Cynotilapia mbambas from Mara rocks. Photo by Nick Andreola.

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2 Index Editorial 3 BAP report 3 BAP year to date totals 4 Up Coming Events 5 Classroom Aquariums Breed Excitement By Terry Maxwell 6 Evan Bower ACA Speaker 10 Pseudocrenilabrus multicolor victoriae Seegers, Box Exchange 12 Membership reminders and welcome 13 Committees 14 CARES 15 Steatocranus: A genus Review 16 Cynotilapia mbambas from Mara rocks. Photo by Nick Andreola. a proud supporter of the HCCC 15% off total purchase excluding specials, package deals, and sale items Wetmore Rd. San Antonio, TX (210)

3 A New Look After six years of putting together Hill Country Cichlid Club s publication the Lateral Line, Robert DeLeon is taking a well deserved break. On behalf of the entire membership, thank you Robert for your years of work putting together a magazine that we are all proud of. I have humbly offered to do my best to adhere to the high standards he has set. There will be a few subtle changes such as the actual format. I hope the new look will be satisfactory. Dan Schacht, our BAP chairman and I will be hounding for material to fill these pages. Be active and contribute often. I would appreciate any feedback on what you might like or dislike about the new Lateral Line. Enjoy the issue. been converted into the HCCC Cares program. Any fish registered with the HCCC Cares is now eligible for extra points for multiple fry donations. For a complete list of the BAP rules, please visit the HCCC website. Lake Victoria was well represented in the last few months with 23 of the 39 spawns being from Lake Victoria and the surrounding area. A large portion of that contribution is due to a new member to the HCCC and the BAP program, Ross Smith. Ross has bolted out of the starting gate, taking and retaking the BAP year first place position multiple times. Ross s current position is 3 rd place, but he is only one spawn away from the two members that are tied at first place. Ross spawned 11 species of fish, all of them from Lake Victoria and many of them on the HCCC Cares list. -Greg BAP Report I have to say WOW. The HCCC membership has really stepped up and has been contributing in leaps and bounds to the BAP program. We are continuously enjoying the contributions of new members and the success, often first time, of those members in spawning our beautiful cichlids. Some minor administrative changes have been made to the BAP program. In addition to the Lateral Line, year to date point totals can now be found at ap/ listed by the participants name. The BAP rules have also been modified in the effect that the ESP program has now Apistogramma cacatuoides Photo by Duc Nguyen. Having mentioned Ross, his great success, and that he is still only in third place, I need to mention the progress of the members that are tied in first place. JB and Nick have both been very active in the BAP program this year and have contributed 16 spawns and 10 spawns respectively. Both of these members are long time members of the HCCC, but JB has just recently started to contribute to

4 the BAP program. Both members are having great success and Nick is proving that you can spawn fish that are not from the Lake Victoria area! Nick has been racking up the extra points with articles and first of species spawns this year. I mention the top three participants because they each have over 200 points on the current BAP year, but not far behind is another rising star. Evan has been pumping out the Apistogramma species this year and has climbed into 4 th place with his much success. Evan also achieved the level of HCCC Advanced Breeder. The BAP year is turning out to be a great one. We have had 93 separate BAP reports turned in this year with 19 participating members! Thanks everyone for all the hard work and donations. -Dan Schacht BAP Year to Date Standings 240 JB 40 Nick 225 Ross 185 Evan 170 Dan S. 140 Greg 125 Barbara 70 Tony 65 Jim 75 Dan I. 50 Matt 40 Dave S. 35 Allen 30 Tony B. 25 Brenda 25 Dave H. 25 Robert D. 15 Mike 15 Robert T. 15 Jim (petfrontier) 5 Jennifer AquaTek Tropical Fish a proud supporter of the HCCC 10% off Fish 8023 Burnet Rd. # 1 Austin, TX (512) Astatotilapia desfontainii. Photo by Lee Ann Steeves. Leslie s Pool Supply a proud supporter of the HCCC 20% off Pool Supplies 5-20% off selected items All Locations Test kits and pond supplies Lipochromis sp. two striped white lip. Photo by Dave Hansen. 4

