So I bought some Neolamprologus buescheri Zaire Gold at the ECC auction...

[emartin]

...now tell me how not to kill them! (my only experience with substrate spawners is altolamprologus calvus, which are just easy all around....)

It was a group of four about 1-1.25" (maybe 1.5" at the MAX).

I'm assuming these will pair off and kill the other two unless I separate them when I notice a pair forming.

Will simple clay caves with small entrances and/or pvc pipes be suitable for these two live, the females to be able to avoid the male, etc?

Would a tank such as a 20g tank be adequate for a pair?

 

[toddnbecka]

An established pair should be fine in a 20, but that size tank would be quite cramped to pair them off in. I had some buescheri in a 55 with a colony of multi's and Synodontis lucipinnis a couple years ago. The buescheri pair took a rock cave on one end of the tank, and the unpaired male stayed clear of them until a female fry eventually grew up and paired off with him. Spawns wre very small, usually only 2-3 fry each time. Excellent parents, and the larger fry seemed quite tolerant of the smaller ones as they came along, similar to Julies.
Not very active/visible fish (particularly the adults,) they mainly stayed under cover among the rocks.

 

[longstocking]

I don't normally link too much to articles because I find them a little too vague... but this is a very accurate and good article with correct info. I use slate , large conch like shells and barnicles with mine...

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/n_buescheri.php

 

[emartin]

SO....

Would you guys say these are psychotic and will eventually kill each other, or are they similar in aggression to Altolamprologus?

Like, could I keep a pair in a community Malawi tank?

I'm really out of my element here and am reconsidering whether I really want to keep these or not... I kind of don't like the idea of devoting a small tank to them as right now I really only want to devote a small tank to my wild Phyllonemus typus....


Unless..Sarah do you think all juveniles (about 1.5", no way the cats could eat them...well maybe but I doubt it with 95% certainty) would be okay with the Phyllonemus typus in say a 40g breeder? And would (later) a pair of N. buescheri do well in the Phyllonemus? (in this case, I'm more concerned about the phyllonemus STILL being able to breed with the neolamps in the tank, as well as the phyllonemus not getting hurt and the phyllonemus not hurting the buescheri)

 

[Charlutz]

It depends. I had two males that grew out in a 7 foot tank and were fine for two years, then just decided they didn't like each other and the 7 footer wasn't enough room for them to keep from killing each other. I got them out and got a female and she immediately paired and bred in a 20 high with no other fish. I lost the male a year later and have been trying to find another male for her to mate with. She's rejected several, but the latest seems to have been accepted. The remaining juvies I have are in a 40 breeder and one of them is a maniac to the other two. I guess what I am saying is they can be aggressive, but don't have to be. Depends on the fish. IME I would not keep with malawis. There's no fun in that. This fish is better in a quiet tank IME. If you are having second thoughts, I'll buy them from you to add to my group. What did you pay? $30?

 

[Charlutz]

These are the only pics I have of mine. They were still young (and I'm not much of a photographer).

 

[davidhusker]

The males will be very aggressive during spawning, so that might get ugly in a small tank. Buescheri usually are good as pairs, but i've even heard of them killing the female for not spawning.

 

[emartin]

My group is now in the possession of Charlutz... Good luck with them! At least now they're guaranteed appropriate housing and a good life...

 

[Charlutz]

Thanks Ed!