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Hey thanks! Yup, he's definitely a Chipokae, i looked thru all of the melanochromis files, and he fits the chipokae. Thanks for all the info!

These guys were in a species tank for one very simple reason. They wouldn't tolerate anything else in there!

Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Shimering purple... that's a tough descriptor.

I have one male to three females but aside from the typical East African cichlid squabbles I haven't noticed anything outrageous as to what you described. Does your friend keep them with other species or is it a species only tank? How often does he feed them?

I keep mine with Aristochromis christyi (a very dangerous predatory fish), some Ps. acei and they all get along... for now. The christyi are mbuna eaters so they're going to a friend shortly (thankfully they're not yet full grown - but what a mouth with opened - HUGE!). I feed the fish in that particular tank quite well as there are juvenile acei and juvenile christyi(4" as opposed to 12" fully grown) and keep a lot of filtration on the tank.

One of my fellow aquarist society members had these. To say that they were constantly bickering is, if anything, an understatement. They were like African versions of Festaes. Even as juveniles they were fractious, once they became adult, their tank was a constant fireworks display. And it's not as if they didn't have room: they had a 6ft aquarium to live in.

Are yours a shimmering purple by any chance? The females had bars on them a bit like Metriaclima zebra, but the males were a solid shimmering purple with a pearlescent sheen. Lovely fish, but not something I'd take on unless I was prepared to constantly intervene when the bickering turned into outright internecine warfare.

The male in this aquarium would engage in constant standoffs with just about anything that moved. Including its owner's face if he peered too closely at the front glass. It would immediately rush to the front of the glass to challenge visitors (including myself), and put on this amazing flaring fin display and gaping mouth as if to say "come on if you think you;'re hard enough"

The purple sheen became utterly radiant when he did this, by the way. A pity I didn't have a camera handy at the time, or I'd show you pics of this fish in action. Gorgeous to look at, but wow, what a volcanic temper that fish had.



Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

The only fishes I know of that have worse reputations are the Petrotilapia species (tridentiger is a lovely fish, but utterly vicious)

I keep a quartet of Petrotilapia sp. "Chitimba Bay" aka tridentiger and have not noticed them being "utterly vicious". Have you ever kept the species?

JazzyB:88)

Yeah, I opted for several fish in reasonable harmony, 1M, 4F in a 55g. And as much rock as I could safely fit

I stand by my original comment, "DEMON FISH"

I've got a photo of elongatus in my old Braz Walker pocket book from the 1970s. Even then, Braz Walker said, with masterful understatement:

Very aggressive; single pairs must be separated although several fish may work in reasonable harmony is enough cover is available, since bullying will not be excessively concentrated upon an individual.

The photo illustrates a fish which I believe to be a male. And it even looks as if it would be a genocidal despot if it were human.


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Yup, I was aware of that, their in there own species tank due to that reason....however, they only pair at breeding time they do not have a pair bond as some tang cichlids do....just in case anyone else was wondering

I'm still amused by the additional chatroom anecdotes about your psychotic Chipokae ... such as uprooting the plastic plants, letting them float for a couple of days, then piling rocks into the cups at the base to 'replant' them ... all signs of an intelligent creature doing its darndest to entertain itself in the absence of playmates to kill ... which sadly, is a real possibility even in a large aquarium with a reprobate species such as Chipokae. Trouble is, even providing him with a batch of females to mate with (assuming you could get some that were already a decent size without taking out a second mortgage) and putting them all in a brand new 12ft monster aquarium wouldn't guarantee that Darth/Attila/Vlad/Adolf (or whatever other evil despotic name best suits your male) wouldn't start behaving like Albert deSalvo or Charles Starkweather with your females.

You could always lease him out as a guard fish I suppose.

EDIT: almost forgot. Mr Cichlid, your elongatus are demons because they're unusual among Mbuna in one key respect. Mostly, male Mbuna of other species carve out for themselves a territory, and the females either adopt a smaller territory of their own within that of a male, or move around from male to male (in the wild of course). However, the psychotic elongatus pairs up CA cichlid style, and a male/female pair will fearlessly and ferociously defend their chosen patch against ALL comers. Even against other Mbuna twice or three times their size. They'll draw a line in the sand, so to speak, and make it very manifestly obvious that lethal force will be used against trespassers. I suspect that includes an aquarist's fingers when they're breeding



Last edited by Calilasseia at 10-Apr-2005 04:27

Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Haha, he doesn't have a pet name, sadly. I have found that when I name fish, they die. I should have known that my female convict was gonna kick off because I named her and her mate Suki and Jackson, after characters on Gilmore Girls (i figured, since suki on the show seems to be pregnant in real time, aka, All The Time, that it would be fitting)

I've wanted to name him, and my friends all Try to name him (but that's cause they're evil and want him to die so we can put "happy" fishes in the tank) Dontcha just love my friends??

