Pelvicachromis taeniatus "Nigeria green"
by Don Kinyon
From Delta Tale, Vol. 32, #2, Potomac Valley Aquarium Society
Aquarticles
I had always wondered what the big attraction was about the West African dwarf
cichlids. Yes, they were a fairly colorful bunch, and yes, the behavior was interesting,
but to me they all looked like color variations of the common Kribensis.
That was before my “Nigeria Greens”, along with another variation that came
into my possession at about the same time, went into spawning coloration. Now I get it.
Boulenger described Pelvicachromis taeniatus in 1901. They come from the soft,
acidic waterways of Nigeria and Cameroon. If one can come close to duplicating this
environment, the fish will thrive and probably reproduce. The male, especially in breeding
dress, is quite beautiful. His body coloration takes on metallic sheens of green, gold,
violet, and red. His dorsal is elongate, and lined at the top with red and yellow, and the
anal fin is violet or green. The tail has bright orange to yellow color with black spots
and indefinite stripes. The smaller female, though not as bright in normal coloration,
fairly glows when in spawning dress. Her midsection lights up in silver and red, and her
throat is bright yellow. She is an outstanding fish in this condition. The male can reach
three and one half inches in total length, and the female, two and one half inches. Mine
were a little smaller.
The two fish were housed by themselves in a fifteen-gallon tank. There seems to be no
need for dither fish, as these cichlids aren’t at all shy. I used rainwater collected
from the house gutters and lowered the pH to 5.5 with dilute hydrochloric acid. The
temperature was 80°. The tank was loaded with Java Fern, bog wood, and oak leaves, with a
few upturned clay pots for spawning sites. One quarter to one half of the water was
changed per week. At least once a day, the fish were fed live foods, and they usually had
a second feeding of dry or freeze-dried food. This diet, along with the water changes, had
the fish in breeding condition in a short time.
The female took over one of the clay pots and changed into her “spawning
outfit”. Within a few days, the male was hiding in the opposite corner and a quick
look under the pot confirmed that the spawn had taken place. There were about 40 pink eggs
with white tips inside.
It seemed to be in the best interest of the male to get him out of there so, while the
female was inside the breeding pot, he was removed. A larger pot was placed over eggs,
mom, and flowerpot, so it wouldn’t stress her out too much when the male was being
chased around the tank. In six days, the female led about 25 babies out of the crock.
She herded them throughout the tank and they grazed off the algae (always present in my
tanks, so it seems) on the sides and bottom. The young were able to take newly hatched
brine shrimp right from the start and that, along with their homegrown vegetable
supplement, helped them to mature quickly. Twice-weekly water changes helped them along.
It was almost a full month before the young started to stray from the mother but, even
though she did her best to keep them in a group, they paid little attention so, at this
point, the female was also removed to another tank. The young were nearly half an inch
long at this point, and fended for themselves. At this point they would eat most of the
foods that the adults did, more finely chopped.
When the young were two months old, there were 17 left of the original 25, but the rest
were healthy and still growing fast. They showed a bit of aggression towards each other
and sparred more than a lot of young cichlids, but never to the point of injury. At this
point they had much of their adult coloration.
At about ten weeks, the juvenile fish were moved into larger quarters, as they had
outgrown their tank. They responded very well. Their appetites increased and they appeared
to grow by the day. At first I was apprehensive about these fish sharing a tank with some
juvenile Corydoras catfish and young Apistogramma about the same age,
but there were no problems. The different species pretty much ignored each other.
Once you see these West African cichlids at their best, it’s hard not to see the
attraction that they hold in the hobby. Though they bear a great resemblance to the common
Kribensis, they are well worth the effort when you see them at their best.
Now I know.
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