# Cynotilapia afra (Jalo Reef) growth journal



## chemjab

I am so stoked to have these guys. Thanks to misterted for providing them. If you haven't seen his awesome male, check it out in the profiles. His is the first one.
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/s ... hp?id=1733

I have decided to keep a photo journal of the little buggers growth.

Here they are as fry 03-13-05








You can already see the yellow dorsal fin and some color in the tail.  








Here is one surrounded by his dayglow neighbors.








I will post new pics as they change.


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## misterted

They look great James! 8)

Enjoy them!

Ted.


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## Scarlet33

Nice Jalo's!


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## themann42

they look adorable


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## smp

Sweet, if you don't mind I might post some pics of my juvies .. the two males are starting to colour up and they're proving to be the most interesting fish in my tank.
They are about the same size as yours, maybe a bit bigger. How many do you have?
I've got six, they also tend to stay in the open water which is sort of nice .. upper part too.

I was lucky to find these at the LFS and it didn't seem like anyone else was picking them up because they are all just dull grey .. little do they know.

edit: here's one, not a close up but you get the idea.









and another, mind the lab .. this was day 2 of the tank and he doesn't show that moustache anymore .. weird









(the afra is in the background there)

They are about 2" now. When the male colours up he goes almost white with dark bars and an almost full black face mask .. it's amazing because it's like a switch .. on .. off


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## chemjab

smp
Very nice. Lucky find there would never be such a species in LFS around here.
I have 6 too. Mine are much smaller than yours. The largest is about 3/4" and the smallest is little more than 1/4". 
Like I said at the start of this post their father is an awesome example of the species.


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## loverjw

Although Cobues seem to be all the rage these days, I think Jalo Reef Afras are hands down the best of the bunch.

Here's my dominant male. I have a 2M/3F group, and about 25 fry growing out right now. The dominant male is this fired up most days. Even the sub-male looks pretty good. When they get ready to spawn or defend territory, the blue can almost turn white. Awesome fish.

I don't mean to muck up your photo journal, but I had to show this guy off!


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## chemjab

No worries jw, mind if I don't call you lover? :lol: I'm only having fun. Your Jalo Reef is awesome. Thanks for sharing. How old is he? So, you don't have problems with keeping two males? I can't wait for mine to grow. They are definitly one of my favorites.


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## loverjw

He's probably 1.5 years old, at least. These have never shown much aggression towards each other. I had 3 males together, but the tank had a nasty fungus infection tear through. Killed most of my aulonocara stuartgranti Hai Reef, and the one Jalo male. They do their shake and wiggle from time to time, but never much more than that.

I have the 2/3 group of Jalos in a 65 gallon with 2M/2F ps. saulosi and 2M/3F Aul. Hai Reef (juvies from parents that died). Very little aggression in the tank. The dominant saulosi male can be cranky, but no nipped fins or fish hiding out.

By the way, here's the dominant Hai Reef male that died. Was my favorite fish at the time. I hope his offspring show that kind of color.


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## smp

That's a beautiful afra Loverjw, I hope mine look like that.
Right now I _know_ that I have two males .. of the four other fish I'm SURE that 3 of them are female and I'm starting to think that one is a male. I might have 3m/3f but I'm hoping I have 2m/4f.
Also, I totally concur with the Jalo > Cobue sentiment


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## misterted

That is an awesome Jalo Reef male!

Ted.


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## smp

Here's a couple of mine, mind the pics they aren't the greatest.



















He actually colours up a bit more than that and he's about 2" right now. He's definitely one of the more active fish in the tank with regards to territorial behaviour though.


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## Woot

,,,


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## Phildo

I love the sp. lion ot whatever it is.


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## chemjab

These guys are doing well and still growing. Sixteen days later, I can see some growth. The PVC pipe is 1.5" for prospective.










They have been eating NLS growth formula for 2 weeks now. Yay - I have Jalo Reefs now!


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## reeljnj

i know mine is different but it has similar characteristics and colors...heres a picture of my mbamba and babies..


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## chemjab

Here they are 2 weeks later. I think you can tell they are bigger from these pics. Yay Jalo's.


























Pictures taken 4-13-05.


