Melanochromis auratus

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DragonFish71

DragonFish71

Great white snark
Joined
Apr 4, 2009
Messages
6,562
Location
Longmont, Colorado
Calling all african cichlid experts. While I have a clue about africans, My experience is mainly as a SA/NW gal. This is my first time keeping them. I did my homework, asked tons of questions, now I can't find a really good answer to one.

I bought 4 Melanochromis auratus juvies. One is changing to the darker color, so I gather from research, it's a boy! (passes out cigars with blue wrappers)

Here's my question:

When will he and the 3 girls (barring that none of the others change) reach maturity and start spawning?

I'm finding so many different answers that my head hurts.

basic info:
tank size: 115g
substrate: PFS
decor (more being added as I can): lace rock, java ferns, java moss, anubias
pH: 7.4 (I don't believe is messing with my pH as long as it's stable)
tank mates: 3 kenyi, 3 red zebras, 1 albino zebra, 2 cobalt zebras, 2 yellow labs, 2 featherfin cats
 
I'm finding everything from 6 months to 2 years. Which makes no sense to me. Average cichlid spawning maturity age is at about 6 months or older. I've had them since October, who knows how old they were at the store, maybe 2 months. Though for 6ish months I'd expect them to be bigger.

I'm just trying to be ahead of the game to watch out for trouble. Everyone's pretty much passive, but I know once the spawning starts my tank will turn into a war zone.
 
DragonFish71 said:
I'm finding everything from 6 months to 2 years. Which makes no sense to me. Average cichlid spawning maturity age is at about 6 months or older. I've had them since October, who knows how old they were at the store, maybe 2 months. Though for 6ish months I'd expect them to be bigger.

I'm just trying to be ahead of the game to watch out for trouble. Everyone's pretty much passive, but I know once the spawning starts my tank will turn into a war zone.
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Yes it may well turn into a war zone and even female auratus are known to kill other fish.The thing with auratus is they show little fear and will take on fish much larger than them.I guess you could call them the bad boys of the mbuna world.
 
garfy said:
Yes it may well turn into a war zone and even female auratus are known to kill other fish.The thing with auratus is they show little fear and will take on fish much larger than them.I guess you could call them the bad boys of the mbuna world.
Click to expand...


This....The auratus and the bumblebee are very tough to keep. I think the size of your tank will actually create more problems given your species selection. If a lab goes into the "auratus zone" during spawing they will attack. Thats the main difference between auratus, bbs and more peaceful mbuna. They dont just chase other fish away.
 
Oh I have no doubt that once spawning starts, problems will also. I do have a back up plan for any fish that start getting picked on. I went into this tank knowing full well that though everything I looked up said they'd be compatible, trouble can happen:

1) They're cichlids

2) Someone will spawn, it's a given.
 
I have a question. Why so understocked? You have done your homework, which is why im interested.
 
I was going to keep some but decided against it because of thier aggression issues. I would watch them carefully and make sure that you really only have 1 male because bad things might happen.
But any pics of the tank! I always love seeing other peoples cichlid tanks!
 
Jason7894561230 said:
I was going to keep some but decided against it because of thier aggression issues. I would watch them carefully and make sure that you really only have 1 male because bad things might happen.
But any pics of the tank! I always love seeing other peoples cichlid tanks!
Click to expand...


Here's a few from last month.

And yeah, I'm keeping an eye out to see if any of the other 3 change.
 

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Have you had any issues with those plants getting eaten? I'm always so jealous when I see other people having luck with plants cause I continuously fail.
 
Malawi Freak said:
Have you had any issues with those plants getting eaten? I'm always so jealous when I see other people having luck with plants cause I continuously fail.
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They have only nibbled at any algae that grows on them, but duckweed doesn't stand a chance. I put a net full in every week and it's gone. Maybe that's why, they're eating the duckweed and the seaweed strips for "dinner" so they don't need to eat the plants.
 
not to put a damper on your auratus party, but female auratus will so change to male coloring if they are the dominant auratus in the tank. i have a 5 inch female who is now in full male coloring because her mate died during a mistake with a water change. the male auratus that i have left is smaller and weaker than her so she has assumed the dominant role. im afraid the only way to know if it is indeed male is to vent it or wait to see if they ever spawn.
 
also i have never had an auratus harassed any fish other than each other, even the big male i had never killed any fish and would only chase the little male auratus. yes they hate each other, but should be ok with other africans. IMO.
 
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