February - Hill Country Cichlid Club

The
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Lateral Line
Volume 4, Issue 2
February, 2011
Inside this Issue:
Enantiopus sp. “Kilesa”: A Spawning Report
Lake Victoria and a Little History
The Little Known Arrow Fishes: Yssichromis
CARES Sheet - Harpagochromis sp. “orange rock hunter”
Mountain Valley Middle School CARES
Ramblings # 49
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The HCCC is a proud member of
the Federation of Texas
Aquarium Societies.
The HCCC is a proud member of
the Federation
of American Aquarium
Societies.
Contents:
Enantiopus sp. “Kilesa”: A Spawning Report
- Benjamin L. Smith
Lake Victoria and a Little History
- Kory Watkins
The Little Known Arrow Fishes: Yssichromis
- Greg Steeves
CARES Sheet - Harpagochromis sp. “orange rock hunter”
Mountain Valley Middle School CARES
Ramblings #49 - Nick Andreola
Cover: Enantiopus sp. “Kilesa” Photo by Benjamin L. Smith
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Our week of winter has come and gone. It
was crazy to see everyone’s reaction to a
little snow but even I have to admit, I did
enjoy the weather (well, the day off work
anyways). Before you know it , things will
be blistering hot again and we’ll long for a
nice cool day as we are experiencing now.
excited as I’ve ever been about any event
I’ve ever attended. The speaker lineup is
incredible and the people attending will be
from all over the continent. This is the biggest undertaking our little club has ever
committed to so be sure to volunteer to
make this everything that it can be.
As we gear up for some big events, the club
has been abuzz with activity. For the first
time in more than a year we return to Rare
Dave’s shop for the February meeting. I’ve
got together a little slide show on our adventures on the Rio Comal. It should be a lot of
fun. The big spring auction is March 19th in
Shertz. This should be one of the largest
we’ve ever had. I’m really looking forward
to both the auction and seeing everyone once
again. In April we have the 2nd annual
Cichlid Exposition at Amazonia in Austin.
So far Dave has agreed to present and we
still have two slots left to fill. If you would
like to give speaking a try, let me know.
The big news, of course, is our hosting of
FOTAS CARES in November. This is as
As for this issue of the Later Line, I was
pleasantly surprised at the submission of articles. We’ve got a good issue with rich
content. Benjamin, our resident Tanganyikan guru has written a wonderful article on
his breeding account of Enantiopus sp.
“Kilesa”. I have to admit, seeing this fish
again has really perked my interest in these
sand dwelling rheophilics.
For you Lake Victoria enthusiasts, Kory has
written a summary of the history of the great
lake. Keeping with his lead, I submit a review of some of my favorite haplochromines
from the genus Yssichromis. To top it all
off is a report on the great things happening
with MVMS CARES. Until next month…..
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HCCC Leadership Group
Robert De Leon
Dave Hansen
JB Edmundson
Diane Tennison
Dan Schacht
Evan Bowers
Greg Steeves
HCCC Webmaster
Robert DeLeon
HCCC Database Guru
Evan Bowers
HCCC Treasurer
Dave Hansen
HCCC Membership
Diane Tennison
HCCC Librarian
Takeru Garcia (Austin)
Walter Wooton (San Antonio)
HCCC Lateral Line Editor
Greg Steeves
HCCC BAP Chairman
Dan Schacht
HCCC CARES Chairman
Troy Veltrop
Box Exchange Committee
Dave Schumacher
Greg Steeves
Marc Garcia
HCCC CARES/International
CARES Committee
Claudia Dickinson
Dave Hansen
Barbara Wooton
Troy Veltrop
Greg Steeves
HCCC Honorary Life Members
Spencer Jack 2004
Robert De Leon 2006
Anton Lamboj 2007
Dave Hansen 2007
The HCCC Would like to thank the following club supporters. Without you, we
wouldn’t be what we are!
Omega Sea
Aquatek
Lisa’s Lair Bookstore
Dave’s Rare Aquarium Fish
Cichlid Press
San Francisco Bay Brand
Zoomed
Central Aquatics
Petfrontier
Leslies Pool Supply
Darby’s Tropical Fish
Fish Hobby Supply
USA Fish Box
Amazonia International
Cichlid News
Ginger Products
Aquadome
Pet Barn
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Enantiopus sp. Kilesa: A Spawning Report
-Benjamin L. Smith
Two male Enantiopus sp. “Kilesa” in a territorial display in the authors aquarium.
Enantiopus sp. “Kilesa” is an absolutely
beautiful fish from the waters of Lake Tanganyika. It is a sand sifter that builds very
interesting nests which the males guard with
great zeal, but little true aggression. The
males swim in partial circles letting the sun
reflect off of their colorful sides as the females swim by in schools searching for the
most attractive mate.
