# Wild Caught Metriaclima sp. Msobo deeps - 56k warning!



## gbleeker (Jul 31, 2007)

I received my wild caught group of Metriaclima sp. Msobo deeps (1m,7f) and they look gorgeous! We had guests all weekend and I didn't have time to take any pictures. Today though, I finally have had time to snap some pictures (400+ to be exact) in order to get some good shots.

We just got a new camera and I am completely experimenting with settings. Feedback would be much appreciated!

Here they are!

*The females:*


















































































































*And... the male:*


























































































*Group shots... the single male with his harem of females:*


































Hope you enjoyed them. If you can't tell - I do!


----------



## Kramerpit (Jun 23, 2008)

nice looking bunch. what setting did you take those in? and what type of camera? great pics.


----------



## Desi&lt;3 (Feb 13, 2008)

Wow they look great and now thanks to those beauties I can add another fish to my want list! :lol: 
At any rate love them, they have some great color.


----------



## haibane (Jun 2, 2008)

Cool fish there.


----------



## gbleeker (Jul 31, 2007)

Kramerpit said:


> nice looking bunch. what setting did you take those in? and what type of camera? great pics.


Kramer, I used a Panasonic Lumic DMC-TZ5 (point and shoot) with an external flash and slave trigger. Setting wise, I only had control of shutter speed (1/200). It is about as much as I can control on a simple digital camera.


----------



## gbleeker (Jul 31, 2007)

Thanks for the comments Desi and Haibane! I really enjoy Msobo and I think they are gorgeous fish. It is fun watching the males transition from pure orange to the dark blue and black. Even though I wasn't able to watch the male in this wild caught group change, I have kept 13 Msobo in the past from fry size all the way to maturity and the change is quite dramatic!


----------



## gbleeker (Jul 31, 2007)

Heh - they are trying to breed today! Sweet!


----------



## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

Great pics, and congrats on the pick up!

Guess there is no sense in warning you about the aggression level of those "girls"! :lol:


----------



## cody16 (Dec 16, 2006)

nice fish good luck with breeding them and BTW where did you purchase them from?


----------



## Sick-Lid-4-Life (Mar 22, 2008)

Nice pictures!


----------



## gbleeker (Jul 31, 2007)

cichlidaholic said:


> Great pics, and congrats on the pick up!
> 
> Guess there is no sense in warning you about the aggression level of those "girls"! :lol:


Heh, I know the females can be very aggressive with each other so I guess I'll have to see how it all plays out.

I got the fish from Oldworldexotic.


----------



## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

Looks like you've got plenty of girls to work it out! :thumb:


----------



## gbleeker (Jul 31, 2007)

Cich - I don't know your real name sorry.... based on your picture you apparantly keep cobalt blues.. how are they for you? I had a group of 8 juvies that I had to sell to finance my new WC group I pictured here.

I am curious how they are as I am possibly considering adding some cobalt blues to a new tank in the future..


----------



## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

My name is Kim, by the way... :thumb:

I don't have any Cobalts right now, the one in my avatar is my all time favourite fish out of 38 years of fishkeeping, so I guess that pretty much sums it up. :lol:

They are amazing fish, but in this area, it's increasingly hard to find good quality ones. If I could find some of my old ones, I'd have them again.

The only problems I ever had with them was in trying to house too many males together. In a 4 foot tank, I firmly believe one male is all you need, unless it's a single species tank. Their aggression (IME) is conspecific, I've housed them with many species, and never had any problems between them and other fish, but my large Cobalt males were always in charge, just by their intimidation factor alone.

HTH


----------



## chapman76 (Jun 30, 2004)

Beautiful. I have a group right now that looks a lot like yours (1M/7F). Good luck with the breeding. Mine are actually pretty mild mannered. They're wusses next to the C. sp. Lion Mara Rocks and the Ps. polits that I keep them with.


----------



## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

chapman76 said:


> Good luck with the breeding. Mine are actually pretty mild mannered.


I must have gotten a demonic bunch of them! I've had 3 out of 4 females holding in the last month, and none of them have made it long enough for me to remove them from the tank to salvage the fry. The girls just beat each other senseless, and the male has finally turned it on enough to send all the White tops I have in the tank with them into hiding. :lol:


----------



## gbleeker (Jul 31, 2007)

chapman76 said:


> Beautiful. I have a group right now that looks a lot like yours (1M/7F). Good luck with the breeding. Mine are actually pretty mild mannered. They're wusses next to the C. sp. Lion Mara Rocks and the Ps. polits that I keep them with.


Have yours bred then?


----------



## chapman76 (Jun 30, 2004)

Yes, I have a bunch of about 30 fry right now. Been awhile since they'd held again. Should be soon, but my Lion male isn't giving the msobo male much of a chance to do anything right now.


----------



## thinking_fish (Aug 13, 2007)

Great looking group :thumb:


----------



## gbleeker (Jul 31, 2007)

thinking_fish said:


> Great looking group :thumb:


Thanks!


----------



## gbleeker (Jul 31, 2007)

Oh - today they were acting like they were going to breed! I sure hope so.


----------



## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

Good luck!

Next time I will pull my females immediately following a spawn so I don't lose the fry again! Those girls can be really hard on each other!


----------



## gbleeker (Jul 31, 2007)

cichlidaholic said:


> Good luck!
> 
> Next time I will pull my females immediately following a spawn so I don't lose the fry again! Those girls can be really hard on each other!


I may have to try that, thanks Kim.


----------



## gbleeker (Jul 31, 2007)

Well, I lost 1 female to what I believe was bloat. She was hunkered down in the rocks and wouldn't eat. After about 2 days I was able to catch her and put her in my 10 gallon hospital and I treated with 1 tab of Jungle parasite clear. The next morning, she was dead =(

No other fish in the entire tank are displaying any symptoms what-so-ever and all are eating away. I did a massive water change anyways and have been doing small feedings since then anyways, to be safe.


----------



## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

You might go ahead and add some epsom salt to the tank at 1 cup per 100G, and cut back on the feedings to a minimal amount. The epsom salt is a good preventative since it serves as a mild laxative. I find it really helps in acclimating new wild fish to my tanks and food.


----------



## gbleeker (Jul 31, 2007)

cichlidaholic said:


> You might go ahead and add some epsom salt to the tank at 1 cup per 100G, and cut back on the feedings to a minimal amount. The epsom salt is a good preventative since it serves as a mild laxative. I find it really helps in acclimating new wild fish to my tanks and food.


Just regular epsom salt from the store? Or a certain kind of salt from a pet store?


----------



## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

Just regular old epsom salt...Dissolve it in tank water first then distribute it through the tank!


----------



## renegade545 (Jul 4, 2008)

Excellent photos.


----------



## gbleeker (Jul 31, 2007)

renegade545 said:


> Excellent photos.


Thanks!


----------



## gbleeker (Jul 31, 2007)

I have my first holding female - finally! Only took about 5 or 6 months!


----------



## utimag (Jun 17, 2008)

Congratulations gbleeker good luck with her. =D> Great looking group. :thumb:


----------



## gbleeker (Jul 31, 2007)

utimag said:


> Congratulations gbleeker good luck with her. =D> Great looking group. :thumb:


thanks!


----------



## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

gbleeker said:


> I have my first holding female - finally! Only took about 5 or 6 months!


Congrats. I have Kim's females now. :lol:


----------



## gbleeker (Jul 31, 2007)

Well an update... my first batch of fry grew out and I sold about 21 F1. I have my 2nd and 3rd batches growing out now !


----------

