Bought A Bag O' Lohbergi

[marya]

Hi all~ I'm in NC at the Raleigh Aquarium Society workshop. I just bought a bag of four Sarotherodon Lohbergi (or one of at least 8 alternative spellings I have found so far online). These are fish from the volcanic lake barombi Mbo in Cameroon. I bought them from a gentleman who had gotten a shipment of them from Paul Loiselle. Can any of you shed some light for me on the water chemistry of the volcanic lakes around Cameroon? I initially assumed they were hard water, but I'm not certain. Info?

Thanks all,
Marya

 

[Larry-T]

I did a fishbase search and found one of the alternate spellings. Here's the data I found: The fact that is is found in both the lake and a tributary leads me to believe that the water conditions would be more like Lake Victoria and not really critical as long as you stay away from extremes. (Softer than malawi, harder than Amazon)
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Sarotherodon lohbergeri (Holly, 1930)
Family: Cichlidae (Cichlids) , subfamily: Pseudocrenilabrinae
Order: Perciformes (perch-likes)
Class: Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes)
FishBase name: Keppi
Max. size: 10.6 cm SL (male/unsexed; Ref. 4999)

Environment: demersal; freshwater
Climate: tropical; 25 - 27°C; 5°N - 4°N
Distribution: endemic to Lake Barombi Mbo and Kumba stream (tributary of the outlet of Barombi Mbo, west Cameroon).

Biology: Usually forms schools at the surface. Feeds mainly on epiphytic and epilithic filamentous algae, and the diatoms, rhizopods, rotifers and organic debris found among them. The adults feed by opening their mouths very wide and applying them to the surface of the rock as though sucking the material in (Ref. 2).

Red List Status: Critically Endangered, see IUCN Red List (B1+2c),

 

[marya]

Thank you Larry, much appreciated. I'm still down in north carolina so they are set up in a temp tank until i go home, but they really seem to be doing well and coloring up nicely. I got them at the smaller club auction last night, tonight was the big all day auction. I scored another species of cameroon crater lake cichlids from lake great breman, tilapia snyderi and some juvie frontosa samazi. it was a good day, things seemed to go for a bit more price wise than in the dc area, but lots of interesting items.