These fish come from the western shore of
the lake between the cities of Kalemie and
Kavala, Zaire1 which is only a 50 Km stretch
of its 1828 Km shoreline. The water is very
hard and alkaline and temperatures range
from 77-79 F3.
Enantiopus sp. “Kilesa” is cigar shaped and
attains a total length of 6 inches. As juveniles, they are silver in color. As adults, the
females remain silver, whereas the males
attain their characteristic yellow lips as well
as iridescent green on their snout and iridescent blue down their sides. They have black
in their pectoral and anal fins and yellow
and blue spangling in their dorsal fin.
In nature, the males construct nests that consist of a shallow depression in the sand with
small mounds or turrets of sand lining the
edges. He will build a number of nests in
his territory but when a female comes to
spawn, they will only utilize one of his
nests2. In the aquarium, my fish were not
able to construct the full 2 foot diameter
nest. Rather, they placed their small mounds
on the edge of the glass along the outer perimeter of the nest but also constructed a
smaller, inner circle of mounds approximately 6-8 inches in diameter. I had two
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The slender female Enantiopus sp. “Kilesa”.
males and two females and only one male
maintained a nest in the 4 foot long 75 gallon aquarium. For tankmates, I used Cyprichromis leptosoma “Jumbo”. Both females spawned at the same time and the
clutch size was 13 for one and 15 for the
other. Of note, if I do a water change while
the female is still holding eggs, she will spit.
I encountered the same problem with Enantiopus melanogenys.
My four fish were obtained from Dave’s
Rare Aquarium Fish and were large enough
to note the color in the males at 2.5-3 inches
of length. The water in my tank mimics that
of Lake Tanganyika, in that it is hard and
alkaline. The temperature was around 73 F.
Water changes of 50% were done once
every four weeks. Filtration consisted of
two hang-on-back filters rated for 60 gallons
each. The lights were on a timer to be kept
on for 12 hours each day. The tank was located in a waiting room and the fish were
very timid and rarely showed their color.
Décor consisted of a large piece of “holey”
rock in the center with a smaller piece in one
corner to provide the females a place to hide
when they were not interested in spawning.
The substrate was Quickcrete Play Sand.
The parents were fed flake and the fry were
started on Hikari First Bites and then moved
to crushed flake.
This is a fairly delicate fish that is sensitive
to water quality. It is also skittish and will
attempt to jump if scared, so a nice lid for
the aquarium is a must. The fish is also on
the pricey side and so I would not recommend this fish for the beginner, though I
would not say you need to be an expert.
Bibliography
Konings, Ad. Back to Nature: Guide to
Tanganyika Cichlids. 2nd Ed. Cichlid
Press, 2005.
Konings, Ad. Tanganyika Cichlids in their
natural habitat. Cichlid Press, 1998.
Cichlid Forum http://www.cichlidforum.com/profiles/species.php?
id=1961
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Lake Victoria and a Little History
- Kory Watkins
A boat floats across the calm waters of Lake Victoria. Photo by Lawrence Kent.
Lake Victoria is my favorite of the three
main Cichlid lakes in Africa. It is very
unique with varied speciation and a history
that is unbelievable! I promise that after you
read a little about this wonderful basin you
will be inspired to get yourself some Lake
Victoria cichlid species and join with others
who take conservation seriously.
samples taken from the bottom of the lake
suggest that it is around 13,000 years old. If
this is the case then Victorian species have
evolved in a very short period of time. If you
have ever kept a breeding group of cichlids
from this area you would know this. Most
are very prolific and adaptable in a wide variety of settings.
Lake Victoria is very young if you compare
it to other large lakes on this planet. Core
Lake Victoria is 26,600 square miles in size,
making it, in area, the continent's largest
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lake, the largest tropical lake in the world,
and the second fresh water lake in the world
in terms of surface area. Being relatively
shallow for its size, with a maximum depth
of 276 feet and a mean depth of 131 feet,
Lake Victoria ranks as the seventh largest
freshwater lake by volume, containing 2.2
million acre-feet of water.
Lake Victoria receives most of its water
from direct precipitation (rain). The largest
stream flowing into this lake is the Kagera
River, the mouth of which lies on the lake's
western shore. Lake Victoria lies within an
elevated plateau in the western part of Africa's Great Rift Valley and is subject to territorial administration by Tanzania, Uganda
and Kenya.
Lake Victoria has a shoreline of 2,138 miles,
and has more than 3,000 islands. These include the Ssese Islands in Uganda, a large
group of islands in the northwest of the lake
that are becoming a popular destination for
tourists. Today, Lake Victoria in East Africa
is one of the most populous regions in the
world. The lake provides food, transport,
and electricity to more than 30 million people.
