[xWingman48]

Hey All,

I picked up some Buescheri Zaire Gold from my LFS today, and I got a male and two potential females. (They're pretty hard to sex when they're young). I definitely ended up with a pair, because two of them have taken up residence in my rock pile. They're friendly with each other, but no one else is welcome in there.

I've read online that Buescheri males can get aggressive, and it's useful to have a second female around. I can tell you that even if the "third wheel" is a female, she is not welcome anywhere near that rock pile, and she's hanging out in the corner of the tank.

What do you all think, should I take her back and stick with my pair? I'm used to Mbuna and peacocks that will harass a single female to death, so they need harems. I'm seeing mixed results on these guys; some sites say to get extra females to spread unwanted attention, and others say pairs are the way to go.

I'm leaning towards taking her back, but let me know what you all think.

Thanks!

 

[shellies215]

A good friend of mine has buescheri kachese, and they have been living/breeding as a pair for 3 years.

 

[Bodenhimer]

if there trashing her, take her back. Must be nice to go to lfs and get gold buesheri!! =D>
My lfs store think malawi fish are Tanganyikan. pffff

 

[Fogelhund]

Please post the dimensions of the tank they are in.

 

[Longstocking]

I'd probably take her back if she isn't allowed to wander the tank a little bit.

I have a trio that breed... but in the past it was just a pair. Either can work... but it depends on the size of tank, the fish themselves... etc.

 

[Bodenhimer]

I had 4 foot long tank by 18 wide and had 1 male 3 females and he had relations with all of them. They all had there own little rock piles. He would visit them whenever!! Mine were Kachese

 

[xWingman48]

It's a fairly small tank for tangs. A 40 breeder ( 36 x 18 ), and I only have one really large rock pile in the tank at the moment. Translation: There isn't really a place for the "third wheel" to hide, so she is getting harassed a bit. I'm most likely going to take her back tomorrow and leave the pair in there.

I love the idea of having multiple rock piles with a female at each, but I think this tank is too small for that.

Must be nice to go to lfs and get gold buesheri!!

Yeah, there's one fish shop in STL that has at least 10 tanks dedicated to tangs. Right now, they have tetracanthus, four different kinds of altolamps, mtoto zebra brevis, leleupi, caudopunks, brichardi, helianthus, multies, and a handful of others that I can't recall. Pretty great little shop for Africans.

 

[Bodenhimer]

so jealous :x

 

[Fogelhund]

I'd suggest that it isn't likely to work in a 36" long tank, but it probably would in a 48", with separate rock piles.

The only way you can try to make it work, is to create separate rock piles, one on each end. If you don't, she needs to be removed.

 

[xWingman48]

Thanks for all of the great feedback guys and gals.

My office desk is only 36" deep, so I can't go with a longer tank. I added a smaller rock pile on the other end to buy some time, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to bring her back. I may do that Monday if I get time.

As an aside, do you all have any suggestions for tank mates to go with my buescheri pair?

I was thinking 6 or so gold occelatus or a pair of brevis. Anything else for the open water? Would a pair / trio of altolamps with everything else be too much?

Thanks again!