Behavioral Compatibility of Cyprichromis microlepidotus and Enantiopus melanogenys (Especially in Regards to Spawning)

[The_Thicc_Kobudai]

Hello. I haven't been active on this forum in years but I feel like I may change that. I keep basically exclusively Tanganyikan cichlids and I'm thinking about future tank plans. On my rack system that I'm working on I will have a 120 gallon that I plan on using for a Cyprichromis microlepidotus colony and I'm thinking about tankmate options. I feel like Enantiopus will be a very nice tankmate for the cyps. Both are very mild tempered and will occupy different regions of the tank with the cyps staying up in the water column and the enantiopus staying almost exclusively just above the bottom.
It is my understanding what @sir_keith has an aquarium with stocking almost identical to this with the addition of Opthalmotilapia nasuta, which I am also considering. I'm curious what your experience is with these fish in regards to aggression and spawning behavior and predation. What are the odds I experience predation on the young if I let the parents spit naturally in the tank and give them plenty of cover? You grow out your fry separately, right? I think if colony spawning ends up being a bust I'll probably pull holding females to let them spit in a separate tank. I'd prefer this over stripping fry but I'm curious what your thoughts are on this.
Anyone else who wants to chime in with their opinions or experiences by all means do so. I'm just brainstorming at the moment so any input is appreciated.

 

[DMD123]

Your best bet for info on this is @sir_keith, like you've already mentioned

 

[sir_keith]

Wow, an actual thread about fishes. Love it! So @fish fanatic centeral- welcome back!

Cyprichromis and Enantiopus are great tankmates, and make for very interesting and beautiful tanks. I've done this with both E. melanogenys and E. kilesa (not in the same tank, obviously), and with a number of different Cyprichromis populations, both 'standard' and 'jumbo' varieties, and it has worked well in every case. Neither genus is particularly aggressive, and they don't compete for space, so conflicts are perfunctory.

I have raised fry from both species without removing holding females, but only in species tanks. Enantiopus fry are tiny and well-camouflaged, so if you give them good hiding places (Java moss) and keep the adults well-fed, chances of fry survival are good. In Cyprichromis species tanks, fry survival is high, without any special precautions. Would that translate to a mixed tank? Very possibly, but I can't say for sure.

That said, if I want to raise fry from females who are initially in mixed tanks, I move the holding females to species tanks- even just a few extra non-brooding female 'midwives' will do. This works much better than isolating females by themselves, which they find very stressful. I am generally against stripping females, particularly so with Cyprichromis and Enantiopus, which are very delicate.

You mentioned a third species. This works, but if you add, say, Ophthalmotilapia to the mix, this creates competition for space on the substrate between the Enantiopus and the Ophthalmotilapia. That's not really a coexistence issue, which they do happily, but my impression is that it makes spawning less frequent for the Enantiopus. In any event, I would not do a 3-species community like this in a tank less than 72".

Good luck! These are great fishes!


A 2-species setup with Enantiopus melanogenys and Cyprichromis leptosoma Mpimbwe in a standard 125-

 

[Brackon1]

@sir_keith What do you feed a tank like this? I would think it hard to get food down to the Enantiopus without bloating the Cyps by dumping a load of food.

Have you had bad experiences with stripping females of these species? I have never tried as I have thought the same thing that the small mouths and delicate nature of the fish would mean it is much more likely that the female will die from the process. The addition of midwife fish as you put it, to the tank for the female to spit makes so much sense I am surprised I haven't come across the idea. Have you found any problems with mixing different sized fry? I have heard people say that larger fry will pick on smaller ones. Curious if the very peaceful nature of Cyprichromis makes this not true.

I would think that even in a mixed tank fry should survive given that neither species is particularly predatory. I am surprised you have not left any females to spit in your mixed tanks, I am much more lazy when it comes to moving fish/fry.

Wow I need some of those Mpimbwe I have been thinking about them for years and I still haven't set a tank aside for them. Would replacing Enantiopus with a Xenotilapia work as well? I have been looking at X. papilio and flavipinnis and thinking about them for my upcoming Cyprichromis tank to help make the tank less sparse.