Before the 1950’s, Lake Victoria's ecology
was outstanding with an incredible array of
biodiversity. It was inhabited by over 500
species of fish, 90% of which were cichlids,
all but two haplochromine species; plenty of
natural action largely untouched with so
much diverse life.
Exert from TED case Study 338, Lake Victoria:
Fishing pressure on the lake began to intensify in the early 1900's when the British introduced flax gill nets, which soon
replaced the local villagers' papyrus nets
and fish traps. With over fishing, catch
sizes began to drop; fishermen turned to
nets with ever smaller mesh sizes and thus
decimated both the breeding adults and
young of many native species. By the
1950s the ngege (Oreochromis esculentus)
The ngege, Oreochromis esculentus.
was commercially extinct and the labeo
(Labeo victorianus) was not far behind. To
compensate, British officials decided to
stock the lake with new fish. The first
nonnative species of tilapia (Cichlidae),
that prospered was the Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus, which feeds on the minute forms of plant and animal life called
plankton, introduced in the early 1950s.
In 1955 the Nile Perch Lates nicloticus
(Centropomidae) was introduced into
Lake Kyoga, and when a few years later it
was found in Lake Victoria, steps were
taken to ensure its establishment there.
Despite such changes, the haplochromines
appeared to be thriving in the 1950s. In
act, they appeared so robust that some
colonial administrators favored introducing a big predator like the Nile perch to
eat what they considered bony little
"trash" fish and "convert the haplochromine biomass" into something
more able for the restaurant table. Ecologists, fearing the worst for local species,
strongly opposed the predator. But in
1954 illicit Nile perch began appearing in
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Lates niloticus, the infamous Nile Perch. Photo by Lawrence Kent.
cess to the lake from Uganda. Until 1978,
commercial catches anyway. Since the
Nile Perch remained a very small propordirty deed was done, officials continued to
tion of the commercial catch, less than 5
stock the lake with perch in the early
percent. It wasn't until 1979 that the Ken1960s. Speculation is that the perch were
yan government took over an idle Kisumu
first slipped into the lake by colonial
sportsmen, just as homesick British anfacility and work resumed under ICMFRI's auspices. Pilot surveys suggested
glers put trout into highland streams
throughout eastern and southern Africa.
the lake's fish biomass was unchanged: it
Still, for the next decade or so, the alien
still appeared to consist of 80 percent haplochromines and less than 2 percent Nile
perch population remained small. A
perch. But in 1980 an abrupt change
United Nations sponsored survey completed in 1971 found that haplochromines
showed up in Kenyan waters, and within
still made up 80 percent of the lake's fish
two years it appeared in Ugandan and
biomass.
Tanzanian waters too. Nile perch suddenly jumped to 80 percent of the biomass, and haplochromines dropped to 1
Then came what Pereti Basasibwaki, a
Fisheries Research Institute biologist,
percent. The ngege, already rare, virtually disappeared. Clearly something had
calls the dark period, the years between
1974 and 1979 when Idi Amin cut off acbeen building during the unmonitored
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1970’s to cause such a massive explosion
of perch. As for the Haplochromines, the
leading theory is that they simply provided the predator's fodder. However,
when Nile Perch were introduced into
Lake Victoria some 30 years ago to improve game fishing, few would even have
guessed that it might cause the elimination of whole species and the degradation
of the area surrounding the lake. Then in
1978 a very rapid expansion of the proportion accounted for by Nile Perch took
place, with the result that by 1990 the
commercial catch had a totally different
composition, dominated by Nile Perch
(almost 60 percent) and Omena (most of
the remaining 40 percent). The haplochromines, and the mixture of other fish
had virtually vanished from the commercial catch.
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Lake_Victoria
Large Lakes Observatory, University of
Minnesota: http://www.d.umn.edu/llo/
TED Case Studies: Lake Victoria: http://
www1.american.edu/TED/victoria.HTM
Today people like Greg Steeves, Nick Andreola, Troy Veltrop, many other hobbyists
and myself are pushing to keep these rare
species going. Lake Victoria today is a
muddy, murky, polluted lake and it is also
overstocked with predator fish that kill anything in sight.
After reading this I would hope that you
have learned a little history about the lake
and are interested in keeping a Victorian
species of some sort. We need hobbyist to
step up and offer a spot for a few of these
species in there homes. Breed them and
spread the love! Conservation is the key to
their prolonged existence. So again please
open up a tank for these little critters you
won't regret it!