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## misterted

James,

What are you feeding these guys? They are growing really fast.
They look great.
I feel a bond here.

Ted.


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## chemjab

Hi Ted.

They are eating NLS growth formula 3x a day. Don't worry I'll take good care of them for you. :lol:


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## Woot

Starting to show potential in a couple of those males.  Keep us updated.


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## Bavarian3

reeljnj said:


> i know mine is different but it has similar characteristics and colors...heres a picture of my mbamba and babies..


more pics of this guy please. 8)


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## chemjab

I do enjoy seeing other species, but since this is my "afra jalo reef growth journal". I would appreciate members to restrict their post in this thread  to Jalo Reef only please.


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## misterted

That food you're feeding them is making a big difference. 
I'm growing out another batch of Jalo Reef fry as well as Ps. Flavus fry and they are not growing as fast as yours, even with the weekly water changes.


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## chemjab

> misterted That food you're feeding them is making a big difference.


Yeah, I am really happy with the results NLS produces. I have switched all my fish to NLS. I also supplement with HBH 8 veggie flake, and of course weekly water changes for the adults and biweekly changes for the fry.
 That's not what I meant.
What I meant to write was twice a week to weekly water changes for the fry and weekly to bi-weekly water changes for the adults. Depending on how ambitious I feel that week. 

Speaking of fry - everyone is holding in my tanks! Right now I have 3 rusties, 1 socolofi, 1 saulosi, 1 dayglow and 1ngara flametail all holding.



> I'm growing out another batch of Jalo Reef fry as well as Ps. Flavus fry and


If I come up with some more tank space I would like some of your Flavus fry. I know you won't have any trouble finding homes for them.


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## misterted

Well, um, the last brood was about 25-30 fry and....um....she's holding again. They are an established pair with a 2nd female in there just to spread the agression. the main female always holds giant broods for her size.
NP, let me know when you're ready.

Ted.


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## chemjab

Well its been 2 1/2 weeks since the last set of pics. I just couldn't wait any more. :lol:

These guys are growing fast. Can't wait for them to start coloring up.
Looks like the bottom one may be a male.








Another shot of the young male.


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## WhiteBlaze

Very nice. Ask Ted where he got 'em from. :wink: :wink: :wink: :wink:

Here is a not so great pic of there grandfather who is still alive and well!!!:









Must have got 400 fry from him and his three hussies!

WhiteBlaze aka Fishguts


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## chemjab

> WhiteBlaze
> Here is a not so great pic of there grandfather who is still alive and well!!!:


Oh, Thanks for posting. It is very cool to have pics of their father and grandfather in the growth journal. 

I bet it is a pleasure knowing others are enjoying the offspring of your fish.

James


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## WhiteBlaze

Yeah. Makes me feel proud :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll:  

I have sprinkled jalo, marmalade cat as well as "O" morph Thumbi West trewavasae, deep, polit and white blaze manda zebra all over the NJ NY and CT area.

Now I breed Humanus cost-a-lot-icus specie baby boy. They need a very large tank :lol: :lol:

I still have some fish in the basement, but not like a couple years ago. Stop in here for more pics: http://nycichlids.com/index.php?sid=801 ... be6ab7e177

I post as Fishguts there. :wink:


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## misterted

James,

They look fantastic!
You are going to have a nice looking male there once he matures (like in 2 weeks :lol: ).

Whiteblaze...errr....Fishguts....When I saw the pic of the grandfather I felt like I knew him already. It's eerie.


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## WhiteBlaze

Sad thing is I never took pics when the basement was crowded with cichlidiots fighting over fish. I wish I had the time to take decent shots.


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## smp

Does anyone know where I can find Jalos of this quality in Toronto, or is anyone willing to ship me some?


pretty please

I'll post pics of mine, they don't touch the jalos in this thread.


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## chemjab

> misterted
> 
> James,
> 
> They look fantastic!
> You are going to have a nice looking male there once he matures (like in 2 weeks ).


I know it. They are growing fast! :lol: I hope to get some better pics - that aren't washed out from the flash. I think I scared them for this last picture session. I put a light on top of the tank and they are not use to one.

Ah well, it's a continual learning experience.


