# Tramitichromis sp. "Intermedius"



## S4surf (Oct 18, 2006)

Can anyone who has these post a current picture and state the size in the content? I do not currently have a camera available or I would post mine for comparison. what I'm trying to find out is if other males have a narrow dull orange/red knap on their forehead from their dorsal to between their eyes. My 4-5" male has this and I cannot find another one that does from any pictures I can find on the web and this site. I even searched through the Green Faced Lethrinops naming and still come up empty. BTW: these were bought from a known distributor associated with this forum, and they look exactly like every other one I could find except for this trait I'm seeing.

Thanks,
Steve


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## GoofBoy (Jul 3, 2007)

This is my male about 4 months ago - a bit under 4in at the time. He is now 4.5 or so, signifigantly less of the 3 spots and signifigantly more teal and powder blue when he 'flashes' now -(impossible to do him justice with a camera - and I have tried :x)- no orange cap at all.


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## venustus19 (Aug 30, 2007)

this is my male taken back in july 08... he was probably 4-5" at that time, and now more closely to 6"... 
i also do not, nor do i recall ever seeing an orange cap.









here are a couple more recent pics, that i have used in my "your tanks" pictures...


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## S4surf (Oct 18, 2006)

Thanks for the quick replies 

I will try to get some pictures of mine for comparison, but my phone is just not going to cut it for this type of detail. I would not call it an orange cap like you see on a Lethrinops, it resembles a Frieri when they they are just starting to gain their white knap. It is a broken line that is the color of his anal fin but has no reflective qualities like his body. Other than that he looks exactly like yours  My friend has another male from this batch that does not show this coloration to date, but he is slightly smaller. We originally had 10 of them but lost most of the crew in an ice storm this past New England winter  It is possible that my lighting has something to do with it, but I'm only using powerglow T5's with a full spectrum bulb.

And I hear you on the shots, I know I'm not going to them justice but I think venustus19 did a great job of displaying their intensity. They are truely one of the most beautiful fish I have ever kept. Their disposition is not your normal African 

On a side note, do either of you kept multiple adult males in a given tank? How many fish in your group, etc...? I originally had a trio and the females were sometimes aggressive towards each other and one of them passed. My male treats the lone female like a queen, and before I add some more females I would like to know your observations with these fish.

Goofboy I noticed your sig, Are you keeping the Insignus with your Intermedius? That happens to be one of the tankmates my friend was thinking about. they both seem to be pretty mellow and a third group will be some Pheno Tanz's.

Thanks,
Steve


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## venustus19 (Aug 30, 2007)

thanks for the nice comments S4surf... these fish are also one of my favorite cichlids...

i have what i call a 90(but i think it is more like an 80) gallon tank, that houses 5 yellow labs, 5 acei, and right now i have 3M/3F of the inters... i have in my growout tanks, another 7 juvies that i am trying to bigger so i can find more females to add... i want/will have eventually 3M/7F in this tank... they ar pretty peacefull fish, and even with a ratio of 3M/3F they are behaving good... you have your typical chasing and fighting here and there, but i also have breeding going on, so i must be doing something right...
i kept the first 2 broods, but i am no longer going to keep the fry to sell, there were too many of them(50+ in each brood), and i am having a hard time trying to sell them now... so, i am gonna let nature take its course in the tank...


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## S4surf (Oct 18, 2006)

I am surprised Venustus19 that you cannot move the fry when people can see these pictures 

I have around 20 fry from their first spawn that I'm growing out, but I will probably only attempt to sell them once the males color up and can be sold as pairs or trios.

Of course keep a few for myself 

I currently keep mine in a 90 with some Lethrinops Mbawa.

Steve


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## GoofBoy (Jul 3, 2007)

> On a side note, do either of you kept multiple adult males in a given tank? How many fish in your group, etc...?


Had 1M:5F - the females did go to war now an again - to the point of lining up at each end of the tank charging and lip locking, then doing it again. The male could have cared less. I ended up getting rid of the girls and going all male.



> Goofboy I noticed your sig, Are you keeping the Insignus with your Intermedius? That happens to be one of the tankmates my friend was thinking about. they both seem to be pretty mellow and a third group will be some Pheno Tanz's.


Protomelas sp. "Spilonotus Tanzania" (Liuli) - I know some people are selling them as Insignus at this point - but it is definitely not the same fish as the actual Protomelas Insignus I found in Konings latest book. I had a group of 5 Liuli 3M:2F in my 90 then cut it to a trio 1M:2F and since I went all male with just the big guy. He is very mellow without the girls - you definitely need a 6ft tank if keeping males and females, the male doesn't get super aggressive but he will dominate 2/3 of a 4ft tank when he wants to spawn - which is pretty often.


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## S4surf (Oct 18, 2006)

GoofBoy said:


> > Protomelas sp. "Spilonotus Tanzania" (Liuli) - I know some people are selling them as Insignus at this point - but it is definitely not the same fish as the actual Protomelas Insignus I found in Konings latest book. I had a group of 5 Liuli 3M:2F in my 90 then cut it to a trio 1M:2F and since I went all male with just the big guy. He is very mellow without the girls - you definitely need a 6ft tank if keeping males and females, the male doesn't get super aggressive but he will dominate 2/3 of a 4ft tank when he wants to spawn - which is pretty often.


It was me that mixed up the names  I can see how other people do it. After talking to him last night, he has a quad of the Liuli and their going into a 4ft 120. We thought the 2ft of depth will give enough space for these groups but time will tell. The largest will be the intermedius trio m-4" and the other males are 3-3-1/2" . If they are only a$$'s when their breeding then we can deal with that.

There are'nt many larger african's that don't take over 2/3 of a tank 

Thanks,
steve


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

Is this the same kind of fish?










He's ten inches...

Sorry to hijack, but it's obvious you guys know more about these guys than I do :lol:


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## S4surf (Oct 18, 2006)

I think it is the same thefishguy, you can faintly see the three black spots on his body. but he must be an old gent at 10" 

I'm still trying to sort out what I actually have. there is another fish called Otopharynx tetrastigma which the males look identical, but the females do not.

i'm surprised he can live in your big tank with the tough guy's. they are known to not be aggressive at all, which I can confirm in my tank.

Steve


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

:lol: I have (had) three males, all around 10". They are peaceful until messed with, then they go nuts chasing LOL THey usually fight amungst them selves... It's funny when I go to OCA meetings and someone brings a "Huge" one at 6"..... I just laugh to myself...


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## S4surf (Oct 18, 2006)

I finally got to borrow a decent camera for an afternoon.

Here is my False Intermedius, The pictures aren't quite as good as either of yours 


































You can see the red marks on his forehead in these two shots. It never got any bigger over the past few months.

Steve


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