# Tankmates for Leleupi!



## SweetPoison (Apr 4, 2009)

Hey Guys ~

I am looking to do a tank makeover! I have Fronts, one Blue Dolphin and two Leleupi. I want to keep the Leleupi.

Can you put Tetras with Leleupi? What can you put with them?


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## Razzo (Oct 17, 2007)

SweetPoison said:


> Hey Guys ~
> 
> I am looking to do a tank makeover! I have Fronts, one Blue Dolphin and two Leleupi. I want to keep the Leleupi.
> 
> Can you put Tetras with Leleupi? What can you put with them?


Hey SP, how have ya been?

Are you getting rid of the fronts? I forgot what you had... Burundi?

I think altolamps will work with Leleupi. How big of a tank are we talking about?


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## SweetPoison (Apr 4, 2009)

Hi! I am good! Yes I think that is what I have ~ Burundi. They are huge now. I am getting rid of the Fronts ~ I think. Every three years I want to do a make over!

I really really wanna keep one, Brutus, the biggest. But I am afraid he may eat whatever I put in there!

My tank is a 125 gallon. I will search the Altolamps. Are they cute? I can't do ugly. lol!


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## SweetPoison (Apr 4, 2009)

Razzo said:


> I think altolamps will work with Leleupi.


Oh My. Those are really ugly, Razzo! :lol: Do you have a Plan B? So ~tetras are a No, huh?


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## 24Tropheus (Jun 21, 2006)

leleupi are not communty fish (No way). Sure they look good but experienced guys just breed em for good profit. Do you catch my drift? Singles can be about tolerated in agressive comunities part of the time. But to breed well you kind of need a 75g plus one real mean male and a bunch of females each with their own shell as the pair bond does not last.

Female singles can be OK in small communities do not get me wrong but its kind of one in 20.

Ah do I do not have a downer on this fish for most folk?

All the best James


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## Razzo (Oct 17, 2007)

How about ditch the tangs and go with a Malawi tank


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## SweetPoison (Apr 4, 2009)

Razzo said:


> How about ditch the tangs and go with a Malawi tank


I can't keep one Front, huh? I'm gonna check them out!


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## Wei Fun (Mar 1, 2003)

24Tropheus said:


> But to breed well you kind of need a 75g plus one real mean male and a bunch of females each with their own shell as the pair bond does not last.
> 
> All the best James


This has not been my experience. First, my females preferred caves, not shells. Second, they were breeding very well in a 30g, where I had them together with a trio of calvus. Although it's hard to comment on pair bond in a tank that small, my impression was that I had a long-term stable pair, with only an occasional straying. When they first started spawning, the male would beat the females something fierce. There was a time when it got so bad I had to remove the male for a while. After I returned him, they got along fine.

They definitely are aggressive fish, and not to be recommended with anything docile or fragile. If you're going to keep them with other fish, make sure those fish can either stand up to the aggression, or take it.

One last item of note, the females do appear to be territorial as well as the males, especially when spawning.


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## 24Tropheus (Jun 21, 2006)

Wei Fun said:


> 24Tropheus said:
> 
> 
> > But to breed well you kind of need a 75g plus one real mean male and a bunch of females each with their own shell as the pair bond does not last.
> ...


How long have you had them?
The shells are to protect em from the male when the pair bond breaks as it often does after a few batches. Sure caves too small for the male can work too. :wink:

One last item of note, the females do appear to be territorial as well as the males, especially when spawning.

For sure! And the males can kill females between spawns if they are not given cover that the male can not get into. I wish you and your pair well but do not expect many batches of fry untill the female needs protection from the male. :wink:

All the best James


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## Wei Fun (Mar 1, 2003)

I had them for about 3 years before I had to shut down my tanks when moving. Very stable group once they settled in, although had I not moved the male the one time I did, I'm not sure whether both females would have made it. Can't count the number of fry that I sold or gave away.

The caves I used were the small-sized orange terra cotta ones, plus impromptu rock caves. One of the females preferred the rocks, the other the terra cotta. It's unlikely the male could have gotten into the terra cotta cave (at least, it would have been uncomfortable if it had), but it had no issue getting into the rock cave of the other female.