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## misterted

I couldn't resist.
What kind of thread would this be without a pic of your Jalo's Daddy?
8)


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## Woot

He looks great, notice any egg spots coming in on his dorsal at all? My alpha males seem to get them over time of being the king fish. Love it when they get the really extended pelvics too, my males have started to split at the very ends because they are so long. Lots of displaying with this species, fun to watch.

I was checking out my massive population of juvies that seem to be at all different sizes in various grow outs ranging from under a inch up to about 1.5ish. Seeing a couple nice males starting to blue up and have pretty nice egg spot markings. Now to wait and see how the barring (mostly by the gill plate) turns out.

I think I have 3 or 4 females holding again, they just don't quit! :lol: I even had a little 1/2" guy that has been accepted as part of the breeder setup. He has started to come out half way to the surface and no one pays him any attention. The male chases him every once and awhile but mostly due to his liking to hide right next to the alpha males breeding spot. :roll: I guess he does keep the two white labs away from picking him off.


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## chemjab

Well it's only been a week since my last post, but this guy is showing some great potential.
It is amazing the change that can be seen in such a short time.

Sorry, the glass needs to be cleaned and there are sun streaks. It looks like the bar on the gill plate is not broken. Yay.


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## Woot

Looking good, good luck with him. I was checking out one of my growouts, and see a few nice males (in different 20 gallons). It looked like one was displaying with a male Kingsizei and was looking pretty good. Fun to watch fish grow up that you've been raising from a little speck.  I should look closer to see if I can see the barring around the gill plate yet.


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## WhiteBlaze

misterted said:


> I couldn't resist.
> What kind of thread would this be without a pic of your Jalo's Daddy?
> 8)


That what I said!!! LOLOLOL :lol: :lol: :wink: :wink: :wink: :wink: :wink:


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## smp

Chemjab, how big are those guys right now?

Anyone have pics of their Jalos when they _aren't_ coloured up?


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## Woot

I have some pics of males with females/juvies next to them or in the background on my gallery:

http://orbital.home.mchsi.com/jalo1.htm

I was checking out my Jalo colony last night and noticed my 2nd male is looking pretty nice. Doesn't have the gill plate bar break, but his barring goes into his dorsal some. Ugh I'm too picky. :lol: Now if I can combine the desired traits of the two.... :roll:


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## chemjab

> smp
> 
> Chemjab, how big are those guys right now?


I'd say the biggest one is between 1.5 and 1.75" long now. Still very young.



> Woot
> 
> I have some pics of males with females/juvies next to them or in the background on my gallery:


Very nice series Woot.

How do you guys think the jalo's will fair with saulosi?


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## Woot

Chem: Not sure, I've never kept them together myself. I could see some possible conflicts because of the males similar markings and blue color. I don't think crossing would be a problem in good ratios though. I usually find out by trial and error. I have kept some species together that others suggest not to, and had success. There are alot of variables.


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## WhiteBlaze

Just fine. :wink:


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## chemjab

Thanks for your replies guys. I will try them with the saulosi when they grow up. 8)


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## smp

Heres's mine... he's better now than he was, sorry for the crappy pics:























































I purposely posted the first pic where he's not really fired up .. nobody every posts pictures of their fish when they are on 'downtime'.


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## misterted

Very nice. Defined bars.
Is he the king of the tank?


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## slipperyRock

I'm pretty fond of mine ! He's one of the very first Africans I purchased.


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## smp

misterted said:


> Very nice. Defined bars.


You think so, really? I kind of think all the other Jalos in this thread are nicer. Am I just being picky?



> Is he the king of the tank?


Sometimes 
And sometimes it's the guy in my sig. Past little while though the Jalo has been horny and digging a nest so he's on the prowl... that's why he's actually coloured up for the pics, he usually isn't.


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## BlackFox

I want one of these fish!!! None of the LFS's around here sell them and I'm afraid to order some online.

My fish don't take kindly to newcomers AT ALL. I usuaully have to buy small juvinilles and put them in the tank so they can swim fast and hide from the others. My tank is kind of bland, while I love all my fish, they are all mostly just blue fish. I had some Labs. but they can't take the beatings that my fish put down.