References:
Steeves, Greg. Lake Victoria: A Brief History.“ http://hillcountrycichlidclub.com/ articles/Lake%20Victoria%20History.pdf”
Ugandan children with a basket full of
haplochromines. Photo by
Lawrence Kent.
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The Little Known Arrow-fish; Yssichromis
- Greg Steeves
Yssichromis piceatus in the authors aquarium.
The arrow shaped cichlids of the Yssichromis genus were once a group of open
water schooling fish that roamed the top
strata of their native waters. After the Nile
perch (Lates niloticus) upsurge in the
1980’s, most species were thought to have
expired. Later collections not only found
these species once again but in number
thought to be greater than before the massive
ecological changes occurred in Lake Victoria. As an ever adaptable haplochromine,
some Yssichromis survived implanted in
large cyprinid schools while others took to
rocky areas for cover. Debate is still ongoing as to whether or not these differing
niches have caused anatomical changes in
these fish. All Yssichromis make idea candidates for the aquarium although only a few
representatives have ever been introduced
into the aquarium hobby.
Yssichromis heusinkveldi Witte & WitteMaas, 1987
Together with Yssichromis pyrrhocephalus,
the similar Yssichromis heusinkveldi prior to
1980 made up the bulk of trawls in Lake
Victoria. Unfortunately, in the years following, Y. heusinkveldi became increasingly
rare while today we know that Y. pyrrhocephalus is becoming more abundant. The
former species was obviously more readily
adaptable to changing surroundings while Y.
heusinkveldi could not cope with predators
or water conditions. At best, this fish is considered critically endangered in Lake Victo-
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A young Yssichromis piceatus male in the aquarium.
ria. I am not aware of this beautiful little
animal ever being maintained in captivity.
Yssichromis laprogramma Greenwood &
Gee, 1969
Found in the northern portion of Lake Victoria, Yssichromis laprogramma was discovered near Nsadzi Island in Uganda.
“Laprogramma” is in reference to the thick
mid lateral stripe that dissects the flanks.
This is another of the small schooling open
water zooplankton eaters reaching 8.5cm. It
appears to be just as abundant in its native
waters now as it was before the Nile perch
deluge. It is a shame that it has not yet entered the aquatic hobby as it would, in all
probability, make for an ideal resident.
Yssichromis pappenheimi Boulenger, 1914
Named for the German biologist Artur Pappenheim (1870-1916) Yssichromis pappenheimi is native to Lakes George and Edward
in the left arm of Africa’s Great Rift. Despite over-fishing in both waterways, Y. pappenheimi still appears frequently in native
catches.
This is a very small sardine-like cichlid at
just over 6cm. Other than a slight darker
coloration with adult males, both sexes are
essentially silver fish with uncolored fins. It
is fascinating to speculate how this Yssichromis and representatives of this genus
from Lake Victoria have got to be where
they are today and how they are related. It is
unknown if this is a case of parallel evolution or geological seeding. Either way, this
is yet another beautiful fish that has not
made it to the aquarium trade.
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Two Yssichromis piceatus males displaying in the aquarium.
Yssichromis piceatus Greenwood & Gee,
1969
The beautiful little cichlid Yssichromis
piceatus is aptly named as the Latin root
(piceatus) means “smeared with pitch” referring to the black body coloration of the adult
male. Originally found near Jinja, Uganda
(Napoleon Gulf opposite the Jinja prison) Y.
piceatus is known to have had a wide distribution throughout Lake Victoria.
It is a rather small fish growing to 9cm with
little dimorphism between the sexes. The
head has a straight incline and is arrow
shaped (as is typical of Yssichromis; ‘yssos’Greek for arrow). The body is slender and
laterally compressed. The adult male has an
all black body with a striking orange caudal
fin. This same orange hue is found on the
posterior of the dorsal and anal fins as well.
The pelvic fins are black while the pectorals
are clear. The females are dull silver with a
mid lateral horizontal bar splitting the
flanks. A black face bar lines through the
eye and around the forehead. This same patterning can be seen on non-dominant males
only with darker body coloration.
The teeth are comprised of mainly unicuspid
and tricuspid structure with the first tooth
series being the only row completely exposed. Much as in Lipochromis, the back
rows are not always uncovered above the
gum. Natural food consists of small pupae
(northern Lake Victoria samples while a diet
of zooplankton was found in Mwanza populations. It is likely that Y. piceatus is an opportunistic feeder taking whatever minute
fare is available at the time. Diet varies
throughout the year.
These fish make ideal aquarium residents.
One must ensure not to house them with
overly rambunctious tank mates. To show
these fish at their best, they must not suffer
any dominance issues with another species.
