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Tau's first spawns (Cyphotilapia gibberosa Mikula)

29K views 89 replies 17 participants last post by  Razzo 
#1 ·
Tau had battled Nyatzi, back in April, and he dethroned Nyatzi as Alpha. Nyatzi had produced a lot of fry during his reign; so, I was hopeful that the Tau continue that tradition. Tau had recently spawned with two of the females and both girls held great (9 & 12 days respectively). I am very excited to report, that today, I stripped 40 wigglers from the larger female and 10 wigglers from the small young female (it was her first time so please that she held for 12 days).

Here is Tau, my wild caught Cyphotilapia gibberosa Mikula Alpha male


Here's the bigger girl that gave me 40 F1 wigglers today.


Here's the little girl that gave me 10 F1 Mikula wigglers today. From this angle, it is hard to tell that she is even carrying.


My auto focus is broke on my lens - I'll try to load some wiggler images in the tumbler as I fix my lens.

Thanks,
Russ
 
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#2 ·
I have been wanting to photograph Tau but with my lens acting up, I may have trouble getting some good images that are sharp in the near future. Went back in my recent images (the past couple months) and found this one of Tau. I think, I passed on the image before because I chopped his trailers off on the right side. I would love to catch him with his fins erect but he has not been flexing lately as his role as Alpha is unquestioned at this time. Pre-feeding time may be my best chance once I get my lens working again.

Cyphotilapia gibberosa Mikula
 
#5 ·
SmellinFishy said:
He's an absolute beauty Razzo! Did he end up out growing the previous Alfa? Love your frontosa biotope.
Thanks guys :)

Tau and Nyatzi are about the same length (and have been) but Tau has more mass and a bigger mouth and he took less damage in battle and recovered quicker than Nyatzi. Here's a shot of them about to "go to blows" back at the end of April. This was the 2nd day of the war (Tau's wounds, less extensive, healed quickly and Nyatzi's wounds, more extensive, did not heal as fast). After this battle, Nyatzi knew he was beat and started submitting soon after this skirmish. Once Nyatzi started submitting to Tau, there was peace in the tank again.

Tau is about 8.5" and his trailers have just started growing back nicely (when he was the Beta, his fins were tattered by Nyatzi - the roles have reversed now). Would love to see Tau as he approaches 15" (almost double his size now). I look forward to that.

Tau (left) and Nyatzi (right)
 
#8 ·
Oh wow, Razzo, your fish and pictures are so amazing! +1 with what Shaky said...always thought fronts are the elephants of the animal kingdom; regal, peaceful and smart. I guess only two of those things are true, especially when it comes time to woo the girls.
 
#9 ·
NJmomie said:
Oh wow, Razzo, your fish and pictures are so amazing! +1 with what Shaky said...always thought fronts are the elephants of the animal kingdom; regal, peaceful and smart. I guess only two of those things are true, especially when it comes time to woo the girls.
Thanks guys :)

Fronts can get nasty: Alpha & Beta battles and the females can be equally as nasty. I also have a 9" female that is bigger than both Alpha and Beta and she does not think that she needs to submit (she's feisty - I like her). She will "go to blows" with both Alpha and Beta. She does not like it when they come into her spot and she will duke it out (mouth to mouth combat).
 
#10 ·
Here's a couple pics of each group. With my lens not working it is a little more difficult than normal (the good news, my bday is in Sept and rumor has it that I might be getting a new wide angle lens - a nice one :) ).

Here's the larger brood (not easy to count - my best guess is 40 or 41).
Cute little buggers - can already see a couple alpha males :lol:


Here's the brood from the smaller female (count 10 - this one was easy)


Maybe I'll use this thread as a photo journal on their development.

I hope you enjoy.

Russ
 
#13 ·
Razzo, congrats! 40 is a great spawn. I know you are stoked.

Pics are looking incredible.
 
#14 ·
Ron R. said:
Razzo, congrats! 40 is a great spawn. I know you are stoked.

Pics are looking incredible.
Thanks guys! :)

Yup Ron, I am stoked :D I was surprised at 40+ too. Those came from a new female. She's a pretty female. She held great too and really didn't feed.
 
#15 ·
VIDEO from yesterday (slightly out of focus as my lens is broke).

View it in 1080p HD if you like....

Please forgive the multiple links everyone. I am trying to figure out this video thing. I'd like the video to appear in the thread and not just a link. Not sure how to do that.





(edit: I fixed the links.... triscuit)
 
#20 ·
LouIE82 said:
=D> Awesome as always Razzo! I'm finding myself aiming the lap top at my tank and telling my frontosa "Look like them!" lol, just like I did with my calvus.

Would the plural of calvus be calvi??? :-?
I think it is calvus-esezz :lol:
 
#24 ·
bwestgsx06 said:
these are amazing. What's your setup for these Moba's? I noticed quite a few sponge filters and such in there...
Moba? Hmm,... Michael, Michael, Michael! I thought we were fish friends? Moba, I am hurt. These are Mikula my friend :)

Setup is: 240 gallon (8x2x2) with two AC110 and 3 HydroSponges.

Russ
 
#26 ·
NJmomie said:
Forgive my ignorance but are there major differences between Moba and Mikola. I vaguely remember difference in number of bands/stripes. Is that all?
The number of bands is a distinction among C. frontosa: i.e. Kigoma have 7 stripes while Burundi have 6. All other Cyphos have 6 stripes. Both Moba and Mikula are C. gibberosa variants from the DRC (generally referred to as Zaire or Zaire Blues). There are more C. gibberosa in Zambia and Tanzania but it is the Zaire Blue variants that are my favorite.

There are many that will say no; however, folks who have imported hundreds and even thousands of Zaire Blue gibberosa will say yes. Although, I have never been an importer, I have been into frontosa 15+ years and I agree that there are differences. The Mikula seem to combine what I like best about my two favorite Zaire Blue variants: Kapampa & Kitumba. Kaps are known for having the darkest black pigment in their black stripes and that gave them the brilliant contrast that they are known for. Kits seem a little slenderer and have darker blues and almost purple hues at times. The Mikula have that super dark black pigment with more blues in their light stripes than Kaps and they have that dark blue purplish hues that Kits are know for. They seems to be a wonderful combination of my two favorite variants so that is a big reason why I wanted to go with Mikula with my latest group of Cyphos.

Just for the record, Moba are beautiful too. I just like to tease other Zaire Blue variant owners once in a while.

Hope that helps.

Russ
 
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