long over due tank updates. warning. very pic heavy

i've been slacking big time on keeping up on the forum and photographing new fish i have picked up and showing the growth of others. just thought i'd do a little show and tell. this is gonna be really pic heavy. sorry if it takes a while to load. first i did a couple orders of Tanganyikan cichlids last summer and i'm happy to say they are all currently breeding.

Neolamprologus Leleupi orange variant
mom[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
dad[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Neolamprologus Pulcher "Daffodil Cichlid"[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Lamprologus Brevis Kitumba "yellow belly" [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Lamprologus Caudopunctatus "Caudopunks" or "Punks" i actually wound up with 3 pairs of these in my 40B. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Lamprologus Multifasciatus "Multies" [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

i also picked up some Julidochromis Ornatus from one of the better LFSs in Spokane Aquarium Solutions. no babies yet though. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

i got rid of my Ps. Acei that were not breeding in my Mbuna tank recently and replaced them with 7 F1 Cynotilapia Afra white top Hara Gallireya reef and 1 Wild caught male from a local breeder. he threw in the WC male because he was afraid his alpha male in his WC breeding colony was going to kill him. i usually don't buy wild caught cichlids but since this one was going to get murdered and was absolutely beautiful i took him in. hopefully they will stat spawning soon.

WC male in front[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
F1s[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

my F1 frontosa Kigoma alpha male i named Alph is getting really big.......and a nice hump too. i got him and 3 others from Bassetman a couple years ago. still waiting on a spawn.
Alph[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

here's a pic of one of my other F1 Kigomas i am growing out form a different blood line to breed with Alph someday with a few of my Cyps which i also got from Bassetman in the background.[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

my F1 Gibberosa Moba colony are also getting quite large. still waiting on a spawn from these guys too. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Finally my Adorable little polka dotted F1 Tropheus Duboisi Maswa colony have grown up and have their adult colors now. i'm seeing a lot of breeding behavior and dancing from the males but i don't think the females are ready to breed quite yet. hopefully soon. before and after.
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wow, that took a while. that's it for now folks. hope you enjoy.

Very nice selection of fishes there Iandraco. All those tangs look stunning. I have never raised any of those. I love those Neolamprologus Pulcher "Daffodil Cichlid"s and your tropheus colonies look awesome too. Also the Cynotilapia Afra white top Hara Gallireya reef are gorgeous.

Thanks for sharing. It's really nice to see your fish.

Very nice! Good job with your fish they really are looking good.

They all look great. Glad you posted them!

Your leleupi look just like mine. Does your pair have a tank to themselves? It's so nice and clean!

Wow. Looking good.

Great pics! I really like the lamprologus. What size tanks so you keep yours in? I have tried African cichlids a few different times, but have always lost interest...... Maybe it's because I've never raised any of those.... Thanks for sharing!

Good job with those awesome fish. Love the afras in particular!

Impressive landraco. Cannot name a fav here they are all very nice. One thing that pops in my head and I searched your pictures for like 5 minutes searching for - ALGAE! There is none (or very little). Everything is pristine. Did you just do some massive overhaul or something, or do you have some sort of secrete to keeping everything clean?

Nice. Caudopunks are the one rift species I've always wanted to keep, but rarely see them available. Plus, I don't like messing with tap water if I can avoid it.

Wholey cow your fish look so amazingly healthy and your tanks are so stinking CLEAN! Give us some tips on how you do it?! Do you just clean everything really well frequently. I don't see any algae or anything remotely close to being dirty. Amazing fish and anyone would be lucky to get some fry off your spawns! Nice job!

Those are some really nice looking Leleupi you've got there. I need to breed some of those. I always find pale yellow ones

Love the Gibberosa, would love to have a colony of them some day.

