# Which Victorian will color up in all male tank?



## johnchor (Apr 2, 2011)

hello folks,

here is a poll to gather some information from the experts here.
Which Victorian will color up in all male tank?

thanks for supporting! :thumb:


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

The dominant one.. None of these fish will colour up if they aren't dominant. So basically, the most aggressive species might, the lesser won't for certain. Even then, there is absolutely no guarantee even the most aggressive fish will colour up without females. If they do colour, it won't be to their maximum without females. I love some of the Vics, but as I've been saying repeatedly to you, they don't typically make very good tankmates, in all male Malawian tanks.


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## johnchor (Apr 2, 2011)

Hello Fogelhund Sir,

Good morning!
thank you, you always help me and reply to my stupid\stubborn questions. hahahha...
i really learn a lot here from all the folks here. esp folks like You, DJ, samaki, razorback and many more...
i was hoping to gather more info and experiences from VICS keepers all around the world. at the same time share my little experiences with others.

yes roger! currently i have a batch of 10 Pundamilia nyererei ruti (sadly 1 male died) - suspected 8 males 1 female - 9 left now.
also i got hold of 5 F1 Haplochromis sp. "#44" thickskin recently - 1 male 4 females
they are all 2-2.5 inches now and all living in a 69gallon below my all male tank. seems like a warzone to me...lolx

You are right! Pundamilia nyererei is much much more aggressive than Haplochromis sp. "#44" thickskin!!!
Haplochromis sp. "#44" thickskin is now under Pundamilia nyererei dominance in my 69gallon.

So far i have test 3 VICS in all male tank and results as below:
1) Astatotilapia latifasciata - did not colorup. looks muted black stripes and NO red belly at all. looks dull. and is very aggressive to peacocks!!!
2) Pundamilia nyererei ruti - did not colorup RED. looks dull. needs female or another male to really colorup red. did not bother other malawi too much.
3) Haplochromis sp. "#44" thickskin - colorup abit. better than the 2 above. did not bother other malawi too much.

i am curious how Paralabidochromis sauvagei (Mwanza Gulf) will fare in all male tank.

thanks and have a nice day!


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## StructureGuy (Jul 27, 2002)

It depends upon a lot of things. I have 55 gallon and 75 gallon single species tanks where the males usually color up quite nicely. But I also have a 180 gallon catch-all mbuna and Victorian tank and this is where I keep the excess males from the breeder tanks. (call them breeders in waiting  )At the moment I have three male vics (without any females present) that are showing great color:
Astatoreochromis alluaudi (one fully colored and 2 very muted)
Neochromis omnicaeruleus (one colored and no other males in the tank)
Haplochromis sp. "blue obliquidens" (one fully colored and 2 very muted) The dominant male actually looks significantly better than the male in a single species breeder tank.

I also have a few male vics showing very little color:
Astatotilapia nubila
Haplochromis sp. "fire"

In the past I've had the rock kribensis and As. latifasciata color up quite nicely in the same tank, but they had females of the same species present. However, Ptyochromis sp. "salmon" and Pundamilia nyererei did not color up much at all.

I wouldn't count on any response to your pole as being very reliable, since I personally don't feel it's predictable at all. You best bet is always a 1 or 2 species tank with lots of females.


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## johnchor (Apr 2, 2011)

hello StructureGuy!

how can i forgot you StructureGuy! Thanks sir!

Ok sir right now, i have my 2-2.5 inch P.nyerreri ruti and Hap sp 44 in the 67gallon "outgrow/catch all" tank.
when the P.nyerreri hit 3 inch, i hope to transfer the most colorful\dominant male to my all male display tank.
i have been thinking, how do i get my P,nyerreri ruti to color up in all male tank? i have come out with some ideas
1) add some mirrors at each corner of the tank .... naive thinking?
2) add some females...eh.. defeat the purpose of all male tank
3) add another male... fierce fighting?

any more better ideas? which idea is the best?
thanks Sirs!


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

StructureGuy said:


> You best bet is always a 1 or 2 species tank with lots of females.


Couldn't have said it better myself. If that isn't what you want for your Vics, then try them in the male tank (just that males), and either it works, or it doesn't. If it doesn't work, find some fish that work better. A lot of this will be trial and error, and for that YOU need to work a bit of this out for yourself. It isn't often that two exact recipes work the exact same for two different people.


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## johnchor (Apr 2, 2011)

hello fogelhund sir,

yes roger your advice.
i will certainly post back the results after some experiments with vics.
i hope to share my little experiences of vics with the folks here.

thanks and cheers!


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## johnchor (Apr 2, 2011)

ok folks,

i can confirm that Haplochromis sp. "#44" thickskin male colors up more consistency than P.Nyerreri ruti in a all male tank. even thought it's color is not 100%, i will say about 60 to 70%
On P.nyerreri ruti, the colors in all male tank is only 10-30%. honesty i did not expect these results... quite dissapointing for P.nyerreri ruti...

cheers!


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