# Boulengerochromis microlepis



## B. Scott (Apr 24, 2003)

Hi All!!!

I just got a shipment in of these awesome Emperor Cichlids from Lake Tanganyika. They are largest growing cichlids recorded with a maximum size of nearly 4 feet TL!!!!

I'll post pics as soon as I can!!


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## Lahot (May 20, 2003)

here's a pic from another site until you get Bob to take pics...looks like an african p-bass to me


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## B. Scott (Apr 24, 2003)

Great! Thanks Steve!


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## 14_blast (Oct 6, 2003)

Lake Tanganyika is simply amazing, they have, arguably the largest cichlid in the world with the Boulengerochromis microlepis and the samllest cichlids with the shell dwellers.

awesome fish!!!!


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## piranha45 (Apr 8, 2003)

from what I hear though, they are quite territorial as compared to pbass, but yeah looks seem to be the same

how big are yours, scott?


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## B. Scott (Apr 24, 2003)

Not sure, they're still in bags. I think abou 5-6" TL though!


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## piranha45 (Apr 8, 2003)

they're still in bags 5 hours after u got them?


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## B. Scott (Apr 24, 2003)

Yup, I'm at work and they're in pure O2. They are not happy but warm and swimming!


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## acestro (Jul 7, 2003)

Awesome find, good luck with them.


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## B. Scott (Apr 24, 2003)

Thanks


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## crazyklown89 (Aug 28, 2003)

Huh with the name Emperor I was thinking they'd have CRAZY colors.....like blue red purple etc

They have a kind of turdy look to them


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## B. Scott (Apr 24, 2003)

crazyklown89 said:


> They have a kind of turdy look to them


 They are referred to as "emperors" due to their size and ability to rule the lake. Even over larger, more predatory fishes such as _Hydrocynus vitattus_ and others.


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## sweet lu (Oct 3, 2003)

a guy who lived down the street from me like to go fishing and caught a fish that was 3' and looked exactly like that. i mean just like that. he cooked it up and ate it.







he said it tasted nasty so he threw it back into the lake. i wonder if it is the same.









are they your fish Scott.


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## Kory (Jun 5, 2003)

sweet lu said:


> a guy who lived down the street from me like to go fishing and caught a fish that was 3' and looked exactly like that. i mean just like that. he cooked it up and ate it.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 I doubt thats what kind of fish it was unless you live in Africa lol


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## crazyklown89 (Aug 28, 2003)

No I know WHY theyre called the Emperor cichlid.......but I'm just saying that with a name like that I thought there would be another reason why the call it that......the most of obvious choice is size.....but often fish with royal names arent only big and aggressive but beautiful and have splendourus colors


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## piranha45 (Apr 8, 2003)

crazyklown89 said:


> No I know WHY theyre called the Emperor cichlid.......but I'm just saying that with a name like that I thought there would be another reason why the call it that......the most of obvious choice is size.....but often fish with royal names arent only big and aggressive but beautiful and have splendourus colors


the pic in this thread is a terrible-quality pic; the fish may damn well be "beautiful and have splendourus colors"

in any case its all in the eye of the beholder


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## crazyklown89 (Aug 28, 2003)

I dont think diaherrea brown with black stripes is considered beautiful by anyone

Besides I like the fish anyway it's personality is too much for me to pass it up sadly I've no room for it.









I just thought that it'd have crazy colors.....I knew it'd be aggressive and large as hell


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## piranha45 (Apr 8, 2003)

If I had one id proly think it was fuckin gorgeous
as i said the pic is poor quality anyways

Scott, is microlepis the biggest by both LENGTH AND WEIGHT, or just length? Think a big temensis or dovii might give the fish a run in the weight dept?


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## crazyklown89 (Aug 28, 2003)

I want to see a pic of a Beani and I'll have seen all the large cichlid species Emperor, Dovii, Umbii, now just beani and I think thats it


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## piranha45 (Apr 8, 2003)

beani isn't any bigger than an oscar, midas, red devil, green terror, motaguense, jaguar, etc. It only hits 12".


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## crazyklown89 (Aug 28, 2003)

ohh........damn I thought it got 24"!!

