# Is this a female Johanni??



## XtremeRevolution (Nov 27, 2009)

Just a bit of background, I'm new here (obviously), and have been keeping cichlids for a while. I started off with a Melanochromis johanni and a yellow Cichlid (probably a Female johanni) as the first two fish I've every personally kept, about 10 months ago in a 5 gallon tank. Shortly after, I bought a 10 gallon and put the Male Johanni in there by himself. My fiance was taking care of the female, and after forgetting to clean the filter for a a few weeks, it developed fungus around its head and died.

Not knowing much, I went back to the store and picked up two Rusty cichlids (not knowing they were both males). I put one alone in the 5 gallon, and its been very happy there since as an only fish. I kept the other with the Male johanni, and added a female Auratus and another white cichlid with dark stripes some time afterward. I never bothered to get the species of the white fish as it was eaten (literally) 3 weeks later.

I later drove from LA to Chicago and brought the two Rusty and the Auratus with me. The larger Rusty killed the smaller one, and I ended up with two fish. I left the Johanni (regretably) with my little brother as he wanted it. It was around 3" at the time.

I now have a male and female Acei, a male and female Kenyi, a female Auratus, and a male Albino in a 20 gallon tank. They all get along very well, with the exception of the female Auratus, which is the dominant fish in the tank and chases the others around from time to time. No fish has been injured or bitten yet. They're still small, with the male Albino being the largest at around 2.5".

Recently, I got a 30 gallon tank, and decided I would try to get another Johanni since I missed having it. I finally found one at a local pet store, along with what appeared to be a female Johanni (yellow), so I picked them both up and took them home. They're both around 2.5".

The male is just recovering from an ick infestation, and appears to have been beaten up a bit in whatever tank it was kept before, as there are bits of its tail missing.

I got these two with the hope that perhaps they might breed and I'd have a ton of little Johanni's everywhere. However, I'm having my doubts that the yellow one is a Johanni. I've vented it according to instructions on a malawimayhem page, and concluded that it was a female, which rules out the possibility that it's a male Kenyi.

It digs around my 5" of sand, chases the male around from time to time, and flares up whenever the male is around. A few days ago, I noticed some strange behavior. The male would follow the female side by side right next to one of its fins for a few seconds, and the female would soon after chase the male away.

Any ideas on what's going on here?

Thanks!


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## XtremeRevolution (Nov 27, 2009)

I'd post some pictures, but apparently I can't post any pictures or URL's if I have less than 5 posts here.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

You have johanni in a 30G? And auratus in a 20G?

I think your question was about the behavior (swimming side by side, digging)? Answer first, swimming side by side does not signify much of anything...digging can be a male preparing a spawning place or any gender of fish just passing the time...

I think your tanks are too small and your mix of species will cause you trouble long term. If all are under 2.5" you may just have been lucky so far.


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## XtremeRevolution (Nov 27, 2009)

DJRansome said:


> You have johanni in a 30G? And auratus in a 20G?
> 
> I think your question was about the behavior (swimming side by side, digging)? Answer first, swimming side by side does not signify much of anything...digging can be a male preparing a spawning place or any gender of fish just passing the time...
> 
> I think your tanks are too small and your mix of species will cause you trouble long term. If all are under 2.5" you may just have been lucky so far.


I double checked and discovered that the yellow one was indeed a male Kenyi. I bought another identical one at a similar store to see what would happen, and all **** broke loose. I returned all 3, and replaced them with two other fish.

As of now, I have the following setup:
30 gallon: male auratus (currently changing colors), female auratus, male kenyi, female kenyi
20 gallon: male albino, female albino, male acei, female acei

I'm considering another female kenyi, and possibly a a female acei if I can find one, since they're difficult to distinguish.

These tanks are temporary and are only going to be set up like this while the fish are small. The auratus is only 2". Long term I'm looking at a 75-100 gallon tank for the lot of them. I saw a 100 gallon tank on craigslist a couple of weeks back for $80, no leaks or damage. I'll keep the 30 gallon for holding mothers.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

2" isn't so small, as soon as they breed the small tanks will be a problem, if it isn't already. I'd get the 75G right away.

As you may know, mbuna are harem breeders and need multiple females for every male. And in general, one male of each species per tank works best.

Finally, auratus and kenyi are two of the most aggressive mbuna in the hobby and cause fishkeepers a lot of problems. So, the 75G is the minimum footprint, and for a chance of success you would want an even larger number of females for a single male. 1m:7f for example.

I would not add any species, four is a good number for a 75G and maybe even too many given the extra females you need for the auratus and kenyi. What is the albino? Not a peacock, right?

Stocking might look like this:
1m:7f auratus
1m:7f kenyi
6 acei
1m:4f albino


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## XtremeRevolution (Nov 27, 2009)

I might have to wait on the 75 gallon tank. I wasn't planning on getting it till the spring. I hope they can keep their cool till then.

As of now, the female Auratus is practically dominating the male Auratus to the point where he doesn't do much other than hide all day long. As I mentioned, he's just now changing colors, so she might be a bit confused.

Thanks for the stocking tips. I'll work on finding some more fish of the same species.

Finding the albinos will probably be the easiest task, but finding a female Acei is pretty difficult, and finding a female Kenyi is near impossible around where I live as they're still much too young to tell.

I can get several female Auratus, so that shouldn't be a problem. I may just get a larger tank for the Kenyi and Auratus and keep them separate; something around 45 gallons, and use the 30 gallon to replace the 20 gallon. I'm juggling this hobby with rebuilding a V12 Jaguar engine, so I have to figure out which one absolutely needs more attention.


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## XtremeRevolution (Nov 27, 2009)

Oh, and to answer your question, it isn't a peacock.










White, red eyes, some yellow on the fins.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Don't add any fish until you get the 75G and good luck until spring! :thumb:


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## Kanorin (Apr 8, 2008)

That looks like it might be an albino Pseudotropheus Socolofi. They are probably the most commonly sold albino mbuna.

I agree with DJ in that you should not add any more fish until you get a larger tank. Mbuna (especially some of the species you picked out) can be highly territorial. 20 or 30 gallons just isn't enough territory for two adult aggressive mbuna to co-habitate.


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## XtremeRevolution (Nov 27, 2009)

Kanorin said:


> That looks like it might be an albino Pseudotropheus Socolofi. They are probably the most commonly sold albino mbuna.
> 
> I agree with DJ in that you should not add any more fish until you get a larger tank. Mbuna (especially some of the species you picked out) can be highly territorial. 20 or 30 gallons just isn't enough territory for two adult aggressive mbuna to co-habitate.


I put the Auratus and the Kenyi together to avoid aggression with the Albino and Acei, since those seem to be more peaceful. The male Albino has become the dominant fish in that 20 gallon tank, and there is absolutely no aggression whatsoever, and he's 2.5"-3" in size now.

I'm only trying to add more fish now as it will be more difficult for me to find full sized females of the same species when I set up the 75 gallon tank.

In any case, I appreciate all of the advice all of you are giving me and I'm taking it all into consideration.


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## XtremeRevolution (Nov 27, 2009)

Looks like Christmas came early this year.

I found a 75 gallon on Craigslist. Standard 48x18, with two large filters (each with two cartridges), a heater, hood, dual lamp, and a bunch of spare bulbs for $100. Holds water just fine, just needs some cleaning.










Has a crack in the far right corner in the hood, but I can easily replace that with a piece of acrylic from home depot. 

Just finished emptying the rocks, and I'm about to clean it.

So excited!! I think I'll need more than 8 gallons of sand though.


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