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tankmate question for brichardis

2K views 6 replies 6 participants last post by  lorax84 
#1 ·
k so i have a 60 gallon (longer tho than the usual 60 gal tank... but not as tall) in it there are 3 catfish ranging from 3-5in, a giant pleco bout 8in, a yoyo loach bout 4in, and one fairly large frontosa-male bout 5-6in. there used to be a breeding set of bumblebees (2 female , 1 male) that produced many fry for me and my lfs lol however, i have since traded that set in for 5 brichardis ( 3 females and 2 males). how will they get along with my current fish? i understand their behavior where fry are concerned and i do have 4 potential egg eating fish in there that are much larger than the brichardi. and one fry eating fool (frontosa). do i need to be concerned with my current fish being killed by the brichardi even tho they are much larger in the event that they pair up n spawn? i understand they have giant batches of fry so if a few get eaten or some eggs dont make it thats ok by me (as horrible as that sounds). there are tons of rocks and hiding spots in the tank as well..
any comments are welcome please
 
#2 ·
Not sure how you sexed them for sure, but you should eventually get a pair... and the pair will try to evict and chase the other fish from the tank, especially the other extra "Brichardi". In smaller tanks the Brichardi pair will try to kill all the other fish, but if the tank is long enough they may just suffice in chasing them to the other side, if possible. Might make it a very unpleasant situation for the other fish, even if they can't kill them. Not a very good community tank in any event, the Frontosa might be miserable, and the Brichardi will fight the catfish and loach for cave space.

As for breeding, the Brichardi defend a territory, maybe the catfish could invade at night if they survive. If fry wander off they won't protect them, but if fry find enough food to eat they can survive until near adulthood in the territory as the parents let older siblings stay and help defend younger siblings. Once the baby Brichardi get near maturity they will be expelled or killed, or maybe a parent might decide to mate up with their kid and scheme to kill the other spouse. You could have 100s of fry, more than you would ever find something to do with.
 
#3 ·
well i kinda figure the fairly large frontosa might help keep fry numbers down and the loach n catfish might help with egg numbers. all the catfish and the loach and frontosa survived n thrived while in the same tank with a very productive breeding(bumble bees) set of 2 large females, one even larger male, and countless fry, for several years..fronty would generally take care of about 25- 50% of the fry and i would pull out the rest n put them in a fry breeding net in the same tank where they could survive til they were off to a couple different lfs that i deal with .
i do understand that their breeding behavior is different however those 3 bumble parents were the same size as the front is now and they couldnt keep him away from the fry so im having a hard time seeing a set of much smaller brichardi keeping him away from their fry. and i have a ton of caves an rock structures in my tank for which they can use to hide in.
but i guess we will just have to see.. thanx for your comments!
oh and the owner of my lfs an oldtimer in the industry for over 40 years, sexed them
if i can figure out how to post pics i will
 
#4 ·
banshycat said:
well i kinda figure the fairly large frontosa might help keep fry numbers down and the loach n catfish might help with egg numbers. all the catfish and the loach and frontosa survived n thrived while in the same tank with a very productive breeding(bumble bees) set of 2 large females, one even larger male, and countless fry, for several years..fronty would generally take care of about 25- 50% of the fry and i would pull out the rest n put them in a fry breeding net in the same tank where they could survive til they were off to a couple different lfs that i deal with .
i do understand that their breeding behavior is different however those 3 bumble parents were the same size as the front is now and they couldnt keep him away from the fry so im having a hard time seeing a set of much smaller brichardi keeping him away from their fry. and i have a ton of caves an rock structures in my tank for which they can use to hide in.
but i guess we will just have to see.. thanx for your comments!
oh and the owner of my lfs an oldtimer in the industry for over 40 years, sexed them
if i can figure out how to post pics i will
Bumblebees don't protect their fry once free swimming, so it is no shock that they didn't keep the frontosa from eating them. They can defend territories, which can give the appearance of defending fry, but it isn't. Neolamprologus pulcher (brichardi) defend territories to 2 meters cubed in the wild to the exclusion of any and all fish in attempts to protect their babies. I've successfully kept them in mixed tanks with other fish, they aren't quite as bad as their reputation, but it isn't far off at times. In your case, only time will tell. Also frontosa typically prey on other fish, after the other fish have gone to sleep..so they wouldn't be defending at that point anyway.
 
#5 ·
banshycat said:
well i kinda figure the fairly large frontosa might help keep fry numbers down and the loach n catfish might help with egg numbers. all the catfish and the loach and frontosa survived n thrived while in the same tank with a very productive breeding(bumble bees) set of 2 large females, one even larger male, and countless fry, for several years..fronty would generally take care of about 25- 50% of the fry and i would pull out the rest n put them in a fry breeding net in the same tank where they could survive til they were off to a couple different lfs that i deal with .
i do understand that their breeding behavior is different however those 3 bumble parents were the same size as the front is now and they couldnt keep him away from the fry so im having a hard time seeing a set of much smaller brichardi keeping him away from their fry. and i have a ton of caves an rock structures in my tank for which they can use to hide in.
but i guess we will just have to see.. thanx for your comments!
oh and the owner of my lfs an oldtimer in the industry for over 40 years, sexed them
if i can figure out how to post pics i will
Never underestimate the will of Brichardi parents in protecting their frys. Had a breeding pair, the resident possessed Auratus did not want any part of the Brichardis. Every fish in that 50 gallon tank were on one side of the tank, still the Brichardis were not happy.
 
#6 ·
My brichardi (and then helianthus) systematically harassed and killed all other critters... including catfish and even snails. Starting with good sized tank mates may help in your tank though. Oh, and my brichardi killed at night, so they might be a match for your predators. It really seems to depend on the individual fish, so just wait and see... you might be happy with this setup.
 
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