N. buescheri

[polarpuffs]

Introducing my N. buescheri duo which I just bought from NKS this afternoon. I was actually planning to get some N. similis when I chanced upon this duo in a separate tank of its own. I read that they are highly aggressive towards their own kind but there is minimal aggression between this duo. Below are some pictures of the duo. I added some zebra danios so act as dither fish because I read that even a pair can be quarrelsome at times. I am really hoping and suspecting that this is a pair as they are always swimming together and at times even nudging each other gently. Within 30min of putting transferring them into my tank, the bigger darker fish (suspected male) is already busy digging sand from underneath the slate, with the lighter coloured fish looking on. Really keeping my fingers crossed!

[foreverfrontosa]

The buescheris are pretty tempting

[polarpuffs]

Originally Posted by foreverfrontosa

The buescheris are pretty tempting

Haha..yea...it was totally impulse buying for mi. Was wondering if any bro out there who haf experience breeding these tangans, tell mi if I haf a pair?

[TaNgS_RuLe]

I have a pair of Neo buescheri kamakonde, they breed every few weeks, but spawn size is very small (3-5 based on my observation), and unless I remove the fry, the older batches prey on their younger siblings.

The setup is simple, with a stack of granite slates, the male is much bigger than the female which seems to have stopped growing, and there is aggression from the male, but the female always finds somewhere safe to hide, and will only emerge during feeding time.

Therefore, it is hard to say whether or not that is a pair, I guess only time will tell. Give them some time to settle down and try to have more rocks in case the male shows too much aggression. For my pair, I initially started with 4 of them, but they paired up and killed off the other 2.

All the best with keeping them, they are one of the rarer and underrated neolamps.

[polarpuffs]

Originally Posted by TaNgS_RuLe

I have a pair of Neo buescheri kamakonde, they breed every few weeks, but spawn size is very small (3-5 based on my observation), and unless I remove the fry, the older batches prey on their younger siblings.

The setup is simple, with a stack of granite slates, the male is much bigger than the female which seems to have stopped growing, and there is aggression from the male, but the female always finds somewhere safe to hide, and will only emerge during feeding time.

Therefore, it is hard to say whether or not that is a pair, I guess only time will tell. Give them some time to settle down and try to have more rocks in case the male shows too much aggression. For my pair, I initially started with 4 of them, but they paired up and killed off the other 2.

All the best with keeping them, they are one of the rarer and underrated neolamps.

Thanks bro tangs_rule...really very informative. I guess you are right to give the duo some time. This pair is actually still very young (about 5cm). Anyway how big did your pair grew up to? What kind of diet did u gif them? My pair is still spitting out all the fish food im feeding them...

[TaNgS_RuLe]

My pair is also small, I believe my male is about 6-7cm while my female is about 5cm. Do note that they have not grown much in the past few years. I feed them only nls 1mm pellets (cichlid and thera A). Spitting shows that they are interested in food, just that they are not used to it.

What are you feeding them? As long as they do not get too skinny, I suggest you continue to try to convert them to your current food. If they have not eaten for some time, you might want to try frozen food like mysis or blood worms. I use this for my fussier new fish.

[polarpuffs]

Im still trying to convert them by feeding them hikari tropical micropellets. My julie and n. Helianthus pair are crazy over this pellets but just not the fussy buescheri pair. Shall keep trying for few more days if not have to resort the frozen bloodworm. Not very keen cos the water gets polluted easily and I felt that bloodworm shld not be a staple. Well, the pair is currently foraging together for food and sifting sand much like a sand sifter...lol. Totally love their gentle behaviour towards each other and yet their lightning quick chase after my dither fish. One question: Is the darkness of their colour an indication of the sex? One of them is always lightly coloured while the other one can be totally jet black at times.

[TaNgS_RuLe]

The active sifting shows that they are healthy, so just be more patient with converting them to pellets.

I do notice that my male is always dark and my female is lighter, but I believe this is probably mood related or a way of showing dominance and submission rather than a way to sex.

[amiidae]

I was tempted too.

In fact, I was tempted to bring a wild male fm HK earlier. Hows are they doing now ?

[polarpuffs]

Both fish are digging vigorously under the slates and rocks now. And they would sometimes nudge each other before flaring and then carrying on their digging routine and sand sifting. Actually my fish are onli about 4cm (Not sure whether fish this size would actually be pairing up?). The lighter buescheri seems to start accepting my hikari pellets and getting less skinny but the darker skinnier one still does a lot of munching before spitting out. Not sure whether got eat or not. Well at least both of them are quite enthu during feeding time, darting to the surface to grab the pellets. Does females tend to be rounder than males?