5 Upcoming Events Houston Aquaium Society s Summer Auction. June 21 st, am start - 10 am sellers check-in. American Legion Post Galveston Road Houston, Texas (Where the jet is) International Betta Congress 2009 Convention. June 25 th -28 th, 2009 Radisson Dallas/Ft. Worth South. Dallas, Texas ACA 2009 Annual Convention July 30 th -Aug 2, Cincinnati, Ohio F.O.T.A.S 2009 September 11 th -13th The Federation of Texas Aquarium Societies annual show will be hosted by the Houston Aquarium Society. The Omni Hotel Katy Freeway Houston, Texas Hill Country Cichlid Club Quarterly Meeting Sept 19, Ryan s Steakhouse New Braunfels TX. 6:00pm Special guest speaker, HCCC member Anton Lamboj Texas Cichlid Association Fall Workshop, Show and Auction. October Details to follow. Hill Country Cichlid Club Box Exchange Meeting and Auction. Aug 9 th, PCCA box exchange auction. Dave s Rare Aquarium Fish. San Antonio, Texas. Texas Cichlid Association Annual End Of Summer Pool Party. Aug 15 th Hosted by Mike and Diane Stewart, 1025 Granite Lane, DeSoto, Texas, beginning at around 3:00. Call (972) for directions. Paralabidochromis chromogynos. Photo by Greg Steeves. The Hobby Palace a proud supporter of the HCCC 10% off selected items 5305 Bolm Road #3 Austin, TX (512)

6 Classroom Aquariums Breed Excitement Jim was as excited as I had ever seen him. Mr. Maxwell, I got an aquarium this weekend. I ve been researching about cichlids and I m ready to start up my tank. I was reading about those yellow fish the Labidochromis. Jim slowly sounded out the genus name. My tank should be big enough and there are plenty of rocks in there for them to hide around. The articles I read said they need plenty of places to hide From this point on I realized the power of keeping aquariums in the classroom. Jim was a student who had received failing grades throughout the whole year up to that point. He was your classic student with potential, but felt no need to give the effort. Nothing had excited him up to that point in the year, and now he was voluntarily reading extra research and was discussing habitat, feeding methods, and even learning scientific names. I knew from that point on there was more to be done, and aquariums would become a useful tool in my classroom. HOW DID WE GET THERE? I stumbled upon the use of aquariums quite frankly by accident. I began teaching in 2004 as an 8 th grade science teacher. I had been a cichlid enthusiast for only three years when I started teaching. I had kept a couple tanks of African cichlids at my home, but had nothing at school during the beginning of my first school year. Midway through the school year in my first year of teaching, my wife and I moved and our new place did not have room for the tanks. In an act of desperation I brought the tanks into the classroom. I placed a 30-gallon tank with Labidochromis caeruleus and Melanochromis cyaneorhabdos at the front of the classroom. What I realized changed my classroom set up forever. It was amazing how excited the students were that first day they came into the classroom to see a tank of brightly colored fish sitting at the front of the 6

7 room. My first thought was I had created a distraction, and I had made a big mistake. While I did have some daydreamers get lost in the constant movement of the mbuna, I realized much more benefits from the tank, than distractions. In that half of the year, several of my classes were able to witness spawns from the Labidochromis caeruleus. None of the students believed that these fish would actually raise babies in their mouth until they witnessed the throat of the Yellow Lab bulging with babies. We were able to test water quality, observe minerals evaporate out of the water and cling to the glass, visually examine the nitrogen cycle, have plenty of examples of animal behavior, and have several teachable moments that could occur at any time. I knew I had stumbled on something quite useful. WHERE HAVE WE BEEN? I had a year under my belt and felt more comfortable as a teacher, but I had switched grades and added some responsibilities outside of the classroom. This made it difficult to envision a larger plan for the cichlids in the classroom. I still kept the fish in the classroom, but was still working on a larger plan in my head. Being a competitive person by nature, I started to plan how classes could compete against one another, but I needed more tanks. My second year in the classroom came and went without much of an increase in the use of the cichlid tanks. In 2006 I purchased an 8-outlet air pump and 6 ten-gallon tanks. My goal was to set up all six tanks in the classroom and for each class to take care of their own tank and maintain it throughout the year. I made it into a class competition. Students received points for feeding the fish, changing the water, taking the temperature of the water, testing water quality, and I had a point system devised for the number of fry their fish had. Our art teacher allowed the students to use her left over clay to make caves and cones for the fish, which was really a great opportunity for the students. The response from the kids was overwhelming. Students donated food, filters, heaters, and decorations. Fellow teachers were stopping by the room to see what was going on because the students were talking about all the fish in our science room, and which class was winning the competition. We kept a variety of species that could fit in a 10- gallon tank. That first year we kept a variety of dwarf cichlids, and some juveniles. In 2006 we kept Neolamprologus brichardi (very established pair awesome to watch them raise their tiny babies), Pelvicachromis pulcher, Pseudocrenilabrus multicolor, Lamprologus brevis, juvenile Astatotilapia burtoni, Steatocranus casuarius, and Nanochromis parilius were all kept at some point. Of those fish, we managed to breed the multicolor, burtoni, brichardi, and the brevis. The first year was a hit with the kids. There are still multiple students from that class I talk with that keep and 7

