O. boops 'Nkondwe' &/OR 'Kipili'

[Finnegan@large]

I am writing to ask for your expertise in contributing to a discussion in another forum concerning O. boops.
Having been a reader of your posts for a while, I greatly admire what you have shared and accomplished in this forum so far.

Here is the link:
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/view ... p?t=138385

Thnak you, and I look forward to continuing to learn from you all.

-Steven

[Thomas Andersen]

Hi Steven, sorry for the late reply.

Ophthalmotilapia boops "Kipili" and "Nkondwe" are the exact same fish, caught at the island of Nkondwe. When first exported many species found in the area of Kipili, including the neighbouring islands, was just labelled "Kipili". Nowadays the fish collected there usually gets labelled with the exact location, but some exporters still use the old term.

As for the near extinction of O. boops at Nkondwe Island I belive it's true. All that has visited the area in recent years reports seeing an extremely low numbers of displaying males, compared with earlier visits. Of course O. boops as a species is not threatend, as it's found on many other localities, but the very beautiful variant found at Nkondwe are, and this is not because of overfishing by locals, but solely because of the demand by hobbyist. Quite sad I think, and the people currently working with it, should really do their outmost to breed this cichlid, to keep the collection of wildcaughts down to a very lower number.

All the best, Thomas

[Finnegan@large]

Thomas-
Thank you for the this very helpful reply. I am growing out fish from two different blood lines right now, and hope to bring in fish from other blood lines down the road. This is a beautiful species, and I agree, we must work to maintain its integrity within captive populations.

All the best
-Steven

[Thomas Andersen]

Good to hear you're working with them, Steven. Good luck with them!

All the best, Thomas

[Jesper]

Some pics of a friends boops

[Jesper]

[James Shingler]

"what is the bare minium for these fish?"
wrong question?:wink: as well as the spelling
To have success ask the question whats the best I can do for these fish.

[Thomas Andersen]

Nice shots of a very nice fish! Are they Brian's?

Mvh. Thomas

[Jesper]

Yes Thomas it is Brians fish

[Finnegan@large]

Jesper-
Thank you for sharing these pictures. They are such a treat to look at, although I am glad that I do not have to share a tank with one!

I would also be curious to see the setup that he is housed in, or any setup, for that matter, in which these fish have done well.

James- Regarding the question of "bare minimum"- My response was the same as yours. So many people here are interested in cichlids as a means to profit. Of course, this profit is seldom realized, and it is the fish that suffer.

[Jesper]

Hey again, The fish will in a about a Mounth or two be moved to this
tank. The tank is on 530 liters with some modules..

[Jesper]

And another setup also a 530 liters.

[leo n geo]

I have heard of people breeding Boops in as little as a 75 gallon tank. I have 5 (2 juvis and 3 adults) in a 130 (66X18X25). I will be adding 3 more today (1 male/2 female) because my male isn't coloring up. As far as tank size I would recommend at least 6 feet. These guys can take over a big area and get quite nasty.

[Finnegan@large]

Hello-
I am interested in diversifying the diet of my boops, and am writing to ask what others are feeding with/without success?

I am currently feeding a dark/rich spirulina diet (Jehmco) supplemented with NLS cichlid pellet, and have no complaints. Can enyone recommend better though?

Thank you
-Steven