 

[sir_keith]

(i) I feed these fishes a diet similar to what I use for my Tropheus tanks- spirulina flakes and 1mm NLS AlgaeMax pellets- supplemented occasionally with krill flakes. The Enantiopus are enthusiastic eaters, and will come up to water's surface to feed, so there is no problem feeding a mixed tank like this. BTW, I have never seen a single case of 'bloat' in either of these species over many years of keeping them.

(ii) Stripping is stressful even for robust Tanganyikans like Tropheus, so no, I would never even attempt to strip delicate fishes like Enantiopus, Xenotilapia, or Cyprichromis; it's just too risky.

(iii) Yes, midwives work great, which is something I discovered by trial-and-error; and no, there is no issue raising even newly-released fry with older Cyps, even adults.

(iv) Fry do survive in mixed tanks, but I have no way of knowing the survival percentage. My main concern with fry survival in mixed tanks is not predation, it is adequate feeding, especially in big tanks. Cyps are very active and require lots of fuel, and little ones in particular need to be fed small portions multiple times every day. I find it easier to make sure they have enough to eat in small (40g) species tanks than in larger (>100g) mixed tanks.

(v) Yes, the Mpimbwe are beautiful, and like many Cyps, they are polymorphic, so you get different colour patterns within a single population. I also like the fact that they are larger than many Cyp populations, but they do need large tanks.



(iv) Enantiopus have all the advantages of Xenotilapia, but none of the downsides. They are just as colourful, grow somewhat larger, and are gregarious and sociable without being overly aggressive. I have never seen Enantiopus damage each other.

Xenotilapia are not like that. They are more delicate and demanding, and managing the aggression of species like X. flavipinnis and (especially) X. papillio can be a real challenge. Don't get me wrong, I love the Xenos's, but they are considerably more difficult fishes. The only exceptions to these generalizations that I have kept so far are Xenotilapia bathyphilus and X. spilopterus, which are lovely fishes.

Good luck.

 

[The_Thicc_Kobudai]

Wow, an actual thread about fishes. Love it! So @fish fanatic centeral- welcome back!

Cyprichromis and Enantiopus are great tankmates, and make for very interesting and beautiful tanks. I've done this with both E. melanogenys and E. kilesa (not in the same tank, obviously), and with a number of different Cyprichromis populations, both 'standard' and 'jumbo' varieties, and it has worked well in every case. Neither genus is particularly aggressive, and they don't compete for space, so conflicts are perfunctory.

I have raised fry from both species without removing holding females, but only in species tanks. Enantiopus fry are tiny and well-camouflaged, so if you give them good hiding places (Java moss) and keep the adults well-fed, chances of fry survival are good. In Cyprichromis species tanks, fry survival is high, without any special precautions. Would that translate to a mixed tank? Very possibly, but I can't say for sure.

That said, if I want to raise fry from females who are initially in mixed tanks, I move the holding females to species tanks- even just a few extra non-brooding female 'midwives' will do. This works much better than isolating females by themselves, which they find very stressful. I am generally against stripping females, particularly so with Cyprichromis and Enantiopus, which are very delicate.

You mentioned a third species. This works, but if you add, say, Ophthalmotilapia to the mix, this creates competition for space on the substrate between the Enantiopus and the Ophthalmotilapia. That's not really a coexistence issue, which they do happily, but my impression is that it makes spawning less frequent for the Enantiopus. In any event, I would not do a 3-species community like this in a tank less than 72".

Good luck! These are great fishes!


A 2-species setup with Enantiopus melanogenys and Cyprichromis leptosoma Mpimbwe in a standard 125-

View attachment 15204

Exactly the answer I was looking for. Lots of good info. Thanks Keith.

 

[lloyd378]

I have nothing to add to this thread,, but I love it none the less. The knowledge shared here is fantastic and if these fish were my cup of tea, this would be the first place I went to source this information. I can’t wait to see this thread and hopefully some other lake Tanganyika threads populate over the coming weeks ( because just because I am not successful at keeping them, it doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy learning about them).