8 maintain fish, some of which were from our original program. We continued on in a similar manner in We set up six tanks again with various dwarf cichlids. In 2007 we kept Julidochromis ornatus, Lamprologus similis, Lamprologus stappersii, Neolamprologus brichardi, Pelvicachromis pulcher, and Pseudocrenilabrus multicolor. I also kept two separate tanks of Stomatepia pindu and Paralabidochromis chromogynos in the classroom. What I found was that the kids were more drawn to the pindu and chromogynos, because they were out about in the tank more, their color was fantastic, and we could observe their behavior more easily. They didn t cower in the tank when kids walked up to it or by it. Our dwarf cichlids would hide a lot (it didn t help I chose to keep shell dwellers), and that led to a lot of kids losing interest in our tanks. I was trying to determine what to do about our tanks and our projects and felt like our project was coming to a crossroads. I wanted to revamp it, I wanted it to mean something more, and give the kids something to work for and towards. Frankly, I wanted our project to have a purpose higher than learning how to keep fish. The idea hit me as I was determining how to teach a lesson about invasive species. I decided to base the whole lesson around Lake Victoria and what happened when the Nile Perch were introduced. I integrated that problem with the current invasive species problems in Lake Michigan with the Zebra Mussels, Round Gobies, and Sea Lampreys etc. to add a local meaning to the problem of invasive species. The kids took off with it. They were intrigued by the problem as a whole. The students did days of research on all the problems that had snowballed since the introduction of the Nile Perch, and all the problems that were beginning to happen in Lake Michigan since the introduction of the non-native species. A group of students also created a large mural entitled Don t Lake Michigan Turn Into Lake Victoria. The end result was a group of students wanting to do more, and I was right there with them. I contacted Greg Steeves and asked if he could provide my class with any information or resources on the situation in Lake Victoria, and he was more than willing to help. I started trying to find Lake Victorian cichlids wherever I could, and gathered all the information I could get my hands on. I learned about the Lake Victoria Species Survival Program, and contacted Jay Hemdal out of the Toledo Zoo and asked if there was still a program going on in which schools could get involved keeping and breeding Lake Victorian cichlids. Sadly, I found out that this was no longer functioning. I then came upon the Aqua Havens program, and the CARES program, and realized there had to be something out there our class could get involved in. I have been a consistent viewer of the HCCC website forum over the past 8

