Chromogynos and Nubilus

[autoxevo]

I have 6 of each being shipped on monday. Anyone have experiance with these guys? There not my first Vics, I have 44's and pseudo rock pickers. And no, nobody is being mixed ;)

[Matt V]

I have a tank of the little chromogynos monsters. (my avatar is my dominant male).

What ratio are you getting? They get meaner and meaner as time goes by, but they (usually) keep it amongst themselves. Occiasonally, one of them will get into it with a Hap. sp. Blue Bar that they share their tank with, but that's pretty rare. Keep them on a regular schedule of water changes and lights on/lights off and feedings. I find that with these guys especially, deviations in routine tend to correlate directly with them killing something.

what else you looking to know? i've had mine about a year and a half now.

they're great fish. my dominant male is just spectacular when he's in the mood. good choice! :ok:

[autoxevo]

I have no idea on the ratio yet, they're unsexed juvi fish. I was just looking for general stuff that would be specific to the species, kinda like what you gave me as far as the strict routine

[StructureGuy]

Much of what Matt just said also applies to Astatotilapia nubila (no longer Haplochromis nubilus). The dominant male is jet black with bright red fins. All other nubila are usually dull black fading to grey.

I kept them in a 40 long and it wasn't really big enough. They fought with eachother constantly but I only had four (2M:2F) My dominant male killed the subdominant male and harrassed the females constantly. Small but feisty.

Kevin

[autoxevo]

well hopefully I luck out with a good ratio! mine will be going into 40 breeders, so maybe the larger foot print will help?

[Matt V]

Originally posted by autoxevo
And no, nobody is being mixed ;)

Actually, you could proabably go ahead and mix those two. Chromogynos females are so unlike the nubila females that there really isn't much chance of a cross. Also, once you see them, the chromos are rather differently shaped. I keep my chromogynos with other vics and like i said, they ignore eachother almost (almost) entirely.

[Matt V]

Originally posted by autoxevo
well hopefully I luck out with a good ratio! mine will be going into 40 breeders, so maybe the larger foot print will help?

Big rock piles and lots of things to break sight lines. Mbuna will chase their quarry through rocks and be pretty merciless. Vics tend to have a much shorter attention span. Provide distractions. :D

[sabbath]

Sorry to post to such an old thread, but i really like the Nubilus. I started with a group of 10. I now have 2 males and 1 female. They are in a 65 high with a group of afras. The dominant male is absolutely relentless. I have had 2 batches of fry though, and he seems to like the female that is left, as he doesn't beat on here very much. I'd love to aquire a few more.

[Matt V]

That happens with the more aggressive Victorians - and nubilus is definietly one of the more aggressive. do you separate the females when they're holding? how big is the group of afras?

[sabbath]

Yeah the females go into a 5 or 10 when holding. The Afras are a group of 6 it was a group of 8 but the 2 males that are no longer with us, thought it fun to fight with the nubilus.

[Matt V]

you might have better luck with higher stocking levels. i've found that it can really help to curb aggression in Victorians.

[sabbath]

I agree, though I did expect that a starting group of 10 would be good enough. There was another bag of 10 at the auction I got them from, but I got out-bid. I have gotten a fair amount of fry from them. I am thinking of keeping the next couple of batches from the lone female to start a new colony. I'm not new to fish breeding, though I am relatively new to Africans. Being new, I'd say I have done OK. I do have some questions about P. nigripinnis. But I'll go post in the tang forum for that.

[sabbath]

I spoke to the fellow that bred nubilus I have. I'll be adding 3 more adult females the middle of this month. He told me that small groups of them do better in smaller tanks? I went to his house, and apparently it's true. He has 2 groups of 5 (2 males 3 females), both housed in 20 gallon highs. All of his females are holding. I have a 30 long, I think I'll give them a try in there when I get the extra females.

I'll also be getting some Hippo points from him.

[Matt V]

Originally posted by sabbath
He has 2 groups of 5 (2 males 3 females), both housed in 20 gallon highs. All of his females are holding. I have a 30 long, I think I'll give them a try in there when I get the extra females.


That might work if you goal is to breed and you have a fish room.

I still think that's on the small side and that you're likely flirting with disaster. IMHO, it's probably only a matter of time until your friend comes home to 2 tanks with 1 male in each. But that's just my opinion and if you ask around, you'll find that I'm wrong fairly often. :wink:

I think that space and quite a few other species in a super crowded tank is better.

[sabbath]

Well, I've flirted with disaster before! LOL! He told me that he has been housing them like that for close to a year, and has had to replace 2 males in that time. I do have a fishroom. It's a bit small (15 tanks), but I should be able to give it a try. I really prefer to do species tanks, and anything I keep is for breeding purposes. I love a challenge! I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

[Matt V]

Originally posted by sabbath
I love a challenge! I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

sounds good. look forward to hearing about it.

good luck :ok: