Wow, that's impressive. I've always wondered how easy it is to get fish at the lakes. Were they cheap? How did you get them back?
That was a really long time ago, and I visited the lake often between 1989-1993. Stuart grant was most helpful, the only time I met him he was playing host to Ad Konings. Ad saw me battling with a 35mm SLR that I had borrowed, and came over to give me photography lessons! Am I privileged or what?! Great guy, no airs about him at all. Best of all were the African staff, who were always there whenever I visited Kambiri Point. At first they were amazed that I could correctly name almost every fish they had in their holding tanks. After that, every time I came by, someone would try to 'catch me out', a most enjoyable, educative game. They particularly enjoyed a book that I took along after the first visit, the Atlas of aquarium fishes because it gave them an opportunity to see what fish the rest of the world had to offer. After browsing through the book, Saulos Mwale said that if he could keep exotic fish, they would be Discus...
After the first trip, a close friend and I landed a contract with a businessman in Lilongwe to drive his new bakkies from Jhb to Malawi 2-3 times per year. He would pay us for driving, and put us up at his lakeside cottage near Senga bay, and allow us to use his V8 motorboat! After which we would fly home. Stuart grant would only sell certain mbuna to us. Anything else we wanted, we had to make our own plan! Ten years before 9/11 it was no problem getting stuff home, I wouldn't try it now...
Hi everyone Haven't been active on the site for a long time.Pedro you are right about the cyprichromis it is microlepidotus. Regards Jano
Hi Jano. Hope you're well. Haven't heard from you for quite some time. Yes, I read up that black finned Cyprichromis are usually more than likely microlepidotus than leptosoma. How are your Tanganyikans doing? Anything new and interesting?
Hi Pedro My tang are alright.Lost a lot off interest in them a while back.Almost gave it up.But i am keen and ready to go.Starting to build my new fish house in july. Nothing new or interesting at the moment. Regards Jano
Jano, can you hazard a guess as to where this microlepidotus originates? Pedro, thanks for pointing us in this direction! This fish is driving me crazy...
Endemic to the northern part of Lake Tanganyika and a few specimens observed along the Tanzanian Coast.
Thanks Pedro. After spending soooo many hours researching leptos, I'm not in the mood to research micros...
Okay, I've done some homework, and I.m about convinced that these cyps are indeed microlepidotus. So thanks again, Pedro, for bringing that to our attention. A couple of reasons: The first one is size. The cyps oom Bert has, I thought, were still growing. Apparently not. He's had them for more than two years, and they're fully grown. So, at about 11cm they do not fit into the Jumbo category. Too large to fit into the non-Jumbo category either. Besides, the cyps we have do not match colours with any known non-Jumbo. And thats the second reason: colour. Most of the photos I found on the net depicting Cyprichromis microlepidotus have closer colours to our fish than any C.leptosoma Jumbo, including chaitika. I was disappointed at first, that these fish were not C.leptosoma, but that may actually be a boon. Firstly, because they are not going to grow to 15cm, we can keep more of them in a given space. And secondly, they seem to be a lot more scarce in the hobby. Now, because C.microlepidotus is not common to fishkeepers, first-hand information is sparse. So by carefully observing our fish, and hopefully breeding them well, we could perhaps add to the pool of info available to fellow hobbyists...
Glad to be of help Rocky! That was a new Cyprichromis for me too as the pics you sent just didn't look like the pics I had found for leptosoma's. When running a search just for Cyprichromis did I stumble upon the microlepidotus which looked a lot like yours and Oom Bert's in terms of colour and even shape. As I have found out tonight, there is a very valid reason why C. microlepidotus is scarce in the hobby... C. microlepidotus are in fact on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/details.php/60487/all) and are on this list due to sedimentation; over-exploitation by the aquarium trade; and water pollution. They are a pelagic or bathypelagic species feeding on copepods. Their presence in fairly shallow water seems related to inshore breeding migrations. It has been observed in shallow rocky habitats, but is thought to normally occur at a much greater depth. Cyprichromis microlepidotus and the other members of the genus are rarely are seen shallower than 10 m depth. The population size is not known but the species is very rarely captured. This is good in a way as you and Oom Bert are now officially part of the "Save the Cyprichromis microlepidotus" campaign by breeding these guys . Geez man, you're a nature conservationist and you didn't even know it. Well done
!!!!! Wow Pedro, how did I get this far without knowing you? You're absolutely correct, I did some checking. I'm actually nervous now, with that knowledge, I will have to take extreme care of these lil guys. What are the implications of having a fish on the redlist, anybody? I'm in uncharted waters here, and more than a little concerned.
At the end of the day Rocky, you're involved in a conservation project. Your ultimate aim and intention with these guys is to boost the population by having successful spawns. Secondly, I'm sure that the F1's were probably sold as Cyprichromis leptosoma "something or other" and whomever had those F1's was/is convinced that they had lepto's. I guess its a bit like being sold a duck when you're convinced that you're buying a chicken... How would you tell the difference - besides that it was one damn big chicken? I didn't post the info to alarm you but just to show you why they're so rare. I'm sorry if I struck fear into your heart - was not my intention... :sorry Maybe they are leptosomas :think.........
NEWS FLASH Animal Kingdom in Atterbury road have 8 cyps. Being sold as Leptosoma for R79 each. I am standing in front of the tank now looking at them. They seem healthy and so on...
Thanks CAtfishluvva! Will go past Animal Kingdom Hillfox hopefully over the weekend to see if they also have! Cheers!
That's quite OK, Pedro. Any info you provide is always appreciated... I must admit I did panic a bit! My wife, who is normally oblivious to my hobbies, said to me last night: "Will you stop fretting over that keyboard, and go sit in front of your fishtank!" So I did, and I'm glad. Like Ryan said few posts back, just enjoy them. Whatever they are. So that's just the ticket. Quit stressing and obsessing. Relax and enjoy! Well spotted, CFL! I really hope this means that we can expect more of what we want at petstores. Perhaps LFS owners have been perusing our thread? Anyway, cyps at Animal Kingdom is great news! :yes
Hi guys, sorry for replying years later lol, but im hunting some cyps myself, im in cape town and finding it near impossible to get hold of any can you maybe help me? know any breeders in cape town, or stockists? once again, sorry to reply so late