So whys it so aggressive didnt Cichlidmadness say that beanis have taken 500g tanks for themselves?? What was their tank mates? Guppies and bettas?


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## piranha45 (Apr 8, 2003)

crazyklown89 said:


> ohh........damn I thought it got 24"!!
> 
> So whys it so aggressive didnt Cichlidmadness say that beanis have taken 500g tanks for themselves?? What was their tank mates? Guppies and bettas?


mean-ness and destructive capability doesnt necessarily correlate with size

when it is said that a fish will 'take a 500g for itself', that means that the fish actively hunted down and destroyed its tankmates. In a 500g. Meaning, it takes enormous territories for itself.


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## crazyklown89 (Aug 28, 2003)

yeah but in a 500g that guys bound to have larger more aggressive fish

maybe this is like Judazzz's carnivorous tetra.....or was that Innes'?


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## piranha45 (Apr 8, 2003)

.... why do i bother


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## crazyklown89 (Aug 28, 2003)

hehehe I get what youre saying....oh well I suppose your right

lol like half this threads post was us arguing


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## 14_blast (Oct 6, 2003)

> crazyklown89 Posted on Dec 3 2003, 04:18 PM
> I dont think diaherrea brown with black stripes is considered beautiful by anyone
> 
> Besides I like the fish anyway it's personality is too much for me to pass it up sadly I've no room for it.
> ...


I'm looking at my bible right now, African Cichlids of Lakes Malawi and Tanganyika, and I have it turned to the page showing a Moulengerochromis microlepis...the pic looks better in the book than the scanned image.


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## crazyklown89 (Aug 28, 2003)

its still turd brown but now it looks like someone had blue slushies all day and crapped out the Emperor


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## sweet lu (Oct 3, 2003)

crazyklown89 said:


> its still turd brown but now it looks like someone had blue slushies all day and crapped out the Emperor


 like your avater









j/k :laugh:


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## 14_blast (Oct 6, 2003)

I believe the Discovery Channel had a show on Lake Tanganyika, I'm trying to find the dvd so I can order it, if it's available. There was a breeding pair of the above mentioned fish on the program as well as other fish. It was neat, the pair of Boulengerochromis microlepis were trying to protect the eggs/frys. As big as they were, they couldn't stop the turtles or the shoal of cichlids from eating the frys...they did save a few though.


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## ADAM a.k.a "fishdude" (Nov 17, 2003)

any pics of a fullgrown one?


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## 14_blast (Oct 6, 2003)

The first pic I believe is a full grown one.


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## B. Scott (Apr 24, 2003)

sweet lu said:


> are they your fish Scott.


 Yup, thanks!


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## B. Scott (Apr 24, 2003)

piranha45 said:


> Scott, is microlepis the biggest by both LENGTH AND WEIGHT, or just length? Think a big temensis or dovii might give the fish a run in the weight dept?


 They are the longest recored cichlid in the world @ 40" TL I believe. _Cichla temensis_ get heavier and probably just as long though IMO.

Emperors are much more aggressive in aquaria though.


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## 14_blast (Oct 6, 2003)

I stand corrected, the show I saw was not from the Discovery Channel. It was a PBS documentary on Lake Tanganyika, the Jewel of the Rift. I'm going to buy the dvd.


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## lophius (Mar 24, 2003)

They are not really 'turd brown',

They are actually silver with much yellow and blue colouration and look much better in the flesh than in that picture (which i believe was posted in an article on breeding the fish by a Swedish chap?).

I have 4 of them and they are incredibly aggressive (only to one another though), I am hoping that a move to a 10ft tank will give them some shoulder space !!!!

carl


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## Innes (Jan 13, 2003)

Nice find Brian


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## B. Scott (Apr 24, 2003)

Thanks man!!


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## Death in #'s (Apr 29, 2003)

dam those at 30" in a huge tank would look sweet 
nice pick up


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## Hareball (Jul 6, 2003)

brian has the fish here. they are pretty sweet, very active and hungry. they are shoaling like freakin piranha


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## Lahot (May 20, 2003)

then take some pics for us already Bob!


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## Hareball (Jul 6, 2003)

Lahot said:


> then take some pics for us already Bob!