Who knows, maybe I was just lucky, but I look back and I think that the leleupi were one of the favorite fish I've kept, despite their aggression.


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## 24Tropheus (Jun 21, 2006)

Lucky or skillful use of caves and breeding equipment I guess. All too many times I hear of these guys killing each other (before breeding or between batches) or other fish when they breed inc Altolamps in 3 foot tanks. Seen it myself to before trying em in numbers in a larger tank. But it worked for you. 8)

Not my fav fish by a long chalk too many complaints about agression from folk I sold or gave the young to but one of the few that breeds and sells well enough to even cover the cost of keeping it plus a small profit. 

All the best James


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## 24Tropheus (Jun 21, 2006)

Must admit quite shocked to see this fish on the 20gallon long/76 liter long 30" x 12" x12" cookie cutter.

Ã¢â‚¬Â¢ Julidochromis regani - 1 pair
Ã¢â‚¬Â¢ Neolamprologus leleupi - 1 pair
Ã¢â‚¬Â¢ 'Lamprologus' occelatus - 1 trio

Makes me think ones in the US must be smaller or less violent than the ones in the UK.  

All the best James


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## kriskm (Dec 1, 2009)

I have heard widely differing stories from leleupi keepers, sometimes from the same keeper. Some are mean, some are OK. Depends on your group. I have seen a cool tank with rock dwellers from both lakes, leleupi and julidochromis marlieri (my current favorite) from lake Tanganyika, and various mbuna from lake Malawi. The tank was a 90g bow front, with dark lace rock all the way up to the top, and the fish used it all. Very striking and fun to watch.


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## larry.beck (Jul 31, 2009)

Hey Kris! I heard you were running an "experiment" for us to see how Steve's leleupi do with full-size frontosa. Please do let me know how it goes! I was going to pick up a quad but decided to wait until I get my group grown out some more and into their big tank.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

24Tropheus said:


> Must admit quite shocked to see this fish on the 20gallon long/76 liter long 30" x 12" x12" cookie cutter.
> 
> Ã¢â‚¬Â¢ Julidochromis regani - 1 pair
> Ã¢â‚¬Â¢ Neolamprologus leleupi - 1 pair
> ...


It does seem that this cookie cutter and some of the others for Tangs in particular might be a little ambitious.  My leleupi killed my shellies and caudopunctatus in a 72" tank. Now I have them in a 75G with male Malawi haps/peacocks and they are doing OK but not adding much to the tank. They are going.


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## kriskm (Dec 1, 2009)

Hey Larry, (sorry for a little hijack SP). Yes, I picked up a bunch of fish from Steve. Right now they're all crowded into a couple of 20 long tanks, but I'm rescaping the 6ft 125g in a few days, adding lots of caves and moon snail shells, and we'll see how they do with the fronts. I'll be adding 11 leleupi, 6 juli marlieri, 4 Tanganicodus irsacae, and one Eretmodus cyanostictus (7 leleupi and the gobies are from Steve). He wanted me to try some little occelatus too, mostly because he just needed to get rid of them, but I've heard too many horror stories of leleupi killing them off. I think they'll stay in the 20g long. The theory on the leleupi with the fronts is that in a large enough group, the leleupi will concentrate on each other and leave the fronts alone. We'll see.

SP, you've been keeping fronts with leleupi for a while now, how do they get along in your tank?


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## Bpiche (Jan 2, 2011)

Would a single Leleupi be a terror in a 36" long tank with Brevis and Goldhead Altos?


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

What I was advised, what I ignored, and what did ultimately happen to me, FWIW...

When the brevis spawn, the leleupi want the fry. So they eat them. But the brevis mom plugs the shell with her body to protect the fry. So the leleupi bites the brevis and pulls her out of the shell to get the fry.

Whether the leleupi chewed her up more, or she just eventually died of the stress of this harrassment...I lost five this way. In a 72" tank.


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## Bpiche (Jan 2, 2011)

Good tO know!


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