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As some of you may know I got a pair of nanochromis transvestitus last weekend. I just would like to say that I love these little guys! Haha I know I have posted about them before but now that mine are finally warming up to me, the tank, and each other they are soo fun to watch! I believe the two have formed a pair bond- they follow each other all over the tank, display to each other and share a territory. So far they seem like a hardy, not particularly aggressive fish thatminds its own buisness and eats very well. One of my favorite things to watch them do is move the eco complete. I see them in the rocks spitting a bunch of little gravel peices all over the place and forming a little pile. And the end result is a little hole in the substrate. They jsut work so strenuously I love it. If they do ever decide to become parents I think these two will do a great job. And I think it may be soon the way these two are acting. The main point of this post is just for me to let everyone know my feelings on this little fish. I also would like to know if anyone else has had any experience keeping/ breeding them.

I also have some new pics form today to share.

First a picture of thier little territory they guard. It is on the right side(unfinished side) of the tank in a little crevace between two rocks. They also stay mainly around the two java ferns in thier "front lawn". It is really cool to watch then work on thier home and guard it together. I circles it in the pic! Enjoy!

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Territory

They dont always stay in thier territory. They do go out for little outings to see the rest of thier home every now and then, also to find some food I suppose. Here is a pic of the female on the driftwood.

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Female

Next, we have the male gaurding the rock in thier territory. He is pretty good at it. The only fish he doesnt try to drive out of there is the larger bolivian ram. But I guess he is just a big weenie cause I gives up pretty fast if a fish doesnt get out. Here he is in all his glory.

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Male

As I said earlier they are quite the little earth diggers. I wasnt able to catch the female actually moving the earth but intead infront of one of her little holes in from of thier rock. I dont know if you can tell but it is a good pic none the less.

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Digging hole

The female is very pretty with her stripes. That is how they get thier name transvestitus- usually in cichlid pairs the male is the more colorful, well in these guys case the female is more colorful. Here is the female showing her stripes.

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Stripes

The male does have a little red to him, only unlike the female his red is in his tail. The pic is a tad fuzzy but you can see his nice red color.

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Red

And finally, the last picture. The pair in thier java fern. They love this fern and spend alot of thier day finding food in it and playing around it. It is right beside the rock they call home. Here is the pair -female in focus.

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pair in java fern