Leleupis are among the most colorful Tangyanikans available in the hobby. Got a group of 6 from one of the fellow hobbyist and were about 2.5" in size. They were yellow leleupis with a shade of Orange. I gave them a 6' foot tank all for themselves with lots of hiding places using pile of stones as well as small clay pots. They were 2M and 4F. One of the male was very dominant and obviously the alpha male. Fed them regularly with Hikari Excel (with small amount of Hikar Bio Gold mixed) and occasionally gave them frozen bloodworms.
Soon, there was a pair formed and they spawned in one of the pots. After about more than week, saw very small fries one top of the pot. Soon got a packet of Hikari First Bytes and started feeding them. They were all fine for next few days until I noticed that their numbers was reducing slowly. With in a week, most of them were gone. I was not sure if they were eaten away by other leleupis in the tank. The same thing repeated the next time the pair spawned.
I had heard that leleupis form a strong pair and continue to stay and spawn together. This was not true in this case. I intended to leave the breeding pair in the tank and remove the other leleupis. While I was doing that, realized that the same male had bred with another female at the opposite end of the tank. This was probably the reason the frys were not surviving beyond few weeks.
After I moved the remaining leleupis to another tank, I had several successful spawns of Leleupis. They accepted Hikari First bytes for the first 2 weeks and later they survived on crushed pellets. The Ph of the tank was about 7.4 and did a 40-50% water change every 2 weeks.
Soon, there was a pair formed and they spawned in one of the pots. After about more than week, saw very small fries one top of the pot. Soon got a packet of Hikari First Bytes and started feeding them. They were all fine for next few days until I noticed that their numbers was reducing slowly. With in a week, most of them were gone. I was not sure if they were eaten away by other leleupis in the tank. The same thing repeated the next time the pair spawned.
I had heard that leleupis form a strong pair and continue to stay and spawn together. This was not true in this case. I intended to leave the breeding pair in the tank and remove the other leleupis. While I was doing that, realized that the same male had bred with another female at the opposite end of the tank. This was probably the reason the frys were not surviving beyond few weeks.
After I moved the remaining leleupis to another tank, I had several successful spawns of Leleupis. They accepted Hikari First bytes for the first 2 weeks and later they survived on crushed pellets. The Ph of the tank was about 7.4 and did a 40-50% water change every 2 weeks.