 I am on my last disc for my camera









tell brian to get me to a store :rasp:


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## acestro (Jul 7, 2003)

That was an EXTREMELY cool video, I remember seeing it a while back myself.


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## acestro (Jul 7, 2003)

Okay it's been a while, what's up with the boulengerochromis???


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## piranha45 (Apr 8, 2003)

b scott probably won't get back to this board before this thread hits page 2


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## lemmywinks (Jan 25, 2004)

those guys look awesome


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## acestro (Jul 7, 2003)

piranha45 said:


> b scott probably won't get back to this board before this thread hits page 2


 It's about to hit page 3!


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## piranha45 (Apr 8, 2003)

SOMEONE was bored today


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## acestro (Jul 7, 2003)

Nah, just interested in how these fish fare in captivity!

Most of the threads are not really interesting to me lately







and I'm short on time. Therefore, I cut to the chase about what I'm interested in instead of explaining why snakeheads eating mice in aquaria isn't natural...







or dealing with other brainiac things....














Finally learned that I can't stop ignorance, cruelty to animals, or drug abuse on a fish website!

*moment of moral clarity over*

Back on topic... Anyone with personal experiences with this fish?


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## lemmywinks (Jan 25, 2004)

who can you get these trough? I wouldnt mind getting one if they do ok in captivity


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## piranha45 (Apr 8, 2003)

i dont think theyre available. Thats why they are rarely if ever brought up. They arent in the hobby.


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## lemmywinks (Jan 25, 2004)

ok


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## DiXoN (Jan 31, 2003)

nice fish brian.
you guys in the states get stuffed for cichlids in the UK you can almost anything you want its very strange.
i had 2 of these and i think they are still at a friends i paid £3 for one and i cant remember how much the other was.
dixon


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## piranha45 (Apr 8, 2003)

holy crap


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## acestro (Jul 7, 2003)

DiXoN said:


> nice fish brian.
> you guys in the states get stuffed for cichlids in the UK you can almost anything you want its very strange.
> i had 2 of these and i think they are still at a friends i paid £3 for one and i cant remember how much the other was.
> dixon


 That's amazing. How do they compare with other cichilds as far as maintenance, aggression, etc...?


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## crazyklown89 (Aug 28, 2003)

Lol I just re-read this thread. I'm also very interested in these fish....man I sounded like a douche couple months back....sweet lu-esque.

"turd brown"







but alas....I am too immature.









My fault, I didnt really like cichlids but now theyve grown on me and those truly are some beautiful fish.

/end apology

So wheres the update on the fish, Brian??? Don't keep us all in suspense.


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## DiXoN (Jan 31, 2003)

acestro said:


> DiXoN said:
> 
> 
> > nice fish brian.
> ...


 they were fine as far as cichlids go and quite easy to keep the female was about 6'' with not much colour and the male was smaller and they lived in a mixed african tank with quite a few africans of varying sizes.
maintenance was never an issue due to the size they were and aggression was also ok there was more aggressive africans in that tank but they never bother the larger fish.
the other larger cichlids were a breeding pair of alhi that had fallen out and could not stand each other and a zebra that ended up in my pygo tank after it went nuts and killed a few fish.
we were planning on setting up a breeding tank with these when we could get a spare larger tank for them and then i left the breeding project and left all my cichlids and some equiptment with them and have not been back since (@ 4 months)
they may have sold them all or still have them i dont know.
dixon


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## acestro (Jul 7, 2003)

crazyklown89 said:


> Lol I just re-read this thread. I'm also very interested in these fish....man I sounded like a douche couple months back....sweet lu-esque.
> 
> "turd brown"
> 
> ...


 That is hilarious







Not a lot of us have had the chance to see at what point we actually grew up, kinda neat!

Thanks for the info Dixon, still curious about the elusive BScott's situation!


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## DiXoN (Jan 31, 2003)

funny i start to talk about this and the person i mentioned above who i left the fish with called me today.
i asked and he still has all the fish at the moment but is getting out the hobby and selling his own stock of around 50 cichlids.
strange but i can get some of my stuff back if i want and maybe give you an update on the these fish.
dixon


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## Peacock (Feb 23, 2004)

they act just like Cichla.. except the males will kill other males..

once they pair you cannot keep other fish in the same tank.


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