Melanochromis chipokae Chidunga Rocks

[chriscoli]

I did a big waterchange on my 55 this evening and had the opportunity to pull out my first holding chipokae. I got these in the Dave's fish order at AquaMania 2. Although they have grown quite a bit, it hasn't been that long since AM. They are known for spawning young...and these held true to that. I peeked in her mouth and the eggs are still new (no eyes yet) so I'll keep her in a breeder box for a bit longer. Since she's still small I also couldn't quite tell how many eggs either.

 

[jonclark96]

Well done Christine. How's the aggression been with the group? Chipokae have a bad reputation.

 

[chriscoli]

They are in an overstocked tank with plenty of hiding places and other aggressive fish. So far the aggression seems fine, but they aren't full grown yet, either!

 

[mchambers]

Just amazing! What is in your water?

 

[chriscoli]

Just amazing! What is in your water?

Oh, mostly just H2O.

 

[JasonC]

Oh, mostly just H2O.

Be careful with that stuff... I have heard it can be deadly!

http://www.dhmo.org/facts.html

 

[chriscoli]

Well, she decided not to hold and ate her eggs but another female spawned (looks like there are 3 in spawning colors) and I stripped the eggs a few days ago. Here they are in my spiffy new tumbler.....I like this design much better than the other tumblers.

 

[chriscoli]

The previous batch is doing well and look like cute little yellow Melanochromis at this point.

I noticed another holding today so I'm going to try to grab her out tomorrow and see if I can save another batch (for more BAP points, since these are CARES fish!)

 

[jonclark96]

Very nice. I didn't realize there was such variation in the coloration of the females. Chipoakae are one fish I've always wanted to keep. There may be another 4' tank in my future.

 

[festaedan]

Wow, congrats Christine!

 

[chriscoli]

Jon, the color variation on these fish is incredible! I keep meaning to pull them out into specimen containers and take some pics. Males vary from black with dark blue (dominant male) to powder blue with black (subdominant). Females are from dusky yellow/chocolate brown with yellow highlights (dominant/holding) to bright yellow with black (subdominant/not holding).

 

[dogofwar]

Very cool! There are just so many cichlids...and not enough tanks!

Didn't you start with 8? What did the M/F ration turn out?

Matt

 

[chriscoli]

Yep, started with 8. I lost a male a few weeks after I got them. The remaining seven are 4F, 3M.

they're being kept in a heavily rocked and overstocked 55 gal with some Vics and a few tangs.

I stripped about 35 fry today from the female in the pic above. Also, turns out another female was holding as well. She was one of the smaller ones, so I think this may have been her first batch. She had a total of 4 fry!