Pundamilia nyererei (Ruti Island)


Picture is not mine. Link to picture I found. All credit goes twards.
http://www.cichlidexplorer.com/pundamilia-nyererei/


The Pundamilia nyererei (Ruti Island) is one of the many Victorians that I keep and breed. In my opinion they are one of the more colorful cichlids. The males have a very bright orange, yellow, and black color with a nice blue tint in some areas. My wife calls it the Indian fish because of all the vibrant colors and markings. The females like most Victorians are a bland color and are usually smaller then the males. These like most Victorians and Pundamillia do not get to large and can be housed in smaller aquariums. I usually grow the fry out in a 20 gallon aquarium until they start to breed (around 1.5”) then I know they are ready for a bigger tank or a new home.

I house a group of 8, four males and four females in a 40 gallon tall. They are very active and spawn quite often. I feed them once a day spirulina flake that I get from Kensfish.com. The feeding is not light but definitely not heavy. Feeding is more or less a feeding frenzy as some of the Ruti Island will actually lunge a half inch or so out of the water to try and be first to get the treats. I have a few clay pots for breeding, a few fake plants for the females and the sub dominate males to go hide around. I use pool filter sand for substrate as I do in most of all my tanks. On this set up my filtration is very simple as I run two #4 sponge filters on the tank while changing the water 30-40% once a week.

I purchased these at an HCCC auction in 2010. At that time they were only ¾ of an inch. At that time only one of the males was barley showing any color. Now they are getting almost adult size and are breeding every other month or even faster.

I have only been breeding for about 4 to 5 years and one thing I have learned is it’s not always bad to have extra males. The males seem to play and chase with each other a bunch and less aggression towards the females. In the past I kept a bunch of females and one or two males. Males seem to harass the females unless you give them something else to play with. In addition to that it gives the females more males to choose from. The eight that I own show no “killer” aggression just chasing and playing.

I am proud to say that this is the first species that was introduced in to a new program that USA Fishbox has called C.A.S.T. I have also put up a group of six in the HCCC B.A.P. If anyone would like to house and maintain this beautiful Victorian they are up for the taking. This is one of the many great Victorian species that we as hobbyist need to make room for in our aquariums. This species is at risk, with a potential for extinction. Conservation and support for this species is a must.


Kory Watkins

Nice article. There isn't a lot of good info about these guys that i've been able to find. I'm glad I was able to get some of these guys from you.

Nice Article this is one of my favorite Vics.

These are one of the few I want to start breeding. They look awesome and thank you for the article.

I can save some for you Ben. Get youself a "CAST" tank ready

With the petco sale coming that shouldn't be a problem at all lol.

i love these ruti islands i have, they are just now starting to color up. alot of blue in the top fin

I have a question that someone may be able to answer , do these fish prefer a strong current in the tank or weak or do they not care either way at all. I know they live in rocks so that will dampen the current and I have a bunch of rocks to place in there and I am sure they will be sitting in them all day but still kinda curious on how I should set up there tank since I am getting some.