Azedenkae's Rheoheros lentiginosus Aquarium, Part 2: Maturation and Growth Progress

Just a last video. Here we see the Camax swimming with the african cichlids, while a Tengo hide away in the background.

Yesterday someone was giving away tricolor platies, and I got them to add to this aquarium. Five in total. That, and a yellow guppy. Given the drastic changes in direction for this setup, I will end the progress report here.

There has yet to be significant changes to the R. lentiginosus anyways, and this is also an interesting opportunity to examine their behavior in a more 'typical aquarium', i.e. one where someone will mix a lot of different fish together anyways, versus a species-only aquarium.

Should the aquarium transition back into something that is species-specific, biotope-specific, or similar, then the progress report may recommence.

Continuation thread is here.

Up until now, the Tengos have stayed predominantly within the wood hovels in the two corners. The Camaxes have always been more out and about. Part of this I could tell is because the Tengos tend to chase the Camax away from where they are hiding, but certainly the Tengos seem to be far more shy compared to the Camax. Any time I approached the aquarium, the Tengos tended to hide away.

Today, most of the african cichlids are still out and about, but one of them has taken up residence in the hovel in the front right corner, and the Tengo that was normally there has been displaced. As far as I can tell, this was not due to aggression - I have not witnessed the african cichlids chasing the R. lentiginosus. More than likely, the Tengos are simply afraid by nature and even after having to enter open space, try to hide underneath the heater, behind rocks, and so on.

The Camaxes however have no problems with the african cichlids, and even sometimes 'shoal' with them, using the terminology loosely of course.

Hard to take pictures or videos of these behaviors, but I do hope to have something visual to present soon.

I do wonder about the differences in personality between the Camaxes and Tengos then. None of them are wild-caught, to be clear. The Tengos are F1 (of wild-caught parents), however. I wonder if the differences in personality is due to their size, specific strain, differences between collection localities, or generation post-capture. At this point, I have not found any evidence to suggest the differences in behavior is likely due to any one or combination of these variations.

I transferred the african cichlids from the other aquarium to this one over earlier today. It seems to have a positive impact in bringing the R. lentiginosus out more… so that’s a good thing, potentially. So far it did not seem like it was because the R. lentiginosus were displaced by the african cichlids, but rather simply that they are feeling more comfortable venturing out.

The fish are still going well, however there are updates for the future that will change the intended trajectory of this project.

I have another aquarium with a convict cichlid (Amatitlania nigrofasciata) and a few other cichlids. Given the convict cichlid has now matured, it needs a mate, and that also means the other cichlids have to be moved - specifically, into the same setup as the R. lentiginosus. This setup will therefore be converted from being mono-species to being a mixed african/american setup, plus a single clown loach. This will take place within the next few days, depending on when the mate for my convict cichlid arrives.

I will also be most likely moving houses within two months, and so the setup will be moved over. But it is also then a good chance to see whether my transfer methods work to keep everything alive and safe.

So far there has been no significant changes in behaviours of the R. lentiginosus. The Camax are still active and tend to be out and about, asserting dominance over each other. The Tengos are still shy and hide most of the time.

The Camaxes have grown quite a bit, pushing past 2" now from being around 1.5" or less.