picture of our 55 gallon Hemochromis lilafi tank

 ~ 55 Gallon Hemichromis Lilafi Tank ~

Size (US Gallons): 55
Material: all glass
Lighting: two 20 watt fluorescent bulbs
Filtration: one Aquaclear 500 power filter with 2 sponges, one submsersible powerhead with 2 sponges (for water movement)
Substrate: 1" of pool filter sand
Plants: giant balls of java moss, a bit of java fern
Fish: 7 Hemichromis lilafi juveniles, 3 Arulius barbs
Maintenance: 50% water changes once a month or two (should be more).  Filter media is rinsed in a bucket of old tank water, which is then used to water house plants.  Gravel is vacuumed.

Notes:

January 21, 2001

Ever since I first looked through Volume 1 of the Baench Atlas, I have longed for Hemichromis lilafi.  The fish in the photo seemed even more beautiful than their name - Jewel Cichlid - implied.  Years later, at a fish auction, I picked up a bag of these jewels.  Raising them was non-trivial.  They fought violently with each other from the time they were 1" long, and we had to separate them with a plastic divider.  They also plucked an eye out of a corydoras catfish who was living with them, and plucked both eyes out of an ancistrus!  As soon as we realized this was happening, we removed all other fish from the tank, but the damage had already been done.  I never knew eyes were so delicious, but these little meanies were not to be trusted!

As luck would haved it, we siezed the chance to purchase a used 55 gallon tank with an iron stand in 1999.  Our trusty comets got the job of cycling the tank, and spent several months upstairs with us.  There is something sweet about eating dinner in the company of goldfish.  Eventually, we decided to try moving our Geophagus braziliensis upstairs to this showy location near the dining room table (we have a love affair with Geophagus as well).  This didn't work out - the Geophagus were aggressive toward each other in pairs and overcrowded the tank en masse.  They were moved back to their 100 gallon tank.  By then, the H. lilafi were large enough that we decided to try them upstairs.  We added several Arulius barbs as "dither fish" - to diffuse the tension and keep the cichlids from fighting with each other.  It worked!

The barbs are extremely active and jumpy.  They are very fast, and I'm sure they'd appreciate being in a larger tank.  They do seem to scare the lilafi to the point where they don't dominate the tank and don't attach each other.  We would eventually like to add some plants, but the giant ball of java moss provides many nice hiding places and works well.

The fish are all fed tetra bits and flake food.  They occasionally get frozen or freeze-tried bloodworms.

Here are some photos of the fish.  Click on any photo for a larger view.  These pictures were taken in the fall of 2000:
 
2 arulius barbs
Two Arulius barbs
one Hemichromis lilafi, facing downward
Hemichromis lilafi
2 arulius barbs - close up of tail
Arulis barb - nice tail!

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!