# Astatotilapia desfontainii



## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I know this is not a Lake Victoria species, but could the fish be kept with any of the Victorians in my signature?


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## StructureGuy (Jul 27, 2002)

I found desfontainii to be pretty aggressive. They did well with Ptyochromis sp. "salmon" in a 75 gallon tank but I never had them with any other species.
Kevin


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## cichlid-gal (Apr 27, 2012)

I was just looking at these today DJ...and had put them on my "Fish I Like" list... 

I also was wondering the same thing... what species they would do well with.

I did find a pretty good thread in ACA forum about these guys referencing Greg Steeves and some articles that he had... here's the thread and I was thinking of contacting Mr. Steeves to inquire about the articles as well as ordering in the Cichlid News April 2009, Volume 18, Number 2 issue which apparently has an article about these guys that Mr. Steeves wrote.

Let me know your progress and I'll let you know mine :dancing: =D>

http://www.cichlid.org/forums/showthread.php?t=5176


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## DrgRcr (Jun 23, 2009)

I have these guys, gotten through one of the sponsors here. I also obtained the aforementioned cichlid news back issue. I will say this so you can be forewarned, they are insanely aggressive to each other and have no qualms about chasing other species. Even the females are snotty to each other. I have them in with a group of Pseudotropheus Cyaneorhabdos to try and spread out the aggression. Mine did spawn once but the female spit the eggs when I moved her. Unfortunately, I had a bad ratio to start(5m2/f) and I just lost a female last week to horrible luck. A carpenter ant got into the tank. She must have tried to eat it and either choked or was poisoned by it. I've had to remove several of the males at one time or another due to being beat up. And the beatings don't take place over a prolonged period, but literally overnight. These guys are beauties, but VERY rare in the world. So I would highly not recommend them for a beginner, or if you are not prepared to keep a very close eye on them.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

DrgRcr, maybe I'll get some in June and have better luck with female ratios. Or at least I can spawn them and get some females to share among the fry.

Do you think a male would stay colored up in an all-male tank?


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## DrgRcr (Jun 23, 2009)

DJRansome said:


> DrgRcr, maybe I'll get some in June and have better luck with female ratios. Or at least I can spawn them and get some females to share among the fry.
> 
> Do you think a male would stay colored up in an all-male tank?


DJ, I don't think you could get much worse with the ratio than I did  ! I spoke to the sponsor about it(I'm sure you know who I'm talking about), and he thought it may be OK, even with extra males, to help spread out the aggression. It was for a while and then it seemed to hit a wall all at once. If you do get and spawn them, grow them out and be discerning in where they go. They are extremely rare in the world, let alone the hobby. It's hard to say if they would stay colored up in an all male environment. Most of the ones I've moved to various tanks, have lost a bit of the color. They are true beauties IMO, when fully colored. At the moment, I have 1m/1f left in the main tank with the Cyaneorhabdos, and they seem to be getting along OK. I've seen him shimmying and trying to entice her, so that's a good sign! Keep me posted if you do ever get them.


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