9 couple years and post every now and then, but most of all I learn from the knowledge this club has. Several months ago I learned about the possibility of connecting American classrooms with classrooms in Kenya that were also keeping and learning about their native fishes. I immediately contacted Greg Steeves again about this opportunity. Greg informed me further about the CARES program and Aqua Havens program and asked more about my own program. After several correspondences Greg offered to assist in a more substantial way in our classroom and provide support for a Lake Victoria/Endangered Species project. This year our six classes of 8 th grade science keep 3 tanks of Lake Victorian cichlids. The cichlids are housed in two 30-gallon tanks and a 40-gallon tank. I keep about 10 different species of Victorians at home and let the students chose any that they wanted. I included Astatotilapia burtoni since I always read it is in the satellite lakes and tributaries, and it is an easy fish to breed. The students picked Paralabidochromis chromogynos, Pundamilia nyererei Python Island, and Astatotilapia callipterus. We still have the competition idea with the Lake Victorian species, and have bred all three in class. We plan to switch out and try new species within the next couple weeks. Four students have taken home Victorian cichlids for tanks they have started at home during the current school year. WHERE ARE WE GOING? Our classroom is looking to improve on this project and increase its magnitude and fine-tune its objective. We are looking to get involved a project that will involve us with other schools, and network us if possible with the Kenya schools. Another goal we would be looking to achieve is to breed these cichlids and distribute their fry to other schools, hobbyist, or other interested students. In my mind long terms goals for this project would include creating a network of schools throughout the United States that would participate in a similar program. I would like our students to start up a website where we can upload photos, video, monthly updates and articles, a species log and breeding log, and post experiments and results, this would serve as a way for schools to network and share fish, and share data and ideas. It would also serve as a way for hobbyist interested in our project to stay in touch and informed. We are blessed with a large science room and lab area. There would be room for gallon tanks double racked, and gallon tanks triple racked for grow out space in an little used science office we could convert into a grow out area. 9

10 WHY WE DO IT? Over the years I have realized the tremendous value of having aquarium fish in the classroom. I have had multiple parents contact me about the difference our fish keeping made in their son/daughter s life. Stories about how they had never seen their child so excited, or they had never seen their child motivated about anything in school up to that point. One letter I remember stated she told her son he had to stop using the f word (fish) so much because that is all he would talk about when he got home from school. During my time working on my undergraduate degree and during my time in graduate school one theme reoccurred over and over. You must reach the students in a personal way and connect the learning to the students interests and life outside of school; when you see well over 100 kids a day that can be a difficult task to accomplish. With the help of aquariums in the classroom, I have found something that interests a wide array of students. It is difficult to find a student that does not enjoy watching colorful fish swim through the water gracefully, or watch little fry scurry around the tank. I believe aquarium keeping in the classroom truly hooks (sorry for the pun) students into a meaningful experience, which they can build on outside of school and in their future. If you would like to contact me about our classrooms progress or project feel free to contact me at tmaxwell@peotoneschools.org. -Terry Maxwell Our Own Evan Bower speaking at the ACA 2009!!! The ACA this year will have some HCCC representation. Evan has been invited to speak on Apistogramma, a genus that we all know he is well versed in. Let s make sure there are plenty of HCCCer s there to share this historic event. Knock em dead Evan. We re all very proud! Presentation topic: A Practical Introduction to the Genus Apistogramma Evan Bowers is an avid hobbyist who keeps a variety of cichlids from both the old and new worlds. Over the last several years he has become fascinated by the behaviors and activities of dwarf cichlids from South America and West Africa. Evan is an active member of the Hill Country Cichlid Club and a founding member of the Austin Aquarium Society. When not watching his fish Evan also enjoys spending time with his family and has a growing interest in photography. Evan s presentation will provide an introduction to the genus Apistogramma, concentrating on the requirements for keeping and breeding thing successfully in captivity. 10

11 Pseudocrenilabrus multicolor victoriae Seegers, 1990 Pseudocrenilabrus species have a wide distribution throughout the African continent. They differ from many of the other mouth brooding cichlids by differing ocelli structure on the anal fin. Instead of being round, egg spots of Pseudocrenilabrus are oval. The caudal fin is rounded. During spawning, the male displays a folded anal fin rather than spread widely as in haplochromines. These are all small cichlids with adult males larger than their respective females. Although occasionally small bits of plant matter are ingested, all are carnivorous feeding on insects, small fish and crustaceans. All are maternal mouth brooders with no pair bonding beyond the act of spawning. At present there are three described species and five distinct subspecies. This beautiful cichlid is known from the Victoria Nile, Kyoga Basin, Lake Albert and as far west as the northern portions of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Males grow to 9cm, females 7cm. The head is more pointed than with other Pseudocrenilabrus species. Male coloration is based on a yellow body hue. Bright blue lips, a blue anal fin and blue rays to the caudal fin are striking. The dorsal is edged in red with black trim along the tips of the dorsal spines. This cichlid usually avoids open water preferring to remain in abundance along the waters edge in heavily planted areas along lesser waterways, swamps and bogs. The fish usually stays near the bottom of these shallows. My fish came to me from fellow HCCC er Duc Nguyen. He gave me a trio of adults and some fry. The adults were placed with some Xystichromis phytophagus of similar size in a 55 gallon tank. This was not the best arrangement as the X. phytophagus had already set up territories. Within a couple days, I was working with the fry only. As with other Pseudocrenilabrus species, newborn fry are extremely small. This allows brooding females, who are small themselves, to carry an incredible number of larvae. I fed the fry a mixture of crushed flake and frozen cyclopeeze. This is the staple most of my newborn fry get. After seven months the young were large enough to tell that I had two obvious males coming out of the brood of nine. I set up a 20 gallon long tank planted with Anubias congenisis, Aponogeton madagascariensis, and Cryptocoryne wendtii. The tank was also furnished with a few small pieces of the white limestone that grows wild here. This tank was maintained with a small sponge filter and received irregular water changes. Once the fish were transported to their furnished tank, the male coloration almost immediately intensified. The two males both displayed dominant coloration and aside 11