wow. thanks for all the complements everyone. i really do love my fish and i spend a lot of time caring for them. i really don't have a whole lot of secrets on keeping tanks clean. i just put in the hard work. i've been told i'm a rare breed because i don't mind doing my water changes and tank maintenance. i probably spend a good 12 hours a week doing water changes. my Aqueon water changer (similar to a Python) is my best friend. there's no way i could maintain 20+ tanks without it. on most of my tanks i change 30-70% of my water weekly depending on how many fish are in the tank and the bio load. some people say i'm crazy for doing frequent big water changes but it's necessary when keeping lots of fish in a tank. i don't buffer my water at all. i am lucky my tap water has a PH of 7.8 so no buffering is necessary for my Africans. i only add Seachem Safe (powder version of Prime) to my water(i pre mix it in an old Prime bottle). i significantly over filter my breeding tanks. on my smaller tanks i use Aqua Clear (now rebranded as Fluval) hob filters with a sponge pre filter as well as a regular sponge filter. on my larger tanks i do the same but also add a canister filter. i wring out my sponges from my AC filters on every water change in a bucket of tank water. i clean my sponge filters and canister filters roughly every 2 months. this keeps my tanks crystal clear all the time. if algae builds up on the class i scrape it off with a razor blade. probably do this every few weeks. i have algae issues like everyone else at times. usually my plecos take care of it but i have a few tanks where my breeding cichlids wont tolerate any tank mates. My Daffodil and Julidochromis Marlieri have killed several BN plecos so their tanks are the ones i have the most algae in. i add MTS snails to these tanks to keep the substrate clean but i have to scrape the glass often. i had some really thick redish brown algae covering my entire 3d background in my Daffodil tank recently that i could not get rid of until my light fixture went out on me. i picked up a used light fixture which had a moonlight bulb in it and put it on the tank and now the algae is slowly vanishing. i was going to change the bulb but i thought it looked cool so i left it. apparently the algae doesn't like it. i am thankful for that happy accident. sometimes i get that blue green bacterial algae in tanks and i have a secret weapon for it. there's a product called Chemiclean for saltwater tanks that is supposed to knock out red cyanobacteria. turns out it works great in fresh water tanks for blue green bacterial algae too. just follow the dose on the box. in 2 weeks the algae will be gone with no harm to your fish and plants. that's about it for tank maintenance. lots of filtration and lots of water changes.

Betty wrote:They all look great.  Glad you posted them!

Your leleupi look just like mine.  Does your pair have a tank to themselves?  It's so nice and clean!

the pair in the pics have their own 20L as of last week. they have had 2 big spawns recently and were harassing everyone in my 40B Tang community tank. had to give them their own home before major problem arose. i have 4 others who are still in the community tank.

lloyd378 wrote:Great pics!  I really like the lamprologus.  What size tanks so you keep yours in? I have tried African cichlids a few different times, but have always lost interest...... Maybe it's because I've never raised any of those.... Thanks for sharing!

mostly 20Ls and 20Ts for pairs. i have about 15 multis in a 16. same footprint as a 20t just shorter. they like to be in groups. Brevis are in a 10g. i also have 3 pairs of caudopunks in a 40B. each pair has claimed and defends a 1' section of the tank and they are all spawning.

dwarfpike wrote:Nice. Caudopunks are the one rift species I've always wanted to keep, but rarely see them available. Plus, I don't like messing with tap water if I can avoid it.

thanks. they're a really fun species to keep. if your tap water is at least 7.8 PH you should not have to buffer at all. i don't. their fry are really sensitive to water changes ime. theirs is the one tank that i don't do many water changes in. even a 10% change kills all of my fry if they are smaller than 1/4". they are born tiny and grow really slow. i only change the water in the tank about every 2 months. i just put lots of plants in the tank to keep nitrate levels from getting too high and clean out my filter media regularly in a bucket of tank water from another tank. i'm a water change aholic so it's really hard for me to leave their tank alone. that might be a perk for some people though.

Aquarium Co-Op wrote:Those are some really nice looking Leleupi you've got there. I need to breed some of those. I always find pale yellow ones

thanks. if you are interested in some of my fry i can make you a deal on some and ship them to you in a few month when they are large enough. i love the yellow ones too. if i ever move into a bigger house and have room i would like to get some and breed them as well. leleupi add a great splash of color to any Tang tank. one of my favorites.

Madness wrote:Love the Gibberosa, would love to have a colony of them some day.  

Thanks Madness. my Mobas are my absolute favorite fish. they've grown a great deal in the last couple years. my largest is currently about 8.5" at the moment. my avitar is a pic of one of them as a 1" fry. i absolutely love them.

iandraco wrote:

Betty wrote:They all look great.  Glad you posted them!

Your leleupi look just like mine.  Does your pair have a tank to themselves?  It's so nice and clean!

the pair in the pics have their own 20L as of last week.  they have had 2 big spawns recently and were harassing everyone in my 40B Tang community tank.  had to give them their own home before major problem arose.  i have 4 others who are still in the community tank.  

My leleupi pair are in a 20L also and they've been there for nearly 5 years now.  Breeding is slowing down, but they still spawn from time to time.

Beautiful tanks!! Wow!

iandraco wrote:thanks.  they're a really fun species to keep.  if your tap water is at least 7.8 PH you should not have to buffer at all.

Our water is more suitable for Westies out of the tap than rift cichlids. When I lived in spokompton, I switched from SA to CA cichlids for the same reason, I hate messing with water, but since moving back I switched back to the lower pH cichlids.