Juli behavior question...

Q&A About Lake Tanganyika Cichlids

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Blinky
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Joined: Wed Feb 18, 2015 8:40 am

Juli behavior question...

Post by Blinky »

I am a cichlid rookie, always kept natives before but my wife got me into tropicals. This is all her fault.
I recently aquired 4 julidochromis at a club auction, tried for eight but was outbid.
They were listed as ' Julidochromis transcriptus Gombi'. They are slightly different lengths but all are around 4cm.

After four days in the tank, a pair appears to be forming but I'm a little confused. The largest one stays hidden; the 'pair' (which are both mid-sized) hang out near a flower pot on the left. The fourth one (also mid-sized) stays on the left also, but higher up, in some rocks. It's this fourth one I'm asking about.

It's always the first to go for food and will cruise right in front of the pair. When it does, one of them will follow and posture below and behind. Then it seems to get too close and Number 4 bolts. (I think its name just became Number 4) the posturing/bolting repeats a few times and everything settles down... the big one might come out for a look at the excitement in the meantime.
Number 4 looks washed out and yellowish now, the others are white with black bands. I think they were all the same when I brought them home.

My question is, should I pull number four out?

The tank is a 20g long with way too much rock in it. (I found your board AFTER setting it up unfortunately) It's got lots of hides and drilled flower pots in the back on each end.
The fish can stay separate for now but the right side of the tank is mostly unused. Water params aren't perfect yet but going that way slowly as I raise GH about a half degree per day with MgSo4. Nitrification is fully established, it was an existing tank which i repurposed just for these guys.
Do you think adding male endlers as dither fish would be of value? I have a million of'em.

Thank you, I think I would end up killing a lot of fish without help from people like you.
Pam Chin
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Re: Juli behavior question...

Post by Pam Chin »

Hi Blinky,

They could be pairing up but I think they are a little small if they are all about 4 cm. This could be a territorial issue as well. I don't like to interfere unless someone is getting trashed. So you have to decide if the other fish are "Pushing" it up there, and/or if you see broken fins or beat up, then you need to get it out. If it is just living up there and doesn't look stressed, you may want to just keep an eye on them. Removing it could lessen your odds for a pair. You can't really sex them by size. Theoretically Julidochromis sp. gombe is considered and undescribed Julidochromis marlieri, where the females are typically larger then the males,

So don't give up yet, and keep an eye on them. You can add some endlers if you want too, they should hurt anything at all.

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