Though most people know me as an Apistogramma nut, I enjoy the occasional Rift Lake Cichlid. Back in my Texas days, raising Apistos was right out, between the hard tapwater and high cost of an R/O unit on a student budget.
At the ACA convention in New Orleans (1996), I picked up 14 tiny
Julidochromis transcriptus fry for $20. The Julidochromis genus
consists of five species (some with multiple color forms), all native
to Lake Tanganyika in Africa. J. transcriptus is the smallest, with
adult size under 3 inches, but has the characteristic torpedo shape
and mottled brown and white patterns found in the genus. Currently it
is found in two color forms, including the popular Gombi
with
its black banded
appearance. In fact, the appearance of
Gombi
in stores has made the old form (which has a white
underside) harder to find.
The fry I bought were small, only 1/2 to 3/4 inch, but grew rapidly. I fed flake food and baby brine shrimp at first. As they grew, I added adult brine, frozen bloodworms and Daphnia to the feeding schedule, and as the group began to outgrow up the tank, I sold off all but five. It is difficult to distinguish male and female Julies, so it’s best to have at least 5-6 to be sure of getting at least one pair. With two fish picked at random, there’s only a 50% probability of having a pair, but with 5, the odds go up to 87% that there is at least one pair, maybe even two. I was able to improve the odds by observing behavior and size differences as they grew.
I added rocks and Java fern to the tank. Soon the fish looked full-grown but didn’t spawn! Tank setup was 10 gallons, rocks with cave-like spaces underneath, and Java fern growing above. pH and hardness were both high (the former above 8), using either Rift Lake Cichlid Salts, or a custom mixture of Calcium Carbonate and Magnesium Carbonate. The temperature of 76-78 degrees was slightly low, so it was eventually raised to 78-80. Within two weeks, three of the Julies were plastered to the front corner, with the remaining pair in the back (ah, fry?). Soon, though, the tankmates were all swimming together again and I assumed any fry had been disposed by the fish.
It was time for a bigger tank! We set up a 30-long (36l x 12w x
16h, an unusual and fun
size tank hauled from Texas), and
transferred the five adults. As we picked up one of the rocks to move
it, I was shocked to find fry! Oops! I immediately put the rock back
down and left the fry and rocks in the 10-gallon tank.
Meanwhile in the new 30, two spawns occurred within a few weeks of
the move, one at each end of the tank. Since then, there have been
more spawns, I suspect at least five, each at different stages of
development. It is a zoo
of Julie juveniles, and a laugh to
see.
Julies are a unique species in that older spawns can coexist with younger ones (Loiselle). I assume eventually they will reach some population density and then stop spawning. Then we’ll have to pull up all the rocks and fry. Until then, we will enjoy the circus!
References:
Loiselle, The Cichlid Aquarium
Richter, the Complete Book of Dwarf Cichlids