12 from frequent territorial boundary disputes, got along without incident. Within a couple weeks I was able to see a small female holding. Due to the shape of the head, it is sometimes difficult to notice a female brooding fry. The way I am able to tell for certain is to observe the fish with the head pointing away from you (towards the rear of the tank). If she is holding, her gills will be flared. This works with other mouth brooding lineages as well. species, care must be taken to watch for aggression problems. A heavily planted tank is the preferred habitat and in this system, multiple males can be maintained together. This is one of the more stunning colored fish from this genus. -Greg Steeves Gabe's Fish and Exotic Pets a proud supporter of the HCCC 15% off Livestock and most supplies 5418 Glen Ridge San Antonio, TX (210) The female was placed in a bare ten gallon tanks with a piece of hornwort and a sponge filter. At 15 days post spawning, I was able to witness her release seven tiny fry. Even though the yolk sac had been fully absorbed, they looked like little more than a dot with a tail. I very sparingly fed cyclopeeze for the first few days. A mature sponge filter is probably a more effective food source for getting these minute larvae to a more workable size. After a couple days, the female was placed back in the community tank. The fry are hearty and I experienced no losses. In good conditions, spawning is frequent. A colony seems perfectly happy in a smaller tank. Pseudocrenilabrus multicolor victoriae makes for an ideal aquarium resident. Even though it is one of the more peaceful of the Pseudocrenilabrus Box exchange with the Pacific Coast Cichlid Association. August, For more information see the HCCC message board or contact Greg at gsteeves@gvtc.com. Fish Hobby Supply a proud supporter of the HCCC 10% off web orders Foods, Plants, Invertebrates & Supplies 12

13 Dave s Rare Aquarium Fish a proud supporter of the HCCC 5121 Crestway Drive Suite 300 San Antonio, TX (210) Member discounts HCCC Renewal reminder Nick & Tina Andreola Jim Beck Lisa and Ken Boorman JB Edmundson Joseph Lynch Brian Maddox Jeff & Xenia Pesek Steven Rose Welcome to the HCCC Allen Abrahams Steve Bereyso Jeff Bulmahn Gary and Blair Cooper Ron Crite Claudia Dickinson Bradley Duncan Brenda Figah Takeru Garcia Paul Jendrzey Justin Lorentz David Martindale Jack Morris Steve Murdock Veronica & Mike Nickols Ronda Ringer Ross Smith Brian Stalter David Wilcox Lisa s Lair Bookstore Online Books Various Discounts for HCCC Members Benitochromis nigrodorsalis. Photo by Diane Tennison. AquaTek Tropical Fish a proud supporter of the HCCC 10% off Fish 8023 Burnet Rd. # 1 Austin, TX (512) Nick Andreola leading a HCCC snork club expedition on the San Marcos River. 13

