# steatocranus tinanti questions



## Ichy (Oct 26, 2003)

Hi,
I bought some tinanti a while back. I could only afford two so I asked for the biggest and the smallest ones. I'm hoping for both genders. I know my odds are really low. Could any of you that have spawned these and have pics of the males and females please post them . Or describe what you see that might help me figure out if they are a potential pair. I may be able to get more however I doubt it they are a busy LFS over an hour away and it may be some time before i can get back there , The ones I have are still a bit small however it does look as if the larger one has longer dorsal fin. The thing is maybe the smaller one has had its dorsal fin nipped . and that is why it appears shorter . I have no way to know .
Any information about how these fish pair how well they will do if it is a forced pair 
etc would be great. I'd reallylike to spawn these and hopefully buy some S casaurius next.
thanks

Tim


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## Nebraska_cichlids (Dec 16, 2005)

Hi Tim:

Attached please fin two pictures of my male (bottom) and female (top) tinanti. The sex differences are pretty obvious and also typical for Steatocranus (males have larger bumps [not so obvious with tinanti], grow larger and their finds are more extended). My tinanti are wildcaught and I bought them as a mated pair from a fellow hobbyist; they have been breeding regularly for me. I keep 6 different Steatocranus species but the tinanti are my favorites. A large number of new Steatocranus species has recently been described but who knows if they'll ever get imported into the U.S.

If I were you, I'd try to obtain a species other than casuarius as your second species to keep. I find them to be very aggressive (even in the 125G tank that I use for them). Also they produce fry ALL the time which quickly develops into a burden. I'd try to locate species such as gibbiceps or sp. Square Head instead.

Janos


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## aquaticclarity (Nov 8, 2006)

Janos,

Where did you get such beautifull fish?  (Sorry, I couldn't pass up the chance  )

Jeff


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## Ichy (Oct 26, 2003)

Thankyou Janos,
I think I may actually have both genders , could be wrong but after seeing your female I feel more confident that the smaller one I have is female.

Should I try to find more females, or are they easy to pair up?

thanks 
Tim


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## Nebraska_cichlids (Dec 16, 2005)

Yes, I got myfish from Jeff (Aquaticclarity).  As I said before, he passed them on to me as a wild-caught, mated pair. This is the first time for me to keep tinanti, so I don't know how difficult it is to find a bonded pair. Mine have been breeding pretty regularly. Unfortumately, they are in a heavily decorated tank, and I can't catch any juvies without taking down the entire tank. I believe there are up to 4 juvies in the tank right now. Also, the breeding pair is gurading their cave again, suggesting another spawn might have occurred. I'm not sure if Jeff has any more for sale (aquaticclarity.com), but for sure you can get some (and other great West Africans) from Toyin (rehobothaquatics.com), if you don't mind having fish shipped. Unless you are obsessed with your tinanti, you may as well wait to see if your two fish pair off.

Now you've made me curious, though, and I'll do some searching around on the internet myself.

Good luck,

Janos


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## Nebraska_cichlids (Dec 16, 2005)

...after a qick search: There is a group of six tinanti up for sale on aquabid (aquabid.com), but they might be gone by the time you see this message. I have no personal experience with that seller.

Dave Schumacher (davesfish.com) also has some wild-caught tinanti for sale. Dave is a great guy with great fish. He also has some other interesting fish up for sale, e.g., wild-caught Teleogramma brichardi. The brichardi aren't cheap, though!


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## aquaticclarity (Nov 8, 2006)

They were not very hard to pair up. At least the pair that Janos has wasn't hard to pair up. I got a wild male and female from a LFS that had had the fish for a long time. I picked out a large male (long fin extentions and a noticable hump) and a female 3/4 the size of the male (shorter fins and little to no hump). The fish went together into a bare bottom 20 gallon high tank with a sponge filter, a few floating plastic plants, and a few long skinny clay tubes/caves (www.plecocaves.com). There was also an extra male in the tank with the "pair" that went to a friend after a few days. After a short while the "pair" I kept truelly became a pair. The female spawned in the far end of one of the closed end clay tubes and gaurded the spawn VERY well. After 5-6 days I pulled out the wigglers and raised them in a sperate tank. The fish spawned again after what I think was a 6-8 week rest. After that the fish went off the Janos.

The only reason I see to possibly add more tinanti (female or other wise) would be if you have aggression issues or after 6 or more months the fish haven't spawned (assuming that the fish are mature).

There are more tinanti around. I guy in my fish club in Milwaukee, WI has at least a wild pair he got through me a while back and they are breeding. I'll be getting some F1 tinanti from him next time I see him as I have a few people looking to get some and I'm all out right now.

Jeff


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## aquaticclarity (Nov 8, 2006)

Janos,

How are the little Teleogramma you have doing? The 'new' wild pair I have set up are throwing fry like mad. The first spawn had 25 or so eggs and ended up with 8-12 juvinals and now the second spawn of 30+ eggs gave me 20 fry.

Jeff


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## Nebraska_cichlids (Dec 16, 2005)

Jeff, I meant to sent you a PM but goofed up and posted a message instead (see below). Too much egg nog, I suppose!


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## Nebraska_cichlids (Dec 16, 2005)

*aquaticclarity*

Hi Jeff, I'm down to three Teleogramma brichardi (one pair and a single male). Once yours have a decent size, I'd be very interested to get two female and one male F1 from you.

Janos


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## aquaticclarity (Nov 8, 2006)

I'll let you know when they are sexable Janos. It will be a while though!

Jeff


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## Ichy (Oct 26, 2003)

Hello , I finally got a 1/2 decent picture of the two I have . Fairly sure i Have both genders . What is anyones thoughts?
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a387/ ... awn110.jpg

thanks 
Tim


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## aquaticclarity (Nov 8, 2006)

Looks like a good possibility of you having a male and a female. You have a male for sure, the larger fish. The smaller one looks like a female, but sometimes young "females" are actually immature or subdominant males.

Jeff


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## Ichy (Oct 26, 2003)

Thanks for replying, I may go buy another female looking one soon , one of the stores near here has a large group of them in now. I saw a few in there that were certainly more flat headed than my hopeful female.
The y do seem to be spending time near one another now , and are not very aggressive towards one another either. Hoefully thats a good sign

thanks 
Tim


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