Oreochromis tanganicae

[Norbert]

I was wondering if anyone could tell me a little about these fish.

There seems to be alot of information about Oreochromis as aquaculture subjects, but not alot as aquarium subjects.

I currently have 6 of them that I picked up at around 1 1/2 inches, they are now about 3 1/2 to 4 inches long. I keep them with my bichirs and a Hepsetus odoe and they are great at keeping algae under control, similar to a flagtail prochilodus. There does not seem to be any aggression aimed at the pike or the bichirs for now however I am wondering if as they reach sexual maturity that will change? I am also wondering if anyone can tell me at what size can you typically tell males from females?. 2 of the 6 are slightly larger than the other 4. I am also wondering if the males are colored most of the time or is it only when they are spawning?

I know they are not found just in the lake so if this question is in the wrong place let me know, thanks.

[arthur]

In November 2006 I got 6 Oreochromis at 7-8cm and already in December 2006 I got 90 fry from one of the females.

I keep them with my Petrochromis and it seems to take some of the aggression in the tank, and until December 2007 I have no problems with them 3.3, but then the biggest male killed one of the other males and start hunting the other, and now they are going in 2 tanks.

About the colour my dominant male are colourfully all the time and he have very red tail and fins, but the other male looks still like a female. The rest of my fry (I have 20 back) have no colour, but one of the fry who goes with his parent shows colour.

When I visit the lake in September 2007 I saw Oreochromis with a lot of red in Kalambo, but I saw pictures from Mahale where the males have no red colour.
I think that the Oreochromis is a very interesting cichlid and I'm looking forward to keep them the next years.

At last a very nice thread about the Oreochromis with some wonderfully pictures. http://www.petrochromis.com/t_forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=247

[Sébastien Bochenko]

A few pics:

http://www.cichlides.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1987

[Norbert]

Thank you for the great info on these fish Arthur. They are very interesting so far and I do not understand why they are not more common in the hobby. In the last couple of days the second largest fish has begun to change considerably and I am hoping it proves to be a male . You take excellent photos and the link to the pictures from the lake was awesome.

Although I couldn't understand the language I enjoyed the pics Sebastien thank you

[arthur]

It's now over a year since there last spawning and today the took another turn. This time they are a lot bigger and the male shows a lot of colour.