14 HCCC Leadership Group Jim Beck Dave Hansen JB Edmundson Diane Tennison Dan Irwin Evan Bowers Greg Steeves HCCC Webmaster Robert DeLeon HCCC Database guru Evan Bowers HCCC Treasurer Dave Hansen HCCC Membership Diane Tennison HCCC Meeting Coordinator Dan Irwin HCCC Lateral Line Editor Greg Steeves 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) HCCC Librarian Takeru Garcia HCCC BAP Chairman Dan Schacht HCCC CARES Chairman Troy Veltorp HCCC CARES Coordinator Barbara Wooton HCCC CARES/International CARES Committee Claudia Dickinson Dave Hansen Barbara Wooton Troy Veltrop Greg Steeves Box Exchange Committee Dave Schumacher Greg Steeves HCCC Honorary Life Members Spencer Jack 2004 Robert DeLeon 2006 Anton Lamboj 2007 Dave Hansen 2007 (830) IH 35 exit 183 (Solms Rd) 14

15 HCCC CARES With the summer months here, this is the time of year that our fish begin to really produce for us. At times, I know we have more fry than we know what to do with! I begin to count holding mothers and tanks, and always seem to come up short in the tank department! Please remember that our at risk species are important, not just to us, but to the world. We take on such a big responsibility when we are caretakers of these rare and beautiful fish. Passing them out and building new colonies should be our end goals. Does anyone else feel a tug at the heartstrings when giving away our fry? I know I do, when I've worried and fretted over some little ones, sending them to their new homes gives me both a feeling of accomplishment, and a little sorrow. I know that they go to excellent keepers, but at the same time, I miss so many milestones after they leave me. This fall we will be doing a new collection for Aqua Havens. Please keep this in mind that we'd love to have new CARES registered base stock to send to this most excellent program. Also remember that by distributing your fry, you earn your awards in the CARES program. Let me know if I can help! Together, we CAN make a difference! -Barbara Wooton Editors note Barbara has been instrumental in distributing HCCC CARES stock to educational institutions. Did You Know. The HCCC has two members that have published cichlid books? Anton Lamboj wrote The Cichlid Fishes of Western Africa and Claudia Dickinson penned Aquarium Care of Cichlids. The CARES program spreads. Hey everyone, this is Brenda from Colorado. I just thought I would give you guys a quick update on what is going on up my way. For those of you that don't already know I have proposed a CARES program up here at my local club...rocky Mountain Cichlid Association. Well, it looks like it's a go. The hardest part for me is getting it up and running as it looks like I will pretty much be the person in charge. It's a little overwhelming in the fact that I have never done this before but I am confident this can be as successful up here as you all have been in the HCCC. There seems to be some genuine interest and I hope I can gain more and more interest as we get things put together. I also want to thank Barbara Wooton and Greg Steeves for their help and support, which I am sure I will need more of as I get this rolled out. I also want to thank all HCCC members for being such great role models for us in other parts of the country. Keep up the good work and I hope everyone is enjoying their summer. -Brenda Figah 15

16 Steatocranus (Boulenger, 1899): A Genus Review Even before I began to get excited about the Cichlids of West Africa, I was always intrigued by the genus Steatocranus. I have always had a soft spot for rheophilic fish. Rheophilic is a term that refers to fish that live in fast moving water. Most cichlids of this type are slender and elongated to enable them to thrive in the quick moving bodies of water. All members of Steatocranus are rheophilic species. In addition, all species have reduced swim bladders to varying degrees. They will sink like a rock when the stop swimming. The vast majority of their time is spent on the substrate. As of this moment there are 9 described species and 2 undescribed species. All of them except for one can be found in the Congo River system. The type species happens to be among my favorites and that is Steatocranus gibbiceps. The described species contained in the genus currently are Steatocranus bleheri, S. casuarius, S. gibbiceps, S. glaber, S. irvinei, S. mpozoensis, S. rouxi, S. tinanti, S. ubanguiensis. The undescribed species are S. sp. red eye and S. sp. square head. Let s discuss their appearance now. I would classify the genus as a small to mid size animal. The most unique characteristic they share is the large mouth and thickened lips. In addition, some male specimens can grow some very impressive humps on their head. Males also get larger than the females and tend to have more elongated dorsal and anal fins. This is one of my favorite traits. I have some males with dorsal fins that flow well past the end of their tail. Pelvic fins have a rounded appearance due to the longer middle rays. Steatocranus can be seen propped up on these pelvic fins constantly. Members of the species have very stout and strong caudal peduncle that powers a large caudal fin. The dorsal fin maintains a low profile along the length of the body and flares a bit near the end of the fin. Normally the coloration is the first physical trait that is mentioned when describing a species appearance. Steatocranus will never be called a colorful group of fish. As they mature most of them are a dark gray or muddy brown color. Juvenile coloration can be a bit more varied. The color is not what makes this an exciting group of fish to keep. It is their unique shape and wonderful personality. 16