Unless one is highly versed in hap-
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One can see why Greenwood called this fish piceatus meaning “smeared with pitch”.
lochromine temperament, the best idea is to
house Y. piceatus as the only cichlid species
in an aquarium. Small Synodontis species as
flavitaeniatus or alberti and some passive
eels as Mastacembelus liberiensis work well
for a little aquatic diversity. Y. piceatus is a
good choice for one wanting to incorporate
plants into aquascaping. These fish will
generally not do any harm to all but the most
tender of plants. The décor of the aquarium
makes little difference to Y. piceatus. Plants
or rockwork serve the same purpose and will
allow these little haplochromines to feel
comfortable. The deep adult male coloration
will rarely develops in a bare tank.
I use a substrate of fine sand as it has been
reported that similar cichlid species will pick
up smaller pebbles in the spawning sequence
(possibly mistaken them for eggs) and
through the course of mouth brooding, these
will destroy the embryos. Spawning occurs
indiscriminately; in no particular setting in
the aquarium. We have seen most spawns
occur in the early evening. The developing
eggs are quite fragile. At around 18 days
post spawning, the fully developed fry are
free swimming and released from the mothers buccal cavity. Continued care by the female ensues for two weeks after which time
it is best to separate the adult from her fry.
Fry survival can be touchy as well. Feeding
of commercially available cyclop cysts,
newly hatched Artemia, and a mature sponge
filter will increase survival counts.
Unfortunately, as with some many other
haplochromine cichlids, Y. piceatus is very
rare in Lake Victoria. It has been in captive
populations for over 20 years but has never
been bred in sufficient numbers that would
ensure its survival captive or otherwise.
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One of the most beautiful of all the zooplankton eaters, Yssichromis pyrrhocephalus.
Yssichromis pyrrhocephalus Witte & WitteMaas, 1987
Another of the spectacular species of the
open water zooplankton eaters to have escaped the Nile perch (Lates niloticus) onslaught by adjusting to another habitat, is
Yssichromis pyrrhocephalus. Its range is
recorded as the northern portion of Mwanza
Gulf, Lake Victoria. The name is of Latin
origin and translates to “fire head”. It was
nearly driven to extinction in the 1990’s
only to take residence amongst rocky habitats where it was easier to evade predation.
Remarkably, the surviving individuals underwent apparent morphological changes
including a decreased eye size, smaller more
compact head and larger gills (Frans Witte et
al., 2008). This serves as a prime example of
how very adaptable haplochromine cichlids
can be.
This is another small cichlid with a maximum length of 8cm. Both females and quiescent males display a body coloration of
metallic silver. All fins both paired and unpaired are largely translucent. The sexually
active male sports an orange-red blaze with
a prominent eye bar. The pelvic fins are
black with orange dorsal, anal and caudal
fins. One to three ocelli dot the back portion
of the anal fin. The head is arrow shaped
with a sleek tapered body akin to other Yssichromis species.
These fish make ideal aquarium residents
providing that the aquarium sports some sort
of décor.
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Yssichromis sp. “argens” in the aquarium.
Yssichromis fusiformis Greenwood & Gee,
1969
From the Buuvuma Channel west of Nienda
and Vuga Islands in Uganda (Lake Victoria),
Yssichromis fusiformis was taken from deep
waters in open expanses. The body shape is
of the “classic” arrowhead form common to
this genus. Males grow to 11cm while females rarely reach 9cm. This is a very colorful fish with males having a purple coloration on the top portion of the body blending
to a golden yellow color at the belly. The
pelvic fins are black while the other fins are
mostly colorless. Usually three orbited
ocelli dot the anal fin. Females have a bluegrey back shading to sliver on the abdomen.
Yssichromis sp. “argens”
Originally catalogued from the Tanzanian
waters of Lake Victoria, Yssichromis sp.
“argens” is widely considered to be extinct
in the wild. A small population is presently
maintained in captivity within the AZA’s
(American Zoos and Aquariums) Lake Victoria Species Survival Plan (LV-SSP). As
far as I can ascertain, these fish are held in a
single institution. One can only hope that
the colony is still strong and can be filtered
to dedicated hobbyists who have repeatedly
proved their worth in dealing with propagation of endangered haplochromine species
from Africa.
This zooplankton feeder was a schooling
open water species before massive ecological changes took place in the 1980’s. The
maximum length of this species is 9cm with
no noticeable difference between the sexes.
There is considerable evidence suggesting
that Y sp “argens may be synonymous with
Yssichromis fusiformis. Captive care for Y.
sp. “argens” should pose no difficulty as it
has been reared successfully in captivity for
over 20 years. One should employ a similar
husbandry strategy as needed for other
members of the genus.