I have the chipokae, known around the house as "My Fish", then there's "My betta", "Julie's Betta" (a rescue from an ex), "the jewel", "the convict, formerly known as jackson" and "Mom's goldfish"

I just Heart my chipokae cause he's really quite intelligent!

love the name choices

And I can absolutely reassure you the Elongatus are demons in a little Mbuna body...Mine now have their own tank as a result of their behaviour with ANY other tank mates.

Ah yes. Melanochromis chipokae.

A species that has earned considerable notoriety for its willingness to deal with crowding problems by exterminating the competition. The only fishes I know of that have worse reputations are the Petrotilapia species (tridentiger is a lovely fish, but utterly vicious) and the infamous Pseudotropheus elongatus, which I have not only seen described in a book as "having a lurid reputation as an aquarium terrorist" but which one Rift Lake keeper of my acquaintance described as "Satan with fins".

Your chipokae is a real character. You told me about how your kitten goes up to the glass as if to say "aw, cute fish, wonder if it will play with me?" while the chipokae glowers at it as if it's saying "kill ... kill ..."

This is about par for the course for chipokae. Even in a 6ft aquarium, where you'd think it had enough space, it'll prove to be an utterly possessed demon. If ever you do acquire a large Rift aquarium (and with this fellow, it had better be large too) and try integrating him with other Mbuna, make sure you pick equally bad tempered ruffians that can hold their own in a quarrel.And watch out for hyperdominance appearing too. Ideally, obtain species whose males differ considerably in appearance (such as the Petrotilapia species) and be prepared to intervene on a regular basis because even in a huge aquarium, internecine warfare is a distinct possibility.

Do you have a pet name for him? I'll bet it's one of Attila, Darth, Genghis, Vlad or Adolf


Last edited by Calilasseia at 30-Mar-2005 16:15

Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Does anyone have any information on these fishes? What I thought was an auratus, seems to actually be a Chipokae, a "serious criminal" of the fish community. Does anyone have any further information on them?

I say go to that site and flip through all the Melanochromis species, i bet you find it.......then you know what your dealing with..

I checked the link you sent me...my fish doesn't have that many stripes

He's in a 20 gallon tank currently...so there is no room for females

http://www.cichlid-forum.comprofiles/species.php?id=756

Another Melanochromis, their lines can appear purple.......

Reason he moves so much gravel, etc. is solitary cichlid sindrome...When kept by them selves out of being bored they do these sorts of things if you want to give him something to do get him 4-6 females.

Melanochromis is possibally the most aggressive Malawi Genus, the more females the better. Reason he's killing any tank mates is cause thier unwilling/unable to spawn with him. This is all he wants.

What size tank is he in?

He looked like an auratus when i bought him from an Assorted Cichlid bin at Walmart. However, I have recently discovered that Chipokae's look very very similar when they are young. He is around 5 inches long currently. From photos that i have Recently found online, he looks much more like a chipokae than an auratus...however until a few days ago I had not seen a chipokae before.

He is alone in the tank as he has systemically killed all of his mates as he grew bigger. He terrorized an algae eater on and off (chasing but not damaging) until one day he attacked it outright. I have had problems keeping the algae in the tank at bay...when i try to treat for it, my tank becomes infested with Hydra...my water quality skyrockets, but my fish starts becoming sluggish. Even after then treating for the hydra I have had to do Full Water changes and scrub all of the tank decor to get the little buggers gone.

From what i've seen in his behavior, if he could find a way thru the glass to actually Attack my 8 month old kitten, I'd have to put money on the fish to win. Which is another thing I was told...that an Auratus is territorial, but that a Chipookae is downright vicious and mean. I've seen this fish pick a crawfish up by the head and rip its legs off (tried to find a new tankmate for him...i had had one for 3 years and there wasn't a problem..not so lucky for the new guy)

I still have not found any photos of either an auratus or chipokae that has Purple where the silver is supposed to be tho...

Did it look like an auratus when you got it?
Might be a male Auratus as they do change color
Max Size: 5", feed him a good mix of flakes and a good cichlid pellet.
Is he by himself in the tank? or does he have mates?

Littlemouse...I believe that he is not infact an auratus because of his markings and overly aggressive attitude. Unlike the auratus, this fish does not retain the yellow coloration on his back, instead it is purple, like the racing stripe down his side...as well as his entire head. He is marked much more like the chipokae photos i have seen than any auratus i've ever encountered...