new to brichardi

[Spitfire]

I have a 10 gallon tank with a Lamprologus brichardi in it. He/she is about 2 inches long and is settled in well.

I was wondering how many brichardi I could add to a 10 gallon tank? I read they were a schooling species so are they non-aggressive? They are beautiful fish and I would love to have 3 or 4 in the tank. How do you separate nales and females? Is my fish too small to determine the sex? I've seen a daffodil brichardi in the store and it is even more beautiful. Looks like a brichardi with yellow fins and a yellow blotch on the pectoral base. Is this a form or a new species? Would it hurt to mix? do they interbreed easy? How do you sex daffodils?

Any advice to to feeding? I have cichlid pellets and hikari food sticks at the moment, as well as flakes.

Thanks

Ray

[SGypsyMermaid]

i don't know whether 'schooling' is an accurate description of their behaviour. say you put about 4 or six brichardis in the tank. 2 of them will pair off and systematically murder the remaining fish. then they'll set up housekeeping and produce a clutch of babies. when they produce the next batch, the first clutch will help protect the new spawn; they form an extended family.(mind you, i got all of this from my reading; i have just 2 of them and they're in separate tanks.)

[Spitfire]

You mean they will kill EVERY fish in the tank? Not just every brichardi? I have some barbs and corys in there with it. Will they get killed? How can I tell the fish are paired off?


Ray

[SGypsyMermaid]

i think that they might just chase the barbs and cories into a corner, but they will hound the other brichardis to death. if you really want to keep cichlids, you need a bigger tank. the only ones that are really suited to a 10 gal tank are shellies, and even with them, for the most part you will be limited to one pair in a 10 gal tank. an exception is the multifasciatus which forms colonies like the brichardi. the cories will be very much out of place.

[Spitfire]

thanks for the info... the problem is, I'm a college student and I cant have a tank bigger than 10 gallons. We have 2 of them in the room now. I am the unidentified cichlid in one and the brichardi in the other...

I guess I'll just get a couple and hope they dont pair up :D . And then my other fish will live.


Ray

[Cichlid Jeans]

Ad Konings' article on the brichardi complex contains the information you're looking for. It is in Chichlid Yearbook #3, and is also on-line at
http://www.cichlidae.com/articles/a035.html

To answer some of the specific questions in your posts:

1. None of the brichardi species are sexable visually until 10-12 months. Adult males will start to show a fat-bulge on the "forehead" and a bit more fin extension than the females.

2. Daffodils -- N. pulcher -- are a separate species from N. brichardi, and it would be an error to mix the two.

3. Brichardi and cory cats should be okay. Although the two species appreciate much different water conditions, IME cories can adapt to the water in an African cichlid tank, and N. pulchers, which I keep, don't bother them excessively (unlike Milawis). If the brichardi breed, they will drive off any kind of catfish (and if it has nowhere to go, they'll kill it).

A "small" tank for these fish is 55g and the absolute minimum is probably something like 25g (in fact that may be too small). I'm not trying to discourage you, believe me :bawl: but aything smaller is really fish abuse.

[catfishes]

Well said Cichlid Jeans

[Spitfire]

Thank you for the information and the article, it helped alot.

The thing is, I have 2 brichardi in my 10 gallon with 4 barbs and 2 corys. One was bouhgt before the other and the barbs were the starter fish for the tank. One is definately brichardi because it has a "T" on its gill cover with a yellow spot above it, and white borders on the fins. The other one is strange though. I bought it from a tank labeled as brichardi. It is smaller than the other, like an inch and a half. It has bars on the gill cover that are vertical and parallel. Otherwise it has the same pattern as the brichardi. The article says pulcher has the vertical markings on the gill cover but it also has yellow fins and a yellow spot on the pectoral fin base. My fish has no yellow. Could this be a hybrid of brichardi and pulcher that was given to the pet shop?

Can I keep these 2 brichardi in a 10 gallon and no more fish? It seems to be plenty of room for them...

Ray