Papillio question

[Bo]

Anyone who have tried this: Frontosa, Leleupi, Julidochromis and X.Papilio ?

The tank is 850L. The Frontosa is adults, but breed ones. Im not vorried that the Frontosa's will eat the Papillio's.

So the question is moore, if the Papillio will function vell in this invironment?

[Thomas Andersen]

Hi Bo,

i can't say I have any experience keeping X. papilio and frontosa's together, but it's an interesting thought - are the X. papilio adults?

X. papilio can be quite a rough Xeno and it's definitely capable of coping with much bigger cichlids

So, with this size tank and if there are plenty of rockwork, I think you should give it a try - it might actually turn out to be a good combination.

If the X. papilio shows any sign of stress, fear coloration etc. (a row of black blotches along the body) then remove them immediately

If you decide to try it, then please keep us updated

Thomas

[Philippe Burnel]

Cyphotilapia spp are able to eat xentotilapia.
Don't try ! I know guys who tried......

[Thomas Andersen]

Yes, you're quite right Philippe - under normal circumstances you should NOT keep frontosa's with Xenotilapia species, especially not long tasty ones like X. melanogenys, X. sp. kilesa etc.....but......

I know Bo and his frontosa's in person and Bo is a very experienced aquarist who knows his fishes well, and his particular group of frontosa's seems to behave themselves (not eating their tankmates)

So - and I forgot to mention this in the first post - if someone read this thread and thinks it's alright to keep Xeno's together with a random group of frontosa's, they can NOT, unless their are very experienced and know their fishes very well - I trust Bo knows what his doing

Thomas

[Bo]

As Thomas writes, i know this Frontosa pack very well. I have kept them for years.
They are NOT fisheaters. I have held all kinds off small fish with them. And there have never been any kind of problems.

But that being said, i also have had wild frontosas. And they hunt like lions at nigth.
My eksperience tells my, that the wilds ones are much worse in hunting fish, than the breed ones.

So i'm certain that they will not touch my Papillios. But i am worried if the Papillios can deal with the fact, that the big Fronts are swimmig around.

Also the N. Leleupi can be a tough fish too deal with. So its the stress, that concern me the most.

[Bo]

Finally i got them.

But i was so much in doubt regarding the stress, that i gave them their own 325L tank.

But it sems, that after they have moved, their no longer very good friends. In fact the dominant one (male??) posses to the other konstantly. Then when she dosent show any interest, he chases her.

I really hope that they will beginn going steady again.

[Thomas Andersen]

Hi Bo,

Yes, that can unfortunately easily happen to an otherwise harmonious pair when they are moved, or just even by re-decorating their tank

Do you have any fishes you can move to their tank as dither- or target fish? It sometimes helps, that the dominate has other fishes to spread his aggression on, instead of spreading them out the partner and it also strengthens the pair bond between the two

If things runs totally out of control, you could move the dominate fish for a while and give the other (properly the female) some time to recover from the moving and if it´s the female, time to produce some eggs, so she is ready when he returns

Another solution I´ve used a couple a times with X. spiloptera, is to lay their tank in complete darkness, covering it with towels or a blanket, for a couple of days

I’ve stopped keeping the bi-parental Xenotilapia by themselves in their own tanks, for the same reason – one of my X. sp. “fluorescent green” males is extremely nasty towards the female, and if there were not any tankmates he could chase instead of her all the time, I’m sure he would kill her.

Good luck with them

Thomas

[Bo]

Okey. i took a disicion.
I have moved them too an 800L tank. Its filled with other sandcics. Xenotilapia, Ectodus, Lestradea + some Cyprichromis.

So now i hope for a better result.

[Bo]

That did the job. They are swimming together, fully colored up and shinning like too stars.

So a happy ending after all.

[Thomas Andersen]

That´s good news