# Ocellatus "Gold" or 'Lamprologus' Stappersi



## EpicCichlids (May 7, 2011)

*Which morph is "preferred"?*​
Lamp. Gold1560.00%Lamp. Stappersi1040.00%


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## EpicCichlids (May 7, 2011)

I'm trying to decide between either gold occies or stappersi as another shell dweller for my tang. tank. Kind of a hard decision...both are stunning! So please give me some comments on which species/color morph you guys prefer. (color, behavior, etc.) Thanks in advance!


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## shellies215 (Jan 7, 2011)

What other fish are in the tank?


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## EpicCichlids (May 7, 2011)

It's a standard US 55 gal tank. 48x12x17 (around there, i think). There's currently a trio of Lamp. Brevis 1M:2F, 3 cyps (I'm getting another shipment of them very soon), and 2 Julies right now. I'm still in the stocking process, so the numbers aren't exactly "recommended." I know that it's not wise to mix shell dwellers, but I have a large rock pile in the center dividing 2 shell piles on either end of the tank. I'm hoping that the alpha julie will prevent the two species from encountering each other... but it's probably unlikely  If they simply don't get along, I have a spare tank so the occies can have a species tank (20 L), or vice versa with the brevis. But thanks for all the votes and comments so far, keep them coming!


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## shellies215 (Jan 7, 2011)

In that case, I would recommend the brevis go to the 20L, and the occies in the 55. As far as selecting a variant, I would say go with the stappersi or with blue occies, This is what the blues look like.


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## EpicCichlids (May 7, 2011)

WOW! The blues are really nice too! Guess I'm just going to need another tank  Thanks for all the votes and comments guys!


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## triscuit (May 6, 2005)

I think the stappersi is prettier- the behavior between the species is quite similar...

Here's one of my stapps:


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## EpicCichlids (May 7, 2011)

My decision just got harder to make... lol. Great fish and picture!


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## 24Tropheus (Jun 21, 2006)

Funny enough I have gold Occies in with brevis in the school tank. And they are not too bad together so far. I have strappersi/meligaris at home as these are far harder to come by for me in the UK.
Funny enough used to be commoner and sold as Pearly Occies.

I for sure can not help you choise. The staps look best close up but the gold occies show up better from across a room.

On agression the occies went from 4 to a pair quite quickly before breeding (two just went missing at this time, never to be seen again) but the straps I still have all 7 I bought. I think my straps show more to each other but with less violence than the gold occies but it might be a one off of caurse.

Dunno if this is usual.

All the best James


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## EpicCichlids (May 7, 2011)

Yeah, that's what I've been hearing--that the gold will show up better at a distance but at close proximity, the staps look "finer". I think I'm leaning with the gold occies right now since there's not exactly a lot of color unless you closely watch them... Aggression isn't really that big of a problem for me since I have the back-up 20L in case, and the julies are pretty tough. Thanks for all the replies and votes so far!


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## triscuit (May 6, 2005)

24Tropheus said:


> On agression the occies went from 4 to a pair quite quickly before breeding (two just went missing at this time, never to be seen again) but the straps I still have all 7 I bought. I think my straps show more to each other but with less violence than the gold occies but it might be a one off of caurse.
> 
> Dunno if this is usual.


My stapps were vicious... the "extras" were killed in a 4ft tank.  But, I've heard mine were unusual, and that they're typically calmer.

Sure were pretty, though.


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## Cooder (Jul 19, 2011)

Just for the record, stappersi isnt a morph of ocellatus. they are 2 different species :Lamprologus Ocellatus and Lamprologus Stappersi.

I cant decide which one i would go with because i havnt kept both but i have kept occies. Very nice looking fish, but they like space so put them in the biggest tank. 6 in radius around their shells they usually take as their territory
Very cool personalities. cute and look awesome.

Havnt had stapps so wouldnt know.


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## EpicCichlids (May 7, 2011)

Really? I always thought they were the same species... Guess not! Yeah, their personality was one of the main reasons I'm choosing them (well, either the gold occies or straps). Thanks, for all the votes and comments, guys, guess, I'll probably be ordering the gold ocellatus!


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## shellies215 (Jan 7, 2011)

Cooder's right, they are not morphs, but actually different species. They are closely related, but are diff species


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## Cooder (Jul 19, 2011)

i think that you thought they were 2 different species because sometimes stapps are labelled as pearl *occies*. ( or is it black occies?) when they are not actually an occie.

Post some pics when you get them


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## EpicCichlids (May 7, 2011)

Yeah, common names aren't that trustworthy, eh? I'll try and see if my LFS can order any for me, if not, I'll get some from Dave's. I'll definetly post some updates and pics when they arrive!


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## exasperatus2002 (Jul 5, 2003)

Cant speak for the stapps but I loved my gold occies. They're like aquatic bulldogs in behavior. How can you not respect a 1" fish that will bite & try to move your hand away from its shell during a water change?


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## EpicCichlids (May 7, 2011)

exasperatus2002"= How can you not respect a 1" fish that will bite & try to move your hand away from its shell during a water change? :thumb: But try telling that to my family... they just don't understand how a 1" fish can cost around $10  .


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## exasperatus2002 (Jul 5, 2003)

EpicCichlids said:


> exasperatus2002"= How can you not respect a 1" fish that will bite & try to move your hand away from its shell during a water change? :thumb: But try telling that to my family... they just don't understand how a 1" fish can cost around $10  .


Well you can say its not about quantity but quality. Or you can refer to it as a real gem and they're priced as such. Or....hide the receipt from the petstore!