I think that I bought a jalo reef once before, but he doesn't look like any of these even though thats what it was labeled as in the tank, and he has some kind of back problem where it's arched, but I still love'em 

To everyone who posted thier pics, I love your fish


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## DragonGT83

well here is mine i got about 3 weeks ago, hes just a little guy at 1.75-2", love it when he gets fired up, trying to find him some females so he will have is pretty colors all the time so he feels dominant.


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## misterted

SMP,

I wouldn't call you picky. But he is not bad as far as Jalos go.

BlackFox,

If you're planning to come to NJ soon I am growing out some Jalo Reef fry right now.


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## gregg

Chemjab, any updates on these Jalos?


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## chemjab

07-22-05
Well, I know it has been a long time since my last post. I was out of town for 3 weeks and have been playing catch-up ever since I got home. I am happy to report all the fish made it. The auto feeders I bought really did the trick. I think the fish must be freakin out now though. It has been 4 weeks with out a water change and they are used to having 20-30% changed a week. They will get back on schedule this weekend.

I think it is time to move the juvie jalo's and socolofi into the adult tank. Their growth rate has slowed in the 10 gal grow out tank. I really have to set up the 140 gal. Someday soon----I hope.

I will try for some pics this weekend. Thanks for asking.

James


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## chemjab

7-31-05
I finally took some pics of these guys. :lol:

They have been moved to a 30gal long grow-out tank now. You can see some of their new neighbors,Copadichromis borleyi (Kadango, Red Fin). 
I was concerned about housing the Jalo with the Red Fin. The Red Fin are so timid until fedding time and they become a freenzy.
But, all is well with a little extra food. They have been in the new tank for 2 days now.




























Yay Jalos


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## noslenwerd

i <3 jalo reef afras


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## chemjab

> noslenwerd Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2005 11:45 am Post subject:
> 
> i <3 jalo reef afras


Sorry noslenwerd,
I don't know what you mean by "<3"


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## noslenwerd

its a heart lol...

I wish i could find someone with some juvies for sale


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## gregg

Lookin nice chemjab. Keep us posted. I got Jalo Reef's from Misterted too and they're growing nicely. The males (pretty sure I got 3 males/3 females), are starting to look like miniatures of the father when they're showing off. They're still juvies, but they've grown significantly since I got them. They're also the most territorial in my tank (with saulosi and acei). But they're still too small to inflict real damage on each other. I'm hoping to get a digi cam soon so I can post pics of mine.


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## chemjab

> Author Message
> gregg .............I got Jalo Reef's from Misterted too and they're growing nicely. The males (pretty sure I got 3 males/3 females), .....................


How funny. I think that might be the same ratio of m/f I got also. It is probably still too early to tell though. I got 6 from Misterted 3 are large and 3 are small. I was thinking that the small ones might be the females. Time will tell. I am very curious to see your pics of their older siblings. Please post them here when you get the camera.

Well it has been about a week in the new tank and these guys seem to be much happier. Certianly they are more active, hide much less and are on display more often. Here are some more pics. The picture quality is very poor, but you can see the change in the jalo's. I couldn't resist. I will try for higher quality photo's next time. 









Fuzzy-out of focus but you can see the nicely defined bars


























You can see they are still quite small in this one.


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## misterted

The guy on the top looks awesome.
I would also think that the smaller ones are females b/c they are nowhere as aggressive as the males, tend to be smaller anyway, and get less food than the males.


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## chemjab

Well, these guys are still growing. I can't wait for them to be dominant.
These are not great pics, but you can see how much he has grown since last post. Compare his size to the kadango now and a few weeks ago.
































I am going to clean tonight and try for some better pics tomorrow.


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## FishAreFriends

wow, hes turning out to be nice, keep us updated!


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## smp

Some new ones of my guy








(click here for really big)








(mouth full of sand, he's quite the digger)








(click here for really big)
The wife. She just recently spit out all of these:









Some 22 fry in a 20 gallon tank .. active little guys, wasn't patient enough to get nice pics of these guys.

and a random shot of the big tank, with the flash:


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## chemjab

Very nice SMP.

your male is looking good. I like the sand in your tank. I may go that route with my next tank. 
thanks for sharing.

Are the 22 fry from the jalos?