17 I have bred a few of the species, but not all of them by a long shot. They are a cave spawning and pair bonding cichlid. I have always started with 5-6 juveniles of a species and let them sort it all out to obtain a pair. Pair bonding compared to many species is relatively peaceful. I never witnessed the raw brutality of some cichlids. It is very easy to see with even minor observation who is going to pair. There will be some chasing that is exhibited. Once a pair is identified it is a simple matter of pulling the rest of them before any carnage takes place. In a couple of instances I have had a male tolerate two females in the tank, but he would only breed with one. In one case, the dominant female died and it looked like he bonded with the second female. Eggs were laid several times, but I never achieved any fry from the attempt. A clay breeding cave has been the most popular choice so far for a breeding site. I have also had pair choose a group of rocks as well that formed a cave. There can only be one entrance though into their sections of the rocks. If there is any way for a backdoor entry, they will move onto another site. Once they have spawned and the fry are free swimming the female will guard them. The male doesn t actually guard the fry, but patrols his territory and defends anything in his space, which happens to contain the female and fry. The young fish will stay very close to the spawning site for an extended period of time. Often I have no idea how big a spawn took place till weeks after the spawn and the fry begin to explore their surroundings. In addition, the parents and juveniles will tolerate multiple generations of broods. I have discovered the hard way that the parents do not defend very well against catfish picking off fry. I have a habit of keeping catfish, mostly synodontis, in all my tanks. I do this for two reasons. I like the job they do of keeping the tank clean of any food, and I love catfish. I no longer keep any in a tank with Steatocranus though. I would like to share some thoughts on the tank environment when keeping these cichlids. First let me mention that I would never mix species in a single tank. I keep them in 30-gallon long tanks. I imagine a bonded pair could be kept in a 20 long, though I have not tried this myself yet. The substrate is always dark brown pool filter sand. I keep lots of rocks for hiding and perching spots. I have found that they will live at multiple levels. I also keep lots of plants in the tank. Most of them are tall plants that will reach the surface and help subdue the lighting a bit. An overly bright tank will not let them be too comfortable. Water parameters are not real important and they tolerate higher ph and hardness very well. Though they are a riverine fish, it is not necessary to recreate their natural environment with excessive water movement. They have developed their body shape to stay out of the rapids. They do need well-oxygenated water. The method that works best for me is to have a slightly oversized filter for the tank. I will place a tall rock below the output of the filter. The flow of water will hit the rock and disperse the energy of the water throughout the 17

18 tank without overpowering the fish or blasting substrate everywhere. Feeding these fish is very easy. I mix a combination of spirulina and kelp, brine, and garlic flake into a container and feed this to them. I also feed NLS flake to them as well. I would not recommend feeding them pellets myself. I lost several specimens when I was in a phase of feeding only pellet. They appeared to struggle with processing pellet. 18

19 Reference: Lamboj, A The Cichlid Fishes of Western Africa. Bergit Schmettkamp Verlag, Bornheim. -Dave Hansen Don t forget to check out the Hill Country Cichlid Club s FACEBOOK page. Occasionally I will feed live mosquito larvae as well. They attack these with much enthusiasm. Despite their appearance I have found them to be excellent community inhabitants. I will usually keep them with another West African cichlid. They have been kept successfully with Anomalochromis thomasi, Benitochromis nigrodorsalis, Orthochromis stormsi, and Pungu maclereni. I almost always try to keep a West African barb or tetra in the tanks as well as dithers. In addition, I think they are beautiful fish as well. If you are interested in West African cichlids then the members of Steatocranus are an excellent choice to add to your tanks. It always one of the more fun tanks that my family and I enjoy observing. They are charming whether they are propped up on their fins staring at you or darting and scooting around the tank. They are not a shy cichlid and seem to be as interested in us as we are them. up.php?gid= &ref=ts The HCCC is a proud member of F.O.T.A.S See you next issue! 19