Thats one thing that sucks since getting married. Suddenly I have to justify things. They just dont understand things like scarcity in the hobby (not that gold occies are), importation shipping costs, exhorbanant shipping costs & since lfs's dont normally stock anything that didnt come out of an assorted african grab bag, its next to impossible to find something truely worth keeping with out paying for it.


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## EpicCichlids (May 7, 2011)

Hiding the reciept... Now that's one i haven't tried yet! Well, I've placed an order for my occies through Dave's today... If all goes well, I should receive them sometime this week! I'll post some pics once they arrive! Anticipation...


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## jiggity-j (Mar 6, 2011)

I placed an order for some L Meleagris from Dave today for my redone 29g tank. Are they basically the same as L Stappersi? I


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## triscuit (May 6, 2005)

jiggity-j said:


> I placed an order for some L Meleagris from Dave today for my redone 29g tank. Are they basically the same as L Stappersi? I


They are the same species, but I think the latest taxonomic classification made the speceis "L. stappersi"


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## 24Tropheus (Jun 21, 2006)

If you have read anywhere that they are for sure the same species in any tax/scientific publication then please let me know.
As far as I know the reason folk think the two species may just be one is that Ad Konings says so (or states that they must be) in the book Tang cichlids in their natural habbitat. I forget the exact quote but could look it up. As far as I know no Ichthyologist has checked this assertion or published anything that could be considered definitive. (But my guess would be its prob right that meleagris is the junior synonym of stappersi but until something definitive is published I am not sure)

As I have said before there are folk who think stappersi http://www.cichlidae.com/gallery/species.php?id=67 or meleagris http://www.cichlidae.com/gallery/species.php?id=2090 has never been exported (or studied recently) hence why we think there is only one species.

I have looked at the two descriptions and for sure dunno what to make of it. :-?

I guess if anyone collects a new species from the lake they will sell it as a new species. My guess is any stuff sold as WC or TB (meleagris or stappersi) is the same species, though maybe not the same variant. Prob best to ask the location of collection (or the location the breeding stock was collected at) so you have as much info as you can get.

All the best James


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## EpicCichlids (May 7, 2011)

Actually, come to think of it, isn't there a species called 'Lamprologus' Speciosus too? So would that make there to be 3 or 4 different "occies"?  Well, Dave hasn't replied back about the order so I may just call him tomorrow. I'm hoping to get them by next week!


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## EpicCichlids (May 7, 2011)

Well, I've got good news and bad news... Good news-- my gold occie shipment arrived yesterday on friday, the bad news is that 2 of them were DOA. I'll try to get pics of the surviving one today, I'm hoping to get a replacement sometime next week.


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## jiggity-j (Mar 6, 2011)

Sorry to hear about that. When did they ship out?


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## EpicCichlids (May 7, 2011)

They had been shipped out on Thursday via Fedex Overnight... usually there's no problems, i'm thinking it may have been because they got trapped in the edges of the bag. The surviving one is in a temporary grow-out tank ATM.

The pic's really bad quality since both my camera skills are pretty bad and the occie is still trying to settle in, I'll try to post a better pic once the occie has settled down.








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100_8524 by BlueRamCichlid, on Flickr


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## EpicCichlids (May 7, 2011)

Well, my other occies should be arriving sometime tomorrow or saturday, the surviving one from the last shipment is doing great now! Thanks for all the help in my decision-great looking and very comical species! Below are just some pics of the little dude, sorry about the quality... Feel free to leave comments!








[/URL]
100_8589 by BlueRamCichlid, on Flickr







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100_8572 by BlueRamCichlid, on Flickr







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100_8585 by BlueRamCichlid, on Flickr


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## 24Tropheus (Jun 21, 2006)

Hate to say it but boy do they look small and young, not much bigger than 1/2" or so? If so too small to entre in many a cichlid auction in the UK or to sex.  
Hope they grow fast for you. No reason (if they survive the first couple of weeks) they should not.

So glad I can just pop a few miles and pick my pair or group from a tank full of 1"+ shellys rather than go through this ordering/shipping thing.

All the best James


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## EpicCichlids (May 7, 2011)

24Tropheus said:


> So glad I can just pop a few miles and pick my pair or group from a tank full of 1"+ shellys rather than go through this ordering/shipping thing.


 *envy* But yeah, they are REALLY tiny, their size was what Dave and I thought why 2 of them ended up dead trapped in the corners of the bags. I'm hoping they grow quickly too, the sooner they do, the sooner I can add them to the main tank! But tangs aren't exactly the fastest growers...


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## jiggity-j (Mar 6, 2011)

The 4 L. Stappersi I got from Dave are all about 1-1/4" so I kinda lucked out. I sure wish they were 2". 
While changing the water today, I though one died because it was buried in the sand and another fish was picking at it. I panicked and tried to scoop it up and it just swam off. They are quite characters. One thing for sure is they are not scared me at all. I like that in a fish.


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## EpicCichlids (May 7, 2011)

jiggity-j said:


> One thing for sure is they are not scared me at all. I like that in a fish.


 :thumb: My gold occies are the same! Maybe we could trade L. Stapps and L. Ocellatus one day when they start breeding! :lol:


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## EpicCichlids (May 7, 2011)

Hey guys, just a little update on the gold occies-- I've finally been able to move them to the main tank now that they're a little over an inch in size. To my jubilance, everything's working out as I had hoped for!! The occies are staying on their side of the 55 and the brevis occupying their side with the dominant julidochromis keeping them apart.  It's a very cool tank as the occies and brevis have totally different behaviors, but both species are thriving in the same tank!!


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