Lake Tanganyika Species • Options for replacing Julidochromis in a 55 community

[Ptyochromis]

I have discovered that my pair of J.marlieri is not a pair of J.marlieri but a pair of marlieri and regani. I am planning on getting rid of them and culling the fry. I would like to replace them with another rock spawner that is under 6". Any thoughts on what would be good to replace them with? My current stocking is 4 L.ornatipinnis and 11 C.leptosoma.

[orau22]

Calvus?

[Fogelhund]

Altolamprologus, Paracyprichromis, Julidochromis (ornatus, transcriptus, Gombe), Telmatochromis vittatus/bifrenatus would all work.

[Ptyochromis]

I have some A.comps in another tank, waiting for them to get some size on them before I introduce them into the 55. I have been looking at telmatochromis, I hear they are notorious egg/fry snatchers any truth to this? Also any idea what type of scape they prefer?

[Deeda]

I really liked the Julidochromis marlieri 'gombe' that i had for a couple years. Beautiful colors on the fish and mine bred like rabbits so I was able to share them with other hobbyists.

[Ptyochromis]

I really liked the Julidochromis marlieri 'gombe' that i had for a couple years. Beautiful colors on the fish and mine bred like rabbits so I was able to share them with other hobbyists.

I have found that my 'larger' julies were too aggressive for the tank. The female dominated a good half of the bottom of my tank, a good 10"+ past the rocks. I'm torn between a smaller species of juli, like dickfeldi or transcriptus. The 55 cookie cutter recommends N.buescheri, 12 of them . The article says they are reclusive, but their profile describes them as aggressive and CS:highly aggressive; dave is also selling them for $15 each. Kinda expensive imo, spent a ton on my cyps; im done with expensive fish lol.
I'm a big fan of little fish, was also considering Telmatochromis but it seams like they wouldn't fill the 'rock spawner' niche left by my julies.

[Fogelhund]

The marlieri "Gombe" is a dwarf Julidochromis and would be fine. They are the same size as transcriptus.

Telmatochromis will use the rocks quite a bit, the female may choose to spawn in a shell in the rocks.

[jtranscriptus]

I would either wait on your Comps/Calvus to grow up or go with some Julidochromis ornatus. Ornatus is the smallest of the Juli; if you get your hands on the congo yellow they are stunning.

[Ptyochromis]

Would it be feasable to keep comps with small julies? Or are they considered 'bite-sized'? To be honest, I was considering dickfeldi. I'm looking for something that will let my L.ornatipinnis use as much as the floor as possible. I know my larger julies would drive them about 10" away from the rocks, which caused some issues as the ornatipinnis like to have a large territory.

[Fogelhund]

The small Julidochromis would not be eaten as adults, no worries there. J. dickfeldi might work, but the smaller Julidochromis have a better probability of working in a 55 gallon.

[Floridagirl]

I'd stick with Juli Ornatus or Gombe. Juli's are one of my favorite fish.

[Ptyochromis]

http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?fwcichlidst&1343273107 Does this look legit? Never heard of transcrup gombe

[DJRansome]

Without comment on the aquabid offering, gombe used to be sold as transcriptus and sometimes still are.

[FishFlake]

My Julidochromis marlieri Burundi have beautiful blue on their fins and breed like rabbits. Never observed any aggression problems. They occupy a large rock pile and a smaller second pile along with several black calvus. There are also cyps and shellies in the tank.

[Ptyochromis]

Without comment on the aquabid offering, gombe used to be sold as transcriptus and sometimes still are.

Please comment . Do you think they are asking too much? I cannot trust my LFS anymore, unsure which companies are reliable.