James


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## Woot

Looking good guys, I have Jalos coming out my ears. :lol: I bet you two will soon enough. I'm going to enter my alpha male in a upcoming show, I think he has potential. 8)


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## chemjab

> Woot
> I'm going to enter my alpha male in a upcoming show, I think he has potential.


Let's see a pic of him.


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## Woot

,,,


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## chemjab

Nice looking jalo you have there Woot. Thanks.


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## Woot

,,,


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## smp

chemjab said:


> Are the 22 fry from the jalos?
> 
> James


Yup! They're growing fast too, most voracious eaters out of the fry I've had.


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## smp

What else would I do with these pics if I didn't post them here?




























and the tank .. sorry about the poor quality of the pics, it's the best I can do without extra lighting and a simple point and shoot.










And to stay with the theme of the thread:

A bunch of new fish in the tank, one little jalo in the background









...









...









At first I was worried that he wans't going to turn out very nice but I'm definitly happy with him now.


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## chemjab

Yeah, he is looking good SMP.

I like the rock work in you tank. It looks as if they had fallen naturally.
Is that a Saulosi or a Demansoni in the last pic?
I have been toying with the idea of moving the jalo's into the 75 gal Mbuna tank. But, I am afraid the Dominant Rustie, Socolofi and Saulosi will repress them.

Maybe I should get another tank and set up a species tank. Yeah, my wife would love to hear that idea. :lol:


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## smp

Yup, the Jalo shares the tank with a bunch of Demasoni (about 14 of them), some Labs (9, I think) and a trio of BB Zebra Chilumba (my sig).
Thanks for the compliment, I lucked out the last time I arranged the rocks.


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## chemjab

Today I moved the socolofi juvies out of the the community grow-out tank and Wow look how much happier the jalos are. Now there are Kadango Red fin and Jalo Reef and 1 fiddler crab in this tank. The Kadango are so much bigger than the Jalo but they seem to cohabitate nicely.
This is the dominant male.









He even has teeth.









Even the subdominant male looks so much better.


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## jhunbj

Hi guys ! just wanted to show the afras that I got last week.

He"s about 1.25 - 1.5"


















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## chemjab

Back in Feb-06 I moved these guy into an overstocked 75gal Mbuna tank. They seem to be doing well.

Here are some pics from Feb.


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## misterted

Very nice. How many males/females did you end up with?
The male in the last pic looks like a really nice one.

Ted.


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## chemjab

Hey Ted,

It looks like 3m 3f. Can you believe it? Although one of the little ones getts more color than the other two and is a little bossy. The colors are not bright like the males. Have you heard of a female behaving like that?

Of the 3 males two are on all the time and the 3rd is submissive and not colored-up.

They look even better now than they did a month ago when those pics were taken. 

I will try for some more pics soon.

Another subject - Those Rusties I got from you are like the rabbits of the tank. I keep giving them out and then a few months later there is a whole colony in there. There must be 15 in there now and I never collect them.

:lol:


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## misterted

I never had a female Jalo Reef act that way but I definitely have seen it in other species.
Rusties are very well know to be prolific. Mine are constantly holding. You may want to put up a post offering Rusty fry for sale. I think you may be able to sell some.

I'd like to see some updated pics when you have a chance.

Take Care,
Ted.


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## chemjab

wow its been a long time. These guys have gotten big.


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## chapman76

Nice Jalos. Most likely one of the first afra's I'll get when I finally go that way.


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## venom1441

very very nice jalos i just ordered 7 of them off line along with 15 other fish i get them tomorrow cant wail to get them all and watch them grow :thumb:


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## misterted

WOW!

Very nice!

Looks like they turned out very nice.

My females are holding again but I really don't want to tear down the tank.

My Jalo Male is still my favorite fish.

I just had a spawn of Ps. Long Pelvic Galleriya Reef and another spawn of my Met. OB Callainos.


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## sddc5

nice jalo reefs. i was wondering how compatible these guys will be with demasoni?


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## why_spyder

mmmmmmmm...... afra's.. :lol:

Lookin' good!


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## Malawi65

Hi,
My Cyno. Afra Jalo Reef F0
Merci.
(je ne parle que le FranÃ§ais  )


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