# Caudopunctatus, good tank mates?



## janthinajanthina (Jan 22, 2011)

100 gall;

Tank measurments: 150cm in lenght, 50cm wide, 50cm high (I think it amounts to 59 inches long and 20 inches high 20 inches wide?)

pH: 7,5
dKH: 10
temp: 26 celcius/78,8 farenheit

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This is how my tank looks:










I'll add a few more flowerpots (paint them black, add sand and hide them), a few more plants and a bit more sand. There's a small multie colony and three adult julie marileri. As you can see it looks very empty, I'd like to add a few caudopunctatus to the mix, and I wonder if any one knows if they'd be a good match? I'm also thinking of adding an alto comp 

Bonus question, does anyone know if it's "weird" that these multie fry doesn't have their stripes yet? I know the photo isn't the best, but they're about 1 cm big










thanks for reading!

ETA: Fixed the images


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## prov356 (Sep 20, 2006)

> Bonus question, does anyone know if it's "weird" that these multie fry doesn't have their stripes yet? I know the photo isn't the best, but they're about 1 cm big


If you're talking about the second pic, it's because it's a caudopunctatus fry, 99.99% certain of that.

Caudopunks may hassle any shell dwellers for their shells. Not the perfect mix. Might work, but might take a lot of intervention on your part.


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## Rick_Lindsey (Aug 26, 2002)

Oh wow, that's a pretty tank.

'Punks are opportunistic shell-dwellers (I believe they generally take rocky territories in the lake), so at a minimum you'd need to ensure they have a territory distinct from both the multies and the julies. Multiple species of shell-dwellers in the same tank are often discouraged, but I think you might stand a chance with the punks, especially if you give them a rocky territory rather than something that will be tempting to the multi colony as it grows. You should be prepared for it to not work though.

My baby multies didn't have stripes either, love the blue eyes though! I don't remember the yellow on the dorsal on mine, but it's been more than a few years since I kept them.

Honestly, I'm not sure I'd add both altos and caudopunks, since that would be 3 species all competing for similar rocky territories. Maybe something like a gobie that's less territorial, and/or some cyprichromis for the upper reaches.

-Rick (the armchair aquarist, who hasn't actually kept any of these species except multifasciatus, so take a grain of salt with his advice)


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## janthinajanthina (Jan 22, 2011)

prov356 said:


> > Bonus question, does anyone know if it's "weird" that these multie fry doesn't have their stripes yet? I know the photo isn't the best, but they're about 1 cm big
> 
> 
> If you're talking about the second pic, it's because it's a caudopunctatus fry, 99.99% certain of that.
> ...


I may have been a bit fuzzy in my wording, I don't actually have any punks yet! They do look a lot like it though!  Their parents both have pretty striking yellow colour in their dorsal fin

Yeah, I've been trying really hard to come up with a good tank mate to the julies and multies for awhile now, (a rather sturdy tang), so I might try it still,

thank you for your advice!


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## janthinajanthina (Jan 22, 2011)

Rick_Lindsey said:


> Oh wow, that's a pretty tank.
> 
> 'Punks are opportunistic shell-dwellers (I believe they generally take rocky territories in the lake), so at a minimum you'd need to ensure they have a territory distinct from both the multies and the julies. Multiple species of shell-dwellers in the same tank are often discouraged, but I think you might stand a chance with the punks, especially if you give them a rocky territory rather than something that will be tempting to the multi colony as it grows. You should be prepared for it to not work though.
> 
> ...


Thank you!  There's a lot of love in it, but it got hit hard with disease (lost 18 cyps and a few multies) but I'm trying to get it back to the thriving state it used to be. I loved the cyps but I don't think I dare try them again for awhile.

I've read a bit on swedish cichlid forums that punks seems to prefer flowerpots and rocky spaces over shells, so I guess I hoped that'd be the case in my tank. I'll try to add another rock pile though and hope the julies don't mind too much. I'll make sure to check with my LFS that I can sell back the punks if it doesn't work out though 

Their parents have a lot of yellow (especially the dad!) so I could actually see their colour after only a few weeks, but since I had to dose heavily with antibiotics when they were younger I'm a bit worried they might've become stunted? They do keep growing and seem healthy enough, just after all the hiccups with the tank I'd like to make sure!

Thank you very much for all the advice, there's an alto comp that's been living at my LFS for awhile and every time I go in I just wish I could buy him, but maybe I'll just let him be : P


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## prov356 (Sep 20, 2006)

> I may have been a bit fuzzy in my wording, I don't actually have any punks yet! They do look a lot like it though!


If that's a multi fry, that's amazing because it is the spitting image of caudo fry.



> I've read a bit on swedish cichlid forums that punks seems to prefer flowerpots and rocky spaces over shells


Mine must not have been Swedish.  They wouldn't spawn in anything but shells.


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## Pizzle (May 24, 2011)

Before even reading prov356 comment, I too thought picture 2 looks punk.


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## londonloco (Mar 31, 2011)

Pizzle said:


> Before even reading prov356 comment, I too thought picture 2 looks punk.


x3, can you post a pic of the parents?


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## TMB60 (Jan 6, 2011)

+ 4. I have a Multie colony as well as a trio of Punks. That fry in pic 2 sure looks like a punk.
A decent pic of the parents will tell all :thumb:

Cheers,
Tom


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## janthinajanthina (Jan 22, 2011)

I wonder if it's a good thing they look so much like punk-fry, but I'm 101% sure they're not. : P The only photos of the parents I have uploaded (I so wish I had a better camera)

the mother










daddy-o


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## janthinajanthina (Jan 22, 2011)

prov356 said:


> > I may have been a bit fuzzy in my wording, I don't actually have any punks yet! They do look a lot like it though!
> 
> 
> If that's a multi fry, that's amazing because it is the spitting image of caudo fry.
> ...


Haha, to me it'd be more amazing if it was a caudo since I don't keep them and have watched these fry since they weren't even free-swimming! ; )

I'll make sure to inform then when/if I get them that they're suppoused to be in the flower pots! :lol: Joking aside though, I'll keep a close eye on where they pick their thome if I try this  thanks again for the advice!


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## Frazee86 (Aug 1, 2010)

Kinda look my fry to










Dad









Mom


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## jrf (Nov 10, 2009)

Very nice looking tank. Personally, IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢d think about adding a nice group of Cyps before anything else. TheyÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ll make good use of all of that open water, and I donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t think they would collide too much with the current residents.


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## janthinajanthina (Jan 22, 2011)

Frazee: Super pretty multies!  They look very similar to mine, love the colouring on dads fins!

Jrf: Thank you! An yes, cyps looked amazing in this tank but they got sick and wasted away without known cause so I'm not about to try them again sadly. /: It did look amazing though...


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## Pizzle (May 24, 2011)

Sorry Jan.  Looks like we were wrong. I think it was the orange on the edge of the dorsal fin that threw me off and both species have big blue eyes. I like the aquascape but I agree with everyone else that Cyps would look great in there. What species did you have before? Is that Utinta?


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## janthinajanthina (Jan 22, 2011)

haha, not having punks I was a bit worried! Like what the h- ;P

Yes, that's utinta, but I'll not put any more cyps in it before I've got more experience, they wasted away for such a long time and made looking at the tank **** :/


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