# Perspicax Red Top Ndumbi



## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

Just thought I would post my observations on this species, as it was something I was unaware of until I got them.

This species is considered relatively peaceful by mbuna standards in the wild.

Not so much once you confine them to a 110G tank!

I have kept so many aggressive species in the past, including breeding auratus, demasoni, etc. This perspicax male is a nightmare! He has managed to take over the entire center of the tank, and has finally spawned with one of his females. I had hopes that he would calm down a bit once the deed was done, but his reign of terror has just begun, I'm afraid. Now, he wants to spawn with ALL of his girls...today.

He is making every other aggressive fish that I have had look like an angel. I foresee a lonely beautiful male without females at some point down the line, I don't think they can withstand his aggression.

Anyone else had this experience with the perspicax?

It was an impulse buy, of course. Those are the ones that always come back to bite you. I had always wanted a group of them, and there they were! It may turn out to be one of my biggest mistakes in cichlid keeping. He's a tyrant at 2 1/2 inches. Thank goodness he won't get a whole lot bigger. He's a beauty, and because of his attitude, has become my husband's favorite, so I will have to learn to cope, just thought I'd share my experience.


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## 7mm-08 (Jan 12, 2012)

Hehe I think any mention of peaceful should probably be removed from their profile. I have a group of 6 (ended up 3M, 3F but it works) that are a little over 3 inches and they are definitely very feisty. My dominant male loves to strut around and test other fish to see if they want to rumble, but it rarely leads to any real fights. He does chase some, usually other Perspicax, but never in a sustained way. I am a bit surprised they'd be that bad in a 110G though. I had mine breeding in a 29G when they were about the same size as yours with no big issues. They are currently in a 75G with some Deepwater Haps and S. fryeri and I haven't ran into any serious problems. I guess to sum it up, I haven't really found them to be "bad" per se, they just crank the mbuna boisterousness up to 11 with very little actual violence. If you want peace and harmony I'd look elsewhere, but the dominant males are stunning and worth the precociousness in my opinion.


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

I've posted before here, that they are one of the most aggressive mbuna I've ever had the displeasure of keeping. I had one in my office tank, that had about 300+ pounds of rock. I put a trio in, and regretted, but couldn't do anything about it two days later. Never again.


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## cichlid-gal (Apr 27, 2012)

I love to see personal observations and details of fish as that is what can be truly helpful to anyone looking at adding a group of fish to their tanks. Sometimes a fish's beauty (or unique characteristics) overwhelms us and we forget that there is a personality that comes with the fish. I did jump over to the profile for this one and see that maybe someone has changed it already. And thanks for sharing.

_Comments:
Males of this species are characterized by a rusty, reddish patch on the head. It is sympatric with P. sp. "Perspicax Yellow Breast" at Pombo Reef. The geographical variant at Ndumbi Reef is the one exported for the aquarium hobby. *Multiple sources document a lack of aggression in the wild; however, this does not seem to be the case in captivity.* In the wild, they feed by nibbling from the algal mat in a manner similar to Labidochromis spp._


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I always though perspicax was quite aggressive...I have avoided them for that reason. I did not know the CF profile said they were peaceful.


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## cichlid-gal (Apr 27, 2012)

the profile I read said "aggressive" and conspecific was "highly aggressive". All the perspicax say this


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

DJRansome said:


> I always though perspicax was quite aggressive...I have avoided them for that reason. I did not know the CF profile said they were peaceful.


Indeed, the CF profile doesn't say they are peaceful.


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

Fogelhund said:


> I've posted before here, that they are one of the most aggressive mbuna I've ever had the displeasure of keeping. I had one in my office tank, that had about 300+ pounds of rock. I put a trio in, and regretted, but couldn't do anything about it two days later. Never again.


This group may have to go. He has 2 females holding right now, and if he doesn't kill them it will be a miracle. He's also going head to head with my large male Cobalt quite a bit. Guess I should have anticipated that one, since they are similar in color, but everything I read (after impulsively buying them) leaned towards conspecific aggression...I just got too close with the Cobalt, I suppose.

Not happy with these fish at all! Those who know me know that I'm pretty stubborn and rarely give up on a species, but this time around I don't have (or want) 14 tanks and all the options that come with that!

My mistake, of course. I'm watching him right now and within the past 30 seconds he has harrassed every one of my yellow labs! 

His time may be short...


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

If you like the species, separate the females, raise the fry, sell the adults... they colour up early, and will likely be the smallest group in your tank... You can enjoy the fish, and when those ones become too aggressive, rinse and repeat.


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## StructureGuy (Jul 27, 2002)

cichlidaholic said:


> Fogelhund said:
> 
> 
> > Not happy with these fish at all! Those who know me know that I'm pretty stubborn and rarely give up on a species, but this time around I don't have (or want) 14 tanks and all the options that come with that!
> ...


You could bag them up and send them to me. I have a colony of 8 breeding adult perspicax (3M:5F) in a 180 gallon tank and they are doing fine. Lots of high velocity chasing but no fin damage at all. Two males show color but the third just knows how to stay out of the way.

Kevin


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## Chester B (Dec 28, 2012)

I had them alone in a 40 gallon. One male and two females with lots of rock and had them breed regularly with fry surviving in the tank. Didn't see the females much except when it came to feeding time. But I could tell the male was a real bruiser.


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

Kevin, you may just wind up with them if I can convince my husband that the male is the devil! He tends to love the killers.

I do love the look of the male...not so much the females...But this guy is still young, I can't imagine what kind of tyrant he will be when he is grown!

I should have plenty of little ones to survive. I have multiple small rock piles in the tank with small hiding places. Maybe enlarging the group will calm him down.


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