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Yssichromis sp. “blue tipped” male in the aquarium. Photo by Dave Hansen.
Yssichromis sp. “blue tipped”
Yssichromis sp. “blue tipped” was discovered in 1992 by Yves Fermon and Olivier
Berthelot off Rusinga Island Lake Victoria.
This schooling species feeds upon zooplankton and will also take small insects in the
wild. Maximum size is near 10cm for
males, slightly smaller for females.
Being an open water species, we house our
group in a 65 gallon deep tank with a silica
sand substrate. One side of this tank contains a small rock work structure. A few
strands of artificial Vallisneria are situated
in the middle of the tank. Filtration is provided by an Aquaclear® 300 hang on the
back power filter. Weekly water changes of
twenty gallons help maintain acceptable
conditions.
The Yssichromis sp. “blue
tipped” are housed with a colony of Platytaeniodus sp. “red tail sheller” of similar
size. This mixture works well as both species are distinct enough that hybridization is
unlikely. The rock structure is used by the
Platytaeniodus sp. “red tail sheller” as a ter-
ritorial boundary but has little attraction to
the Yssichromis sp. “blue tipped”. Neither
species is overly aggressive with the other;
squabbles are restricted to co specs. The
Platyaeniodus sp. “red tail sheller” prefers to
remain near the bottom while the Yssichromis sp. “blue tipped” are usually roaming the upper portion of the aquaria. There
are occasional bluffing duels between the
most dominant males of each species but
these are no more than jetting forward in an
attempt to back the other up. There is no
physical contact or jaw locking that occurs.
Yssichromis sp. “blue tipped” (“tipped
blue”) as named by Fermon and Berthelot) is
a very rare fish in the North American
hobby. It is not held in the LV-SSP program
so it is up to the hobbyist to ensure its survival.
19
Schedule of Events
February 19th 2:00 pm
HCCC Meeting at Dave’s Rare Aquarium Fish In San Antonio TX.
Greg Steeves speaking on the Comal River System.
The club is not responsible for any incriminating photos of Members that
might be shown during the presentation.
March 13
HCCC Spring Auction Shertz TX.
April 9
Amazonia’s Cichlid Symposium
Amazonia International Austin TX.
May
HCCC Meeting
Location and Speaker TBD
June
HCCC Auction Austin TX (tent.)
July
HCCC Meeting Capital of Texas Zoo
Austin TX. Speaker Michael Hicks
August
HCCC Meeting TBD
September
HCCC Auction Shertz TX. (tent)
October
HCCC Meeting TBD
November 4th-6th
FOTAS CARES San Antonio TX.
December
HCCC Christmas Party
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21
Thank you to all out club supporters. We wouldn’t be who we are without you!
15% off total purchase
Fish Hobby Supply
a proud supporter of the HCCC
10% off web orders
Foods, Plants, Supplies
www.africancichlids.net
Leslie’s Pool Supply
a proud supporter of the
HCCC
20% off Pool Supplies
5-20% off selected items
All Locations
excluding specials, package deals, and sale
items
12315 Wetmore Rd.
San Antonio, TX 78247
(210)653-8880
www.petfrontier.com
Telephone : (512) 442 - 1400
Fax : (512) 442 - 4944
Email : [email protected]
Gabe's Fish and Exotic Pets
a proud supporter of the HCCC
AquaTek Tropical Fish
a proud supporter of the HCCC
15% off Livestock
and most supplies
10% off Fish
5418 Glen Ridge
San Antonio, TX 78229
(210) 290-9376
8023 Burnet Road
Austin, TX 78757
(512) 450-0182
22
Amazonia
International
a proud supporter of the HCCC
Member discounts:
20% off Fish & Live Plants
10% off Tanks, Stands, Eheims &
Eclipses
25% off Filters & Powerheads
4631 Airport #116 Austin, TX
(512) 451-0958
http://grandapublishing.com/
9722 Potranco Road
San Antonio, Texas 78251
210-520-9611
23
Mountain Valley
Middle School
CARES
In the summer of
2009 middle school
science teacher Debbie Bumgardner expressed interest in the
Hill Country Cichlid Club CARES program.
She had visualized creating a “hands on”
approach to species conservation with her
curriculum. After a few conversations and a
little research the MVMS CARES project
was born. Debbie had obtained a 75 gallon
aquarium and once the word went out to
HCCC members, additional equipment and
livestock was graciously given to the program.
Sparky, etc.), the kids were hooked. Each
day they would diligently check their fish.
As the first school year came to a close, one
of the Xystichromis phytophagus was seen
mouth brooding a clutch of eggs. The first
successful spawn! The fry from this spawning was sent off to the Vienna Zoo. Some of
this brood will go to the Capital of Texas
Zoo to be displayed in the brand new cichlid
exhibit and the remaining young joined their
parent’s colony at the Mountain Valley Middle School for the 2010-2011 school year.
