Paretroplus menarambo / Pinstripe Damba Guarding Spawn

[Jim Cumming]

Of the eight Madagascan cichlid species that I keep, none are as magnificent as the Pinstripe Damba. It is one of the more frequently available ones in the cichlid hobby but by no means common. They do best in groups of 6 or more and since they will reach a maximum length of 10"+, large tanks (150G or more) are best provided. Here is a video of my six year old pair guarding their eggs which were laid yesterday.
https://youtu.be/NRimvLIopSE

[smitty]

Northo2000, I was raving about your tanks over breakfast the other day. I told my friend to check your video of the Damba's. I am going to send him this video.

[TangJeff]

I made an account just so I could comment on how gorgeous those are. They must be rare at this point, in my region of Canada at least.

Thanks for sharing.

[JHG]

I made an account just so I could comment on how gorgeous those are. They must be rare at this point, in my region of Canada at least.

Thanks for sharing.

Hey Jeff fancy seeing you here. I believe Jim is in Winnipeg.

Sent from my SM-G386W using Tapatalk

[TangJeff]

Hey Jeff fancy seeing you here. I believe Jim is in Winnipeg.

Hi Jay! Yes I am starting to 'venture out' into other cichlid communities from the WCCG.

[JHG]

Hey Jeff,

I was just given two Paretroplus menarambo this past Saturday that are still juveniles. I'll have to get a huge tank for them eventually. You can have them if you want. Let me know. Jim's pair are absolute beauts!

Jay

[ikuacara]

I hope, someday mine will do the same. Right now I have 6 young in 75gl. What age they start to breed at, Jim?

[Jim Cumming]

I haven't really kept track but they should be of breeding age at around 15 to 18 months.

[ikuacara]

Thank you, hope to see you in January in Chicago

[Jim Cumming]

Looking forward to it. See you then

[ikuacara]

Jim, Id like to move mine into 125 gl, but I have aragonite substrate there with pH around 8.9 and hardness 800 ppm. Would this be ok. for them or to high and I should take the aragonite out? Thanks

[Jim Cumming]

I have added an aragonite substrate in some of my Madagascan tanks. Also, I know at least one other successful Madagascan keeper and breeder who has hard water and high pH. My normal water parameters out of the tap are pH ~7.6 and total hardness about 180 ppm.The Madagascan cichlids seem to be quite flexible in that regard.

[Graeme]

Looks like you are doing very well with a few madigascar species.
Congrats your making me miss mine.
Did you ever have any luck with the kieneri?

I will have to get you to ship some fish out west some day

[Jim Cumming]

Hi Graeme. Yes. I'm having lots of fun with the Madagascans. Thanks for asking. I have bred kieneri several times but right now, I just have 10 young ones that I'm growing out. They should be of spawning maturity any time now. I could certainly send some fish your way.