~ The Julidochromis transcriptus Tank ~

Size (US Gallons): 18 (20 gallon "long")
Material: all glass
Lighting: one 20 Watt fluorescent bulb
Filtration: one Aquaclear 150 with 2 sponges, one Whisper 2 Triad
Substrate: medium-fine grain quartz aquarium gravel, dolomite, crushed coral
Plants: clouds of java moss (for cover - doesn't grow well in this tank)
Fish: a few Julidochromis transcriptus, one lone female Pseudotropheus greshaki
Maintenance: 20% water changes every month or so, with SeaChem Malawi buffer added to increase the pH and hardness. I do not do large water changes on Julies because I think they are more sensitive than most fish. I lose 4 once after a 50% water change. The filter media is rinsed in a bucket of old tank water, and the replacement water is dribbled in slowly from a bucket with a valve, which is located above the tank.

Notes:

January 21, 2001

These are great fish - one of our favorites. They spend most of their time hovering around the surfaces of rocks. The little ones tend to stick to the rocks like glue, spending considerable amounts of time hovering upside down against the underside of a rock. The young squeeze into cracks in rocks to avoid voracious malawi cichlids, which they share the tank with.

We have had several groups of fry born to our original two fish. I David Banks said that they have green eggs, but I have never seen any eggs myself, since they lay eggs in crevices. We gave most of these away to the TFCB and to friends. Then, a few fish jumped out, leaving me with only two adults. They haven't bred in months, and I suspect that they may be the same gender. I'm keeping an eye out for another group of julies. The tank is now very well covered.

Here are some photos of our fish. I hope to add to this soon - it's tricky focusing on fish so small. I need a stronger light source too. Click on any photo for a larger view. These pictures were taken in the fall of 2000:

Julie hiding in rocks
(red speck is a tetra bit) Another Julie hiding in a crevice

These photos were all taken with our Nikon Cookpix 990 digital camera (scaled down and compressed for the web). Feel free to write to me for more information or with any comments. Please do not copy or use these photos without contacting me for permission first. Thanks!