Lucipinnis tank guidelines

[Rhinox]

Hello. I'm new to the boards here. Back in November I purchased groups of 2 mbuna cichlid species, and a group of 6 syno Lucipinnis ~1" (well, they were sold as petricola, but I believe they're probably lucipinnis). They have been living together in a 55g tank since november.

Right now, I have a 30g tank (48"x12"x12") with groups of 3 more mbuna cichlid species growing out because I am soon upgrading my 55g tank to a 125g tank. I plan to keep a group of 6 multipuncs in the 125 with the mbuna, and I have decided that the 30g I have would make a nice tank for the lucipinnis since I love them and do not want to get rid of them. Apart from housing the lucipinnis, the 30g will also be used to grow out mbuna fry I may occasionally choose to keep. I have a plan of keeping an extra AQ110 sponge cycled by keeping it running on my 125g tank, which can be used as a powerhead sponge filter in a 10g mbuna fry tank, and then transferred to the 30g tank to account for the added bioload of mbuna juvies I'd be growing out.

In addition, I wouldn't be opposed to the lucipinnis breeding. I would try the flowerpot method, and when I notice eggs in the flowpot, transfer it over to the 10g fry tank (with tank water from the 30g of course). Then the eggs can hatch and start to grow up in the fry tank, before being moved back over into the 30 with the parents until I can sell some, or give some away, or trade with the LFS for credit, or keep some, or whatever.

so, questions...

1: sound like a reasonable plan?

2: how many lucipinnis would make a good permanant colony in the 30g, given that every once in a while they may have to share the tank with 20+ mbuna ~1"? Just the current 6 (unknown sexes), or more or less, or a group with a known number of males and females?

3: are they easy to breed as I've described with the flowerpot method, or is there more to it than I'm anticipating?

4: currently, the 6 lucipinnis I have seem to love the NLS 1mm cichlid pellets I feed the mbuna. Is it fine to continue feeding them the NLS when they're in their own tank, or is there something better they should be eating, or some other snack they might appreciate now and then? Also, can I simply crush up the NLS pellets and use it to feed the lucipinnis fry if I ever get any, or will they require something else?

5: when can I expect the lucipinnis to be ready to start spawning, given that they were bought at around 1" back in november and are right now still currently ~1.5"? I've heard 1.5-2 years, so I guess that means I got at least another year from now right?

6: if I can manage to snap a couple pics of my syno's and post them here, will someone be able to confirm the exact species for me? Again, they were sold to me as petricola 3 for $20 at 1", but after some research I suspect the are more than likely lucipinnis. Pretty certain all 6 are the same species and variant at least.

Thanks for the help I've found depsite getting into the hobby because of the mbuna, I really love synos!!

[Birger]

1: sound like a reasonable plan?

It does but see answer below.

2: how many lucipinnis would make a good permanant colony in the 30g, given that every once in a while they may have to share the tank with 20+ mbuna ~1"? Just the current 6 (unknown sexes), or more or less, or a group with a known number of males and females?

30 gal....most likely a 12 x 24 inch footprint...would be minimum for a group of six adult S.lucipinnis IMO. To add 20 mbuna juvi's(up to 1 inch or 1 inch plus??) would be a little tight, the catfish could handle it but you would have to keep up with water changes and growth may slow for the syno's (and the mbuna)and that is already a fairly slow growing fish.

3: are they easy to breed as I've described with the flowerpot method, or is there more to it than I'm anticipating?

What is easy for one may be difficult for another...easy relative to what, they are definitely doable. Take the time to research about them, there is a lot of info on this here within Planet. As said they are slow growing so you will have time to do this research.

4: currently, the 6 lucipinnis I have seem to love the NLS 1mm c*****d pellets I feed the mbuna. Is it fine to continue feeding them the NLS when they're in their own tank, or is there something better they should be eating, or some other snack they might appreciate now and then? Also, can I simply crush up the NLS pellets and use it to feed the lucipinnis fry if I ever get any, or will they require something else?

The NLS is a good base to work with but they would also love any of the frozen foods.(mysis,bloodworms etc.) Crushing NLS is a little messy...the NLS Grow works great and a small can goes a long way. But BBS, decasulated brine shrimp eggs or microworms would be better at first.

5: when can I expect the lucipinnis to be ready to start spawning, given that they were bought at around 1" back in november and are right now still currently ~1.5"? I've heard 1.5-2 years, so I guess that means I got at least another year from now right?

Optimum conditions need to be met if spawning them as soon as possible is the target.

6: if I can manage to snap a couple pics of my syno's and post them here, will someone be able to confirm the exact species for me? Again, they were sold to me as petricola 3 for $20 at 1", but after some research I suspect the are more than likely lucipinnis. Pretty certain all 6 are the same species and variant at least.

Of course we will do what we can to help you out, a good clear side shot would be best.

I really love synos!!

That's the spirit!!

Birger

[DJRansome]

How will you keep the synos from eating the mbuna fry. Synos are good at fry control.

[Rhinox]

30 gal....most likely a 12 x 24 inch footprint...would be minimum for a group of six adult S.lucipinnis IMO.

Actually its a 48"x12" footprint, 12" depth. Love that tank, best $70 bucks I ever spent. Based on your comments, with double the footprint I'd probably be good with 2-4 more as adults?

Optimum conditions need to be met if spawning them as soon as possible is the target.

Well, I'm not really in any hurry. I'm perfectly happy to just let the little guys do their thing when they're ready, and I just wanna be ready to grab the eggs and see what happens. If I can facilitate the spawning by changing foods or changing temps during water changes or whatever, thats fine. I'm just not set up to do anything too elaborate. If I never get them to spawn, I'm perfectly happy to simply have a lucipinnis tank that occasionally has mbuna growing out with them. Just figure I might as well try to do something with them if I can.

How will you keep the synos from eating the mbuna fry. Synos are good at fry control.

'sup DJR. The mbuna fry/juvies will go in the 30g as a growout tank after they outgrow a 10g fry tank I have. I figure the mbuna will probably be over a half inch before going in with the synos. I thought that would be big enough to survive lucipinnis, where as I'm sure half inch mbuna are still tasty snacks for multipuncs. If thats still in the "syno food" range even for lucipinnis, I may have to change my plans.


Alright, pictures. Despite the fact that these little guys are CONTANTLY moving about, they're much easier to get pictures of than my mbuna, who can recognize the camera aparently and immediately go into the rocks when the camera is around. Here are a few shots best i can do:

Side shot:
http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/3669/side1e.jpg

Side shot:
http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/8413/side2j.jpg

Top Shot:
http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/1360/top1t.jpg

[Richard B]

Lucipinnis indeed

[andywoolloo]

very nice!