During the first year of MVMS CARES,
Debbie was given the honor of being voted
Teacher of the Year by her peers at Mountain Valley Middle School. In addition, the
administration of both the school and district
fully supported her involvement and the CARES effort.
Teacher extrodinaire! Mrs. B.
Debbie Bumgardner and Erin Olsen.
Although the 2009-2010 school year was to
be a learning experience with the main goal
learning what would work and what would
not, the students took an incredible interest
in the fish. The livestock consisted of Xystichromis phytophagus, a CARES listed species from Lake Kanyaboli, Neochromis omnicaeruleus and Paralabidochromis chromogynos, both from Lake Victoria and Synodontis greshoffi from the Congo River. The
students increased their knowledge base on
these fish through studies and research and
once the cichlid were given names (Bob,
Riding on the successes of the first year of
this CARES program, it was planned to expand the number of aquariums as well as the
number of species being maintained. Additional equipment was donated though the
generosity of HCCC members. Both parents
and students came though with everything
from needed items to décor such as rocks.
Despite high expectations, the 2010-2011
students, although interested, seem to lack
the full vigor shown by their predecessors.
After a small setback with losing a few fish,
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and, starting out with young cichlids not
showing the vibrant adult coloration, a decision was made to stock one aquarium with
colorful cichlids. In this tank, young Pseudotropheus saulosi, Cynotilapia sp. “hara”
and Pundamilia macrocephala are housed.
The beautiful hues shown by these fish, even
while juveniles, should interest the students
and get them involved in what would be
considered the next step, species maintenance of endangered cichlids. Additional
aquariums will contain Lake Barombi Mbo
cichlids from Cameroon. Myaka myaka.
Pungu maclareni and additional Lake Victoria species will soon call Mountain Valley
Middle School home. This year, the Federation of Texas Aquarium Societies provided a
$250.00 award to MVMS CARES that will
go towards the purchase of additional filtration and upgraded lighting.
More updates will follow on what is certain
to be a very successful CARES effort!
MMS CARES would like to recognize the following organizations and individuals who, without
their gracious support, this program would not be
possible.
Mike Kaaki
Pat Mallinger
Dave Hansen
Henry Rockward Jr.
Hill Country Cichlid Club
Troy Veltrop
Benjamin Smith
Fish Hobby Supply
Paul V. Loiselle
Dave’s Rare Aquarium Fish
Robert Deleon
Federation of Texas Aquarium Societies
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Ramble # 49
- Nick Andreola
Editor’s note
I was very happy to get the first in what
looks like a series of Ramblings by Nick. As
the title suggests, this is an abstract, humorous but brilliant look at our hobby and ourselves. I hope you all enjoy this installment
as much as I did and look forward to the
second installment which I presume will be #
59!
This article was written for multiple purposes: I needed one for BAP, I’m a little
bored with writing species articles and I
know Greg is struggling mightily to fill each
months LL with content. I hope it is a fun
read and at least a little bit informative…but,
and most of all, I hope it shows that you
don’t necessarily have to write some dry
scholarly textbook like article; sometimes,
just sharing your own unique perspectives
and observations can be worthwhile. So,
start a Ramble of your own and let’s see
where it takes us!
Many of you with mammalian pets will understand this concept. Let’s get down with
some imagi-math! Let’s say that the typical
cichlid we keep has an average life span of 7
years and the average human’s is 75. Applying our imagi-math, we could then say that
every cichlid year is roughly equal to 10 human years….with me so far? Using the canine reciprocal factor of theoretic ratio continuity we will say that the extra 5 human
years which don’t fit conveniently into our
imagi-math go to the cichlids first year.
Therefore at one human year (HY) our little
cichlid is 15 cichlid years (CYs ) old…..at
two HY; it is 25 CY etc…..
Now, let’s do a ‘Bones’ or CSI-like age progression. Your attention to the enhanced
graphics being displayed on the high-res
screen in your mind, please. See the little fry
grow and begin to take on adult appearance?
At one HY our little wiggler has become a
possibly sexually active teenager. Yes, it is
biologically feasible (and in some parts of
backwoods Arkansas; still permissible) to
procreate with humans at this age! Many
mouth brooder females will have several
unsuccessful attempts before finally releasing their relatively small first batch of fry.
Pair bonding fish may also go through several dry runs or failures before they get it
right. This is to be expected; after all, how
many human couples who have ‘spawned’ at
this early age do you know that really had it
all together?
