Wallaceochromis (previously Pelvichromis) Rubrolabiatus?

[zendog]

We are really enjoying the West African Cichlids these days and currently have Pelichromis Sacromontis, Nanochromis Splendens, Wallaceochromis Signatus, plus some juvenile Steatocranus tinanti from a breeding pair to the box swap in the Spring. All great fish with interesting personalities. I think we may add Nanochromis Transvestitus soon, but the fish I'm particularly interested in trying is Wallaceochromis Rubrolabiatus.

Some of these West African cichlids seem particularly aggressive for their size, but so far we've managed, even though it took a 40 gallon breeder to keep the tiny N. Splendens from killing each other. I've heard W. Rubrolabiatus are worse. But I have a 40 breeder with some Electric Blue Acara they can share if I have a chance of getting them to focus on the Acara instead of killing each other. Has anyone in the group kept them? Did you get them to spawn? Is a 40 breeder possible with enough hideouts and distractions?

 

[chriscoli]

I've kept my Wallaceochromis in a 4 ft tank, I was a bit concerned that a 40B would be too small. You might make it work, though. I have not successfully tried a group of them.

I think for the rubrolabiatus or the sacrimontis (or maybe both), there's a trick to getting the eggs to hatch. They need super low pH so you set up a spawning cave with a bunch of peat (or maybe it was sphagnam?) inside or sometimes nested between 2 pots to create a localized zone of low pH. Josh is the one who told me about it, so I'm sure he can chime in.

 

[JLW]

Yes, the Rubrolabiatus are kind of a different fish than most of the other Krib types. First, they're jerks. They're the most aggressive krib I've ever seen; they really beat the snot out of each other. Make sure you have LOTS of hiding spots until you're sure you have a compatible pair. Some sources online report that they're less aggressive than other members of the Wallaceochromis genus -- don't believe it.

When they get ready to spawn, they go from being complete and utter jerks to just downright nasty.

I've had them spawn in 8.0 water, but they won't hatch like that. They really need a super low pH. Fortunately, they don't really need a lot of oxygen, though (and the parents help by fanning the eggs). Once you've got a compatible pair, adjust their tank so that they have only one cave -- make sure there are still hiding spots, but nothing that can be used as a cave. The cave should be a 4" clay pot stuffed inside of a 6-8" pot. Use the loose sphagnum fibre moss that you get for doing orchids to stuff around it. You can add some other material, too. I've seen some people actually break the smaller pot so that there are gaps to the moss. I don't think its necessary.

What this does is to create a zone of very low pH, where they'll spawn. Hopefully. The eggs should hatch.

The tank pH should be in the 6s otherwise, and as soft as your nerves can take. If you can get the pH of the whole tank down to 5.0 or less, you don't need to worry about spawning caves. But, of course, at that range, you'll kill most of your biological filtration....

Also, be aware that Rubrolabiatus seems to be very susceptible to fungal infections and bacterial infections in general. Living in that low pH, they just don't have an immune system....

 

[zendog]

Thanks Josh for all that background on Rubrolabiatus. I'm still tempted to give them a try, but I may not keep the Electric Blue Acara in the 40B I was thinking of as "dithers", since I don't know if I push pH down they will be quite as happy. Maybe I'll get a bunch of Congo Tetras or something along those lines to distract the jerks if I get them.

The Wallaceochromis Signatus I got from you are doing well with a batch of about 25 or so fry. After violence, they've settled down nicely and bred twice, although this is the only time I've kept the fry alive. I wonder how the pair bond does with disruptions and fry removal with the Wallaceochromis types. There is a bunch of java moss and rock in with them and getting the fry out will be a challenge. If I pull out rocks and get the fry, should I expect them to get nasty with each other again?

 

[chriscoli]

My Humilis did ok even through fry removal. Heck, I even removed the female and fry for a month or so to their own tank and they did ok when I returned the female back to the original tank with the male (very risky move, I know.) There were a fair number of other equally cranky fish in that tank, though, so there were distractions. The female always seemed the bossier of the two in that pair, though.