[fightingfish]

Could any one tell me why my johanni shake around rocks and infront of other johanni is this an abnormal behaviour or somthing els? :-?

 

[bmills]

Hehe... perfectly normal. Your johanni are just getting frisky and putting out their pick-up lines for the ladies...

My Maingano are just the same. **** hussies!!

 

[fightingfish]

iv'e only had them for three days........ and i have no females i think...........

 

[bmills]

Hey Fightingfish - just realised that you're also a Sydneysider. Cool!

Also just checked out your tank. I also run a 130L with a mix of Yellow Labs and Maingano's (obviously similar to johanni). 6 of each plus a 4-some of Acei which inhabit the top level. Main difference is that I have much more rock in mine, in fact the back wall is at least 2/3 of the way up with rocks so that there are plenty of caves etc for the fish.

I still think your johanni are fine and are just displaying. Mine do it to the ladies, but maybe yours are just doing it as a signalling / competitive thing between the boys.

 

[fightingfish]

cool thanks my johanni i think they are maniganos but when i bought them they where called johanni and i am new to chiclids as i have had a community tank for 5 years with tetras etc and have just set this tank up after my last fish pasted away and i gave the rest to someone els.

hay which aquarium do you use in sydney?

 

[fightingfish]

i think my fish are mainganos not johanni however they look almost the same i cant tell the diffirence?

 

[bmills]

I hope they are Maingano's - a little less aggressive than Johanni especially given your relatively smaller tank size. And absolutely wonderful fish.

Johanni females are yellow/orange so if they are that species, then yes you have all males. On the other hand Maingano males and females are both blue, with the males just darker in colour. If you have Maingano's, especially if they are young, you may have a mixture in your group of 3.

Phew thats a lot. But I got heaps of help from here when I started so wanting to "pass it on" as much as I can.

 

[fightingfish]

if you look at my tank you can see a pic of my johanni or maingano i think it is maingano they dont seem that agressive they just show off to each other and chase. does the white spot of the fin mean anything?

 

[bmills]

Its hard to tell but if they have silver bellies they are a little more likely to be Johanni and if they are coloured all around (like mine are) they are more likely to be Maingano.

Oh one last piece of advice for a smaller tank like yours. Get one of those little water flow pumps like they use in marine aquaria to give some circulation to the fish on top of your filter. I got one caller a Hydor Koralia Nano, but I know there are other models just as good. Its one of the best $50 investments I've made and the fish seem to love it. Plus it reduces the "dead" circulation spots in an around the rocks. And at feeding time the food is spread a little more so everyone gets to chase some.

 

[fightingfish]

onee of my fish are very dark in colour and the other 2 are light if they are maingano does this mean i have 2 female one male?

 

[fightingfish]

i use a aqua clear 200 hundred which is used at full power and creates lots of water movment and i have a very small air pump which moves the surface. however the air pump is under the aquaclear so its not very effective so i have to move it. i had a look at the pump they look good i just dont know where i would put it.......

 

[fightingfish]

The following image is of a johanni

the next image is of a Maingano ( which looks more like my fish )

 

[bmills]

If you have one dark and two light then yes there is a chance that you have one male and two females, which is good. However while they are juvenile they are all a bit lighter than when they become adults so while things are looking good you can't yet be 100% sure!

Thanks for the links too. I'll check out AquariumWolrd next time I'm in Manly.

 

[Hoosier Tank]

Great thread guy's wish we were all awake at the same time. I have 4 Maingano's 2 I bought when I first set-up my tank a little over a year ago. 1 is definately the dominant Male, the other kept it lighter blue belly for a long time and hid 75% of the time I believe it was a lone female. Then I ordered two "sub-adult" females the same size (about 3"). Initially the 3 hid but now all 4 co-habitate and I enjoy me Maingano's much more than ever. The special ordered females were originally lighter in the belly as well, although now it is not as noticable. But the Dom. Male is still darker than the rest...

 

[Hoosier Tank]

There is also a memeber here named "Dewdrop" who has a soft spot for them as well..

 

[Fogelhund]

You cannot accurately determine the gender of Melanochromis cyaneorhabdos by colouring. I have had ligher subdominant males, and DARK females.

 

[bmills]

So Glad Hoosier has joined and posted that photo as it excellently describes my little colony too. My 2 males are very much like Hoosier's pic - with really dark blacks. The 4 females are like the bottom photo that fightingfish has up - vivid but lighter overall. To be honest there is one of the 4 that is a chance of also being a male as he darkens a little more than the others at feeding time and tends to playfight with the boys as well. Anyway overall, these are just like my fish!

As Fogelhund says though, colour is not 100% accurate for these, but in my case the behaviours match as well so that adds a little more certainty.

About to receive a Macro lens for my Digital SLR in the next week so I'll be posting pics of my own soon!

Oh and yes I've seen Dewdrop's Avatar. What a gorgeous specimen!

 

[fightingfish]

i will take some photos of my mainganos or johannis??? and can someone tell me if they are mainganos once i get the photos up. also do you know what settings to use for a camera to take photos of fish through glass while they are moving?

 

[bmills]

What camera are you using? SLR or compact? and what model?

I use a nikon d80 and as I try not to use flash at all (to get natural colours and to avoid reflection off the glass) I use the widest possible aperture so that I can keep the shutter speed up enough to "freeze" the fish's movements.

Most compacts set themselves up like this in what is often called a "portrait" mode. Just whatever you do, disable your flash unless you have an elaborate pro setup!

 

[fightingfish]

i have an olympus 550 Sp so a very good camera but its not a DSLR however it has many settings more then most digital cameras have. i also find when i take photos of water in my tank the water and fish look grainy how would i stop this?