Teleogramma brichardi

Over 30 years.......and I have not seen Teleogramma brichardi for sale in any shops I've been in.

Until today.

So.... I got myself a couple of these beauties (I say a couple as opposed to a pair....time will tell).

I got one odd successful spawning of these fish once in the past.

Has anyone else ever kept these?

These are not malawi or tanganyikan, btw, they are REAL african cichlids. (oooooo....hope that doesn't upset the Malawi fans) .

So, a thumbs up to the LFS brave enough to stock these guys (they are not cheap, and don't send out neon-lights to tempt people....apart from sad olde people like me).


ian

hi ian never heard of them till now just had a look at them look great nice colours are they agressive ,do they mix well .ciaran

ciaranm wrote:

hi ian never heard of them till now just had a look at them look great nice colours are they agressive ,do they mix well .ciaran

Ciaran..... you could call them a dwarf or small cichlids; the colours are drab (but a superbly nice drab....and there is sometimes a super blue edge to the fins); for a fish that can hardly swim (they sort of hop more than swim) they can move fast and and are aggressive; and when adult (especially when breeding) they will not mix with any other cichlid but they can mix with some other fish when not breeding (the mixer fish need to be robust fish that don't really intrude in their territory).


ian

igmillichip wrote:

Has anyone else ever kept these?

These are not malawi or tanganyikan, btw, they are REAL african cichlids. (oooooo....hope that doesn't upset the Malawi fans) .


ian

wow, nice find ian.
i have never kept these although i have seen them available (very rarely). mary bailey of bca fame was a huge fan of these and anton lamboj who lectured at the itfs show is an authority on them. they are primitive riverine lamprologines distanly related to the lake lamrologus (i think) they have a reduced swim bladder and are known above all for their agression esp. to conspecifics. they like soft water with a good flow and could be housed with the bigger but less agressive blockheads or maybe kribs and congo tetras. if housed alone a pair should form to the exclusion of all others. their shape is a bit eel like and the colours are subdued.
they are a fish best kept by very experienced fishkeepers and specialists and best avoided by single tank owners and/or novices.
this is from memory ian and i hope you agree with my assessment, if not i'll have to google and edit.

derek wrote:

igmillichip wrote:

Has anyone else ever kept these?

These are not malawi or tanganyikan, btw, they are REAL african cichlids. (oooooo....hope that doesn't upset the Malawi fans) .


ian

wow, nice find ian.
i have never kept these although i have seen them available (very rarely). mary bailey of bca fame was a huge fan of these and anton lamboj who lectured at the itfs show is an authority on them. they are primitive riverine lamprologines distanly related to the lake lamrologus (i think) they have a reduced swim bladder and are known above all for their agression esp. to conspecifics. they like soft water with a good flow and could be housed with the bigger but less agressive blockheads or maybe kribs and congo tetras. if housed alone a pair should form to the exclusion of all others. their shape is a bit eel like and the colours are subdued.
they are a fish best kept by very experienced fishkeepers and specialists and best avoided by single tank owners and/or novices.
this is from memory ian and i hope you agree with my assessment, if not i'll have to google and edit.

You should be the very person to give these a try Derek. A good challenge to breed.

I'd probably be careful with adding Steatocranus, but I have S. tinanti and S.casuarius here....so I may give this an experiment with a careful arrangement of decor.
Kribs may actually do OK....so long as a krib doesn't suddenly try to be hard.
Congo Tetras....perfect, and some african barbs will do. Small specimens of African Knife Fish would be fine with larger Teleogramma brichardi (small ones may get eaten accidently at night).
Fish need to be able cope with the higher than normal temp (upper 20s) and cope with a torrent of soft acidic water (although you could get away with lowered temperatures for safety).

And, yes, these are for experienced keepers who are prepared to give a spices-only tank. Great challenge.

ian

great to pick up some more info on yet another spieces glad you got them because reading from both yourself and derek in the wrong hands they could be alot of trouble good look with your little project .ciaran

ciaranm wrote:

great to pick up some more info on yet another spieces glad you got them because reading from both yourself and derek in the wrong hands they could be alot of trouble good look with your little project .ciaran

If....and I say 'If'....there is any success in getting these to breed (less than 1% chance perhaps) then there might be enough irish-bred fish to go the way of interested people.

ian

I have 6 left if anyone wants to give them a go.As Ian says they aren't for the novice.We were having a conversation about two totally different fish today before I realised my brain was in neutral.

Gavin wrote:

I have 6 left if anyone wants to give them a go.As Ian says they aren't for the novice.We were having a conversation about two totally different fish today before I realised my brain was in neutral.

mmm. i'm sure ian knew what they were gavin. what was your guess.

Gavin wrote:

I have 6 left if anyone wants to give them a go.As Ian says they aren't for the novice.We were having a conversation about two totally different fish today before I realised my brain was in neutral.

I certainly got worried today in thinking that maybe my brain had gone into melt-down.
Justine would love to think that she can dominate my brain.....but she's got a few left for that to happen.

Anyways, I gave a thumbs-up to the LFS stocking these guys....but didn't advertise which....so now we all know where I got 'em.
They are still in the process of a trickle water change in a black box, so I'll have a good look tomorrow.

Cheers for stocking these guys Gav.

ian

igmillichip wrote:

ciaranm wrote:

great to pick up some more info on yet another spieces glad you got them because reading from both yourself and derek in the wrong hands they could be alot of trouble good look with your little project .ciaran

If....and I say 'If'....there is any success in getting these to breed (less than 1% chance perhaps) then there might be enough irish-bred fish to go the way of interested people.

ian

i% is optimistic ian, if you have more than one still alive (not counting multiple tanks) in six weeks you will get my congradulations.
still if anyone can do it, its probably yourself.
good luck.

@ciaran. you'r not tempted to give them a go, are you.

derek wrote:

Gavin wrote:

I have 6 left if anyone wants to give them a go.As Ian says they aren't for the novice.We were having a conversation about two totally different fish today before I realised my brain was in neutral.

mmm. i'm sure ian knew what they were gavin. what was your guess.

I knew what they were after all I ordered them.. It was more a case i was having a blonde moment.the right name was printed on the tank but when we went to look them up on the internet I was calling them tellmatochromis brichardi(which we have too!).telleogramma brichardi is what they are..easy brain fart to have.I've way too much latin in my head.anyways..millichip was having none of it and he was right!!!cool guy with wayyyy tooo much latin in his head!!we got there in the end.
moral:dont muck with ian!

no derek i have enough to keep me goin for now but its great to see fish keeping at a higher level i always enjoy topics with so much to be learned .and even more so when the experience is behind the topic cant wait to see how ian gets on as was said if it can be done it will good luck

Any update on these Ian? I've been looking at them today,and this thread was second in google!