From one to five HYs (15 to 55 CYs) our
teenager has moved into the prime of its life.
Its colors brilliant, fins resplendent and
slime coat….well…slimy! For both sexes,
this age range may be their reproductive
peak. For many cichlid types, just like for
humans, somewhere towards the end of this
period the females will become less and less
active producing babies. I’m not sure if the
lack of fishy plastic surgeons (and fish
equivalent breast implant-like enhancements) make the females less attractive to
the males or if the males grow into boring
NFL-watching, beer swizzling couchpotatoes (and unattractive to the females) or
if the females go through some kind of piscopause. I do know that if the male has an
owner who has paid attention to the Larry
King School of human reproduction, the introduction of young females will usually inspire the middle-aged cichlid male to continue to father offspring for many years into
the future. Lending some credence to the
piscopause concept; I have had very few
Demi Moore-like older females. In fact the
cichlid cougar is much more likely to kick a
new young stud’s butt than to mate with
him. During this ‘prime’ period, one could
(and should) expect that both sexes will look
26
their absolute best and represent their species as well as genetics and husbandry allows. Dominant males of territorial species
are able to claim and to vigorously hold on
to their chosen sites. Subdoms and females
are fleet and agile; easily able to avoid unwanted attention from more aggressive tank
mates. Any battle damage sustained heals
quickly. This is the time that you’re most
likely to get that award winning photograph
of your show male displaying awesome colors with no nips or tears in his fins.
As our former little wigglers move in the
‘golden’ years and join the AARC (6+ HYs
~65+CYs) many changes occur. Just like
with their human owners, many of our cichlids become less active and begin to put on
some additional ‘padding’. While the fish’s
‘middle-aged spread’ may not manifest itself
in a beer belly, it is not hard to see the extra
bulk when comparing older specimens with
‘prime’ ones. Just as the thick luxuriant
mane of the male human thins, grays and
possibly retreats, the stunning colors of the
cichlid male slowly fade and/or are displayed less and less. For some species, Lake
Victoria basin types I’ve kept for example,
the male coloration actually changes from
the intense reds of youth to a dark, almost
black base color. If kept without any challengers, the aging male will still fulfill his
previous responsibilities (albeit, at a much
slower pace!). However, if housed with
younger males of other species, the former
tank boss may be forced to step down a
notch or two in the pecking order. There will
typically be some fin/scale damage done
while this transition takes place. The recuperation from these battles will be longer
with each passing year. In the worst cases
I’ve seen in this situation the old male will
take on very muted coloration, will claim no
territory and will spend his days swimming
with the groups of females. If housed with
younger males of his own species, very of-
ten the older cichlid male will not relinquish
his dominance until he is bruised and battered to the point he requires removal or he
dies. (And Disney tried to make the ‘circle
of life’ into a syrupy show song!)
After 7+ HYs (75+ CYs), if the fish are
given the opportunity to swim out their remaining months in your “Tranquil Acres”
rest tank, you will notice a steady decline on
their overall health. They may have to return
to their caves for their dentures, so feeding
time may be somewhat lengthened. Their
driver’s licenses will have to be taken because the cataracts make the rocks so hazy
and so easy to run into. Tranquil Acres may
just have to become an obstacle free zone.
This may be when the owner has to gutcheck their opinions on euthanization. I’ve
decided that I have enough tank space to let
nature take its course so my fish room has its
fair share of geezer fish. But, that’s okay
with me; I usually enjoy hanging out with
them more than with some of the young
punks with all that loud noise they call music…but that’s a different ramble. I hope
you don’t feel badly for these old timers.
Not long ago, I had a wonderful chat with
one of my favorite retired breeder males on
what turned out to be his last day. He told
me: “Stop with the tears, you’re messing up
my water chemistry! It has been a glorious
life …. Room service meals delivered every
day, maids and maintenance men in every
week and on call 24/7 and, oh, the females
I’ve shared my tank with!!!! Hubba-hubbading-ding! I had SIX lovely young ladies in
my last harem---and that was my third
harem! But the best of all….I‘ve fathered
hundreds of children (who have moved all
over the country) and I can only imagine
how many grandchildren are out there!”
So don’t feel sad when you lose one of
your old timers. Be content that you’ve got
to see the cycle from fry to geezer …and
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that your hard work, patience and dedication
is what made it happen. Now its time to
really get to know Junior…and who
knows?...you might just find that you actually kinda like that new loud music!
PS: please, refer to this Ramble (#49) when
reading the upcoming Ramble (#50) about
“Why doesn’t my fish look EXACTLY like
the one in the photograph?”
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The Lateral Line is the official publication of the Hill
Country Cichlid Club. Reprinting permitted to non
commercial organizations.