple of spawns and one female held, the other swallowed at 12 days. The female he is showing off to at the moment is showing real promise, she held recently for the first time but it didn't work out, however I think they will spawn regularly for me in the coming months the way they are behaving now.

Regarding the seasonal spawning comment, I don't think they would be different to any other Malawi cichlid, in that they would be more likely to spawn after the rains when the water flows into the lake, so doing a water change may trigger the spawn. But I think if you provide the right conditions for them they should spawn regularly. Like a lot of other cichlids, once they start spawning, they get the hang of it and spawn regularly.

The main things are having a big enough tank (something 6 foot wide or over) with at least 2 foot depth and being careful about what you house them with. If I bring home a fish that is dominant over him, e.g. peacock, that fish will have to get out of the tank. I let the male Taiwan Reef be boss of one corner and the Lichno is the boss of the other corner. The Lichno's territory is 5 foot from the edge leaving the other 5 foot for the other fish. The fish such as white lip mdoka, rostratus, buccochromis and other open water haps seems to swim all over the tank and don't hold a particular territory. These would be OK tank mates provided they are smaller and less dominant.

Hope this helps. Keep me posted if you end up getting some Lichnos.

Regards, Rob

[malawi sand diver]

e.g. here is a video of my tank I shot recently with the lights out

[Ged]

In the lake their diet is mainly insectivorous but will prey on small Mbuna. In the aquarium they are not aggressive towards small cichlids.

I wonder if the reference to seasonal nature of spawning is to their habit in the lake and then does it coincided with the insect hatches in the lake.

[Ged]

Great to see him in action.

The video also demonstrates your aquascaping.

[malawi sand diver]

That's interesting, I hadn't made the connection between them being an insectivore and their compatibility with smaller fish. Makes sense.

Yeah it could be tied to the seasonal insect hatchings and the stages of the larvae. The last spawn I got was late last year and now I got another one just recently around the same time, so I guess it would be Spring to early Summer when it starts warming up when I have had luck. It will be interesting to see what happens through the seasons.

In Lake Jindabyne, I turn over rocks and find dragonfly nymph and other larvae that the trout feed on. In this video, you can see the Acuticeps in the wild flip onto their side - the lateral compression allows them to slide underneath the rocks and possibly get similar insect larvae.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNlbDOyRiME

[daci]

Thanks heaps malawi sand diver for such an informative post.

If this community has a cichlid profile section I would highly recommend for the above post to be included in there for the Lichnochromis acuticeps. Seriously I have search far and wide but all come up with the standard fish profile similar to cichlidforum that everyone else seems to copied and pasted from. To hear from the keeper, breeder, and the enthusiast hobbyist like you on this sp. is GOLD.

It’s interesting to hear your theory regarding to the insectivorous Ged. I have to get hold of some to see if this theory can be applied to an aquarium environment. By the look at things this can take years but you know what I would love to give it a go especially when the author from my previous post mentioned that this sp. is a challenge to breed:

They are notoriously difficult to get to breed and hold... some suggest they are seasonal spawners, so if you miss it, you have to wait until they get in the mood again... This is a factor that makes these guys a valuable fish to breed - they will never be over supplied, so they will hold their resale value for years to come, not like other easy to breed species - one of a few of the characteristics that make them popular with experienced hobbyists.

malawi sand diver, from my reading there are two variants of Lichnochromis acuticeps! What are your thoughts on this?

[malawi sand diver]

Hi Daci

There does appear to be 2 variants, but we only have one type here in Australia.

The variant we have here has a more rounded head and the lower jaw protrudes more. It looks the nicer of the 2 variants from the photos I have seen.

The other variant's upper jaw nearly juts out as much as the lower jaw, and is more of a V shape. The lips appear more fleshier on the other variant.

If you looks at another photo of a pair of mine below, see how the male's lower jaw juts out much more than the upper and the area above the eye is rounded down to the point of the upper jaw.

The diagonal line melanin pattern is also broken.

Now with the other variant, the area between the top of the eye and the upper jaw is a straight line, not rounded and the upper jaw is nearly in line with the lower jaw. The lips seem more fleshy and the diagonal melanin pattern is an unbroken straight line.

