tyrrell’s Dimidiochromis Compressiceps Malawi species tank

Now that I’m getting back into the hobby and am finally making headway on my fishroom / mancave, I thought I’d share one of my new aquatic ventures with you all on the forum… D. Compressiceps is probably my favourite FW “normal†fish (I generally like catfish and other oddballs) so rather than set up a mixed Malawi tank I’ve decided on attempting a species tank. Having had a pair of juveniles for a while, which are clearly maturing into a male and female, this only reinforced my thinking. I recently purchased a further two juvenile females, well after much examination at the LFS what I’d hoped were two females as it’s difficult to tell at that size, but my existing pair harassed the one to death overnight while accepting the other quite readily.

So that’s 3 in total (so far) plus the subadult Synodontis Nigrita that’s in their new home, and here it is…

1200mm x 450mm x 450mm
Crushed coral base substrate capped with PFS
300w heater maintaining 28 deg C
Sunsun HW-304B 2000LpH canister filter (biochemical floss and ceramic rings)
Odyssea Dual Pro T5 lighting
pH about 7.8
Water moderately hard
Vallisneria
Rocks that I raided from my parents' garden

 

From doing my homework on the compressiceps I’ve tried to recreate their ideal environment as best as possible given the space allowed, hence the low rock structure with caves, deep sandy substrate, open swimming space and vallisneria. If anyone has any suggestions that may improve this further please post them. I’m planning on introducing a further 2 females in the near future. Given the potential size of these fish, barring a catastrophic failure of the tank, it will always remain a species tank for them. And should they breed way down the line, I have multiple tanks in which to house the fry.

 

Now here’s a question that seems to be a rather contentious one from what I’ve read online… Once the tank has matured and algae growth becomes an issue, what are members thoughts on placing a bristlenose in here given the parameters? If pH is the main point of concern, would dropping this to about 7.2 - 7.4 be suitable for the addition of a bristlenose / pleco or would this new pH level now be detrimental to the compressiceps? As this is my first Malawi setup this is the first time I’m having to deal with this issue, so any advice would be appreciated.

 

BEAUTIFUL FISH, love the one i have. let me know how it goes with breeding.

nice looking tank to

 

yeah they are beauts hey RobZombie, and thanks!

 

Awsome thats the way to do a species tank i just love these guys

 

Very nice!

 

Hi I also have a Malawi setup and when I enquired about the bristlenose catfish I got told at my local suppier to stay away from having bristlenose with the malawis or any other Cichlids.They will kill them.Maybe there is someone out there that can advise us.I realy want to get some bristlenose myself to try and breed them.

 

@tyrrell- just one thing. 28 degrees is right at the upper limit for Compressisceps as far as I know... perhaps keeping them at around 26 degrees would build in a slightly safer margin for error?

 

Thanks all!

@blueskipjack yeah I've read about many cases of the fish doing well together and in a Malawi tank, and then I've read many instances of people being anti it claiming it's a slow death for the pleco. so any advice here would be appreciated guys

@Boomslang thanks for the heads up, will adjust temp when i get home tonight and do some more hoomework on this.

Please keep any and all suggestions or thoughts coming guys as I want to get this right

 

Nice rocks. Have they been shaped or are they naturally weathered?

 

yeah they're great hey @MarcHawke. 100% natural as they are. I'd been eyeing them out in my parents' garden for years whenever I went to visit, and had been thinking that as soon as I got some tanks going again I'd whip them, so here they are. 6 stacked in total. I've been told it's monkey rock, but not sure. have a few more that are going into my other tanks over the next few weeks (this Malawi tank is on a 2.5m long 3 tiered stand)

 

Very cool. I have been looking for something like that for a little while now. Not as hard/harsh on the eyes as Dragon Rock.

 

Added 2 more females this week, so now that's 1 male and 4 females and the tank is complete. I'd originally read that it's best to add several females so that the male's aggession can be spread amongst them rather than on a single female, but my male is the most timid fish of the lot, only ever coming out of his cave to eat and to occasionally assert himself. Anyone else notice that these fish aren't the bullys they're made out to be?

It's my original female that's the aggro one in the tank... the black stripe on her sides turned yellow and she wouldn't stop chasing the other females when I added the 2 new ones this week. Was quite hectic watching her flare her fins and gill covers and swim circles around the others. After two days she's settled down, but still "runs" the tank.

 

post some more pics please

 

will take some tonight @thysie and post tomorrow, just been letting the new fish settle a while before turning the lights back on etc.

 

This is basically the only shot I've been able to take relatively colse up that contains all 5 fish. You can see what I mean about the male being the most timid of the lot, as he just sits in his cave and occasionally pokes his head out. I'm wondering about the sex of the one "female" at the top though as it's got a very faint blue sheen, even though it's much larger than my confirmed male was when he started colouring up properly (may be the one actinic bulb though)


This is the aggro female that I have. Most of her time is spent dominating the other females


Finally the male decided to come out, although briefly

 

nice rocks and fish

 

Hi all, here's a quick update on this tank...

All 5 D. Compressiceps doing well. All but one have taken on the blue colouration, so now I'm wondering if I'm stuck with 4 males and 1 female!? Although they don't get that aggro with each other, they do occasionally square off with a bit of a dance, gills and fins flared. All fish over 12cm now, some larger than others.

The vallis didn't last too long with these guys but going to put some more in this weekend.

 

Eish, while feeding my other tanks just now I heard some major splashing coming from this tank, so had a look and saw two of the fish in a lip lock spinning around. Anyone have any experience in the best way to deal with this, or is it time to look for a new home for one (or a few) of them?