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Pim update

2K views 7 replies 4 participants last post by  Razzo 
#1 ·
Well, it has been almost a year since I got Pim (and a few others) from Greg at Little Africa Aquatics. Pim is a sub dominant Mikula male in the 240-gallon tank. I really liked this picture EXCEPT I forgot to cover up the base of the tripod and it reflected back and you can see it on Pim's tail fin. Other than that, I really like the image and the pose.

He has grown quite a bit since going in the 240 a year ago. He must have been 5-inches when I got him and he has got to be passin 7 inches now. He had his aggressive war paint colors displaying. He was having an attitude with the other male to his left :lol: I like war paint on Pim and I like the blue frosting effect he gets on his shoulder when he is in this mood.

In any event, here's Pim....

 
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#3 ·
I have an interesting update on Pim. It seems one of the girls in Tau's 240 gallon tank started to fancy Pim. When she was ready to spawn she rejected all of Tau's advances and would sneak off with Pim and get a few rounds in until Tau came over to check out what was going on. The two love birds were persistent and did this for a few hours until the job was done.

Pim is a daddy and I thought it was time to give him his African name: Ntate which is Setswana for "father"

This pic is a couple weeks old and the wigglers are much bigger. There are 22 of them. I am pretty excited to have multiple groups of Mikula fry in the fish room that are genetically independent (i.e. the different fry groups having completely different mothers and fathers).



Here is a pic of the mom
 
#5 ·
Als49 said:
Great fry pics. It reminds me of tadpoles :)

I give up giving my fish name. Can't remember their name and which is one is which. My kids used to give the discus name, but when I asked them which is one which, they also become confused. Lol.
The boys are easy to tell apart when they start getting big and I don't have too many of them so it is still a fun practice :D
 
#6 ·
Those are fantastic pictures and your fish are gorgeous. I am interested in how your Frontosa have smaller hump. Is that due to age or will they always have a smaller hump? The massive hump that some develop is not my favorite thing. Yours are gorgeous. How old are they? I may have missed it, but what do you have in there with them?
 
#7 ·
The Dude315 said:
Those are fantastic pictures and your fish are gorgeous. I am interested in how your Frontosa have smaller hump. Is that due to age or will they always have a smaller hump? The massive hump that some develop is not my favorite thing. Yours are gorgeous. How old are they? I may have missed it, but what do you have in there with them?
Thanks :)

Cyphotiliapia frontosa (I.e. Burundi) have the largest humps.

As you head south into Tanzania, you start seeing Cyphotiliapia gibberosa (i.e. Mpimbwe) they start getting more blue and smaller humps.

When you start turning north into e Congo you start getting into the Zaire gibberosa. The most intense blues and humps getting smaller yet. Some of the more notable collection points would be Kapampa, Kitumba, Moba, and Mikula. You can still get a pretty good hump on a large Moba. The Zaire Gibbs from Mikula seem to have the smallest humps of them all.
My alpha in the 240 (Tau) is about 11 inches and has not much of a crown at all, not even hinting at one either. At 11 inches, the other Zaires will usually start crowning.

I'm on my iPad and am not too skilled at uploading photos. Il try to find a pic of Tau and make another reply.
 
#8 ·
The Dude315 said:
Those are fantastic pictures and your fish are gorgeous. I am interested in how your Frontosa have smaller hump. Is that due to age or will they always have a smaller hump? The massive hump that some develop is not my favorite thing. Yours are gorgeous. How old are they? I may have missed it, but what do you have in there with them?
Here's a couple pics of Tau (the alpha in the 240). Tau is approximately 10 to 11 inches.





Here's Nytazi (the alpha in my 125). Pretty much the same age and size as Tau (both alphas are wild caught Mikula). Nyatzi has a hint of a crown (more than Tau) but not bad for an 11" fish


Here are some of the "general" characteristics of Mikula and why I chose Mikula:
- Smallest crown in the Cyphotilapia world (noticeably the smallest of any Zaire too).
- Their black stripes are comparable to the stripes on a Kapampa (which is known for the blackest black stripes)
- They have a slender body shape (similar to Kitumba)
- They also have a lot more blue pigment in their white and black stripes and this causes their blues (in person) to have purple highlights (like Kitumba). Tau throws off lot of purple in person (without tank lights on top of the tank either).

They really are a combination of what I like best about Kitumba and Kapampa (the original TR Kaps that is). I was aware of these general characteristics before making this purchase and this had a big part in my decision to get Mikula. This is not "cognitive dissonance" justifying a purchase after that fact (I knew this going in).

I hope, I am fortunate enough to show off these males when they reach 15+ inches. At some point in the next couple years, I hope to combine both groups (Mikula Group Tau & Mikula Group Nyatzi) into one bigger tank... a 10' tank.
 
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