Regards, Rob

[daci]

hi MSD

thanks for your thought!

below are couple of me fushes, i think i have a male and a female.

i have also have a few more that i could not work out their sex.

I will have the pics up later to see if you could help.

btw, what happen to those fries last season...i might need some more just in case 'sh!t hit the fan'

[malawi sand diver]

Very nice mate, congrats on the aquisition!!! How big are the pair?

I will be able to help you determine the sex. The smaller males tend to get darker barring and will be bigger.

The first spawn of 5 I had are growing larger now around the 11cm length, but they have taken a long time to reach that size. The females have a real pecking order between themselves when they get bigger and they will constantly squabble amongst themselves. I have my large pair plus 4 of the juvies (1male, 3 female) in my tank at present.

I'd be interested to see a pic of the rest of your acuticeps, its good to see another colony around.

Regards, Rob

[Jason130497]

That is one of the most awesome fish i have ever seen! Is it a lake malawi species?

[malawi sand diver]

Hi Jason, cheers mate they come from Lake Malawi - one variant from the Malawi side and another from the Tanzania side (the ones we have in in Aus)

[firthy13]

is there much variation between the two rob?

[malawi sand diver]

There are slight differences, we only have the Tanzania one here. The main way to tell the difference is in the Malawi ones, they have more of a pointed head. The upper jaw juts out the same length as the lower jaw to form a "V". Whereas with our ones (Tanzania) the lower jaw juts out further than the upper, like a sockeye salmon. The area above the eye is rounded down to the end of the upper jaw. Other than than, their colouring is similar except the diagonal line melanin pattern seems more unbroken in the Malawi side ones from the photos I have seen. However, I have also seen photos where Malawi individuals appear to have a broken line. e.g. In this link, all of the photos you see are form Malawi except the first one which is our one from Tanzania.

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=1127

Yuoj will also notice they have an incorrect photo - the "Subadult specimen" photo actually looks to be Mylochromis. Mylochromis Lateristriga are a close relative, although Lichnochromis is sitting in its own genus at the moment.

[Jason130497]

Wow stunning fish!

Tanks bigger than five foot though for them?

[firthy13]

malawi sand diver keeps his in a 10 foot tank. they do get big and need a fair bit of room. atleast a 6x2x2.

[Jason130497]

Woah a 10 ft that's huge!

[daci]

hi MSD,

They are currently in a 6 x2.5 x 2,5

below are three of the smaller fish that i could not work out their sex. They are averaging 12cm+

then i saw the egg tube hanging on the largest confirmed female the other day so i knew i have done something right so far ;D

then last nite she spawn with the confirmed male.

but this morning all the eggs GONE.... :lol5:

so...now i know why there ain't many of these around hence their prize tag.

it also confirmed that this Sp. is 'notorious difficult to breed and hold'

oh well the waiting game is on again but i strongly believe that i will crack the code one day!

edit: 'interesting breeding behaviour

- The male waiting in the cave instead dancing around like other Tangs and Malawis that i came across in the past.

- He just wait there till the female ready to come and tango. He is however on occasion (but rarely) swim out and chase others but spend most of his courtship waiting the the cave.

[malawi sand diver]

Mate they are awesome, great shot of the male in the cave. Your male is showing a really nice greenish colour. Very interesting behaviour, my male does like to hang around in his pit and as soon as the female comes near, struts his stuff.

I took a shot of my male's nest. The pit furthest from the side is between 1-1.5 feet in width. There is also one in the corner. He uses this to spawn in.

Regarding your photos, the third one down is definitely a male. You can tell by the egg spots, the slight blueish tinge or sheen it has on its scales - the part where the barring is is darker aswell. The dorsal fin is also longer at the back. It may keep this colouration for a while, since there is a bigger dominant male in there.

2nd one down looks to be female. She is silvery and no egg spot, less darker barring. Has a clear anal fin. Dorsal not as pointed.

1st one a bit harder to tell from the shot but I'm leaning toward female, fins not pointed, no egg spots.

Congrats on the spawn even though she didn't hold. They are challenging and that's part of the fun. They have very large eggs, so at that size may only have 10 or less eggs. Hopefully they will spawn again for you, interested in any updates.

Regards, Rob

[Ged]

Excellent photos Daci and great to see that they are spawning. Hopefully better luck next time.