Fish Questions

I know alot of yall breed fish for a living but I would like to breed some just for fun so what time should I breed this is the fish I like and thought about breeding. Lethrinops Intermedius Any takes on that fish ?
and what breeds is everyone breeding?

I have had sucess with Yellow Labs, Yellow Belly Alberts, Lemon Jakes, Jacobferbigi Otter Points, Stuartgranti Mall. Island Peacocks, Jaguars, and Hond. Convicts. Im looking to start on some other ones as we speak. What size tank are you wanting to breed in?

the 75g

You can do many diffrent things with that.

They get to be about 7". Here is some info I found. Very nice looking fish.

Lethrinops intermedius is a Lake Malawi cichlid. Its body style closely resembles that of the Aulonacaras, which are more popular in today’s hobby. Its behavioral habits also mimic that of the Aulonacara. I purchased seven 1-inch fry at the American Cichlid Association 2000 Convention in Cleveland, Ohio. They were taken home and housed in a ten-gallon tank with plenty of hiding places. I estimate the fry to have been about 2-3 months old. The cohabitants were four Synodontis petricola, also approximately 1 inch in length. They were fed a basic flake food that I was using to feed my other community tanks. They were fed twice a day, once about noon and again about 11 P.M. Every weekend, a 50% water change was performed along with a good gravel cleansing. I used a glass hood and the light was provided by a 24-inch strip light, which was used to light several other tanks at once. They were kept in this tank for about 7 months. In January of this year, they were moved into a 20-gallon high, along with the Synodontis petricolas. A pile of randomly placed 4-inch clay pots cut in half symmetrically was put in the bottom of the tank. A gravel bed about 1-inch thick, sponge filter, miscellaneous floating plants, and a glass lid were also provided. The lighting was now provided by two 48-inch strip lights used to light several tanks at once.

The fish were now 2 1/2- 3 inches long. The Lethrinops were now beginning to show their sexual dimorphism. The males are larger and their dorsal fins are crested with a band of red on top of a band of white. The males were also showing their adult coloration of metallic green with red striations in all of their fins with large yellow egg spots on the anal fin. Both the males and females have 3 black spots along their flanks. The females remained a light tan with a crest of red only on their dorsal. The feeding regiment was now changed to live blackworms or frozen bloodworms at noon and flake or Hikari cichlid pellets at 11 P.M. Their steady growth continued with this new feeding and housing change.
By February the largest female was holding. After one week, she had swallowed the eggs. From this day it took approximately 3 weeks for her to produce a new batch of eggs. She was closely observed and after going ten days, she was removed and placed in a 5-gallon tank. She was given a sponge filter, one half of a 4-inch clay pot and a baseball sized clump of Java moss as well as five gallons of water from the spawning tank. From spawn to spit was 21 days at 74 degrees Fahrenheit and a pH of 7.4.
The fry were 3/8 inches long, brown with three black dots along their flanks. They were left in the five-gallon tank and the female was placed back in the spawning tank three days after she spit. The first week they were fed microworms in heavy concentrations once a day. The second week live baby brine was added as a second feeding. Week three, microworms were removed from their diets and Golden Pearls was added as their nightly feeding.

In May the group was moved into a 20-gallon long tank with all of the same gravel, pots and plants as well as the Synodontis petricola. Every two weeks, a female had to be pulled from the main tank because she was holding eggs. Each time a female was pulled, she was placed in a five-gallon tank with all the same fixings as was used in the first instance. I have noticed that the dominant male, during his courting of the female, turns a solid deep metallic green. He loses his black spots and his fins turn almost blood red. It is very impressive. The dominant male would also dig many pits around the tank; they were quite noticeable and within a couple of days there would be a female holding eggs. As of mid June the group was moved into an African cichlid “party tank,” as I like to call it, in hopes that it would slow their spawning down. So far, there have been no new spawns.

If you enjoy Malawian cichlids, this one is a real beauty. Lethrinops intermedius will attain 6-8 inches
in length and is not afraid of showing off all of its strengths. It does not seem overly aggressive, being that the males of this group are now approaching 5 inches in length and had not harmed any of the two-inch Synodontis petricola. Their rarity and beauty was well worth the money spent to obtain this Malawian gem.
Photo by Wally Cox

That is some good information Ty Now I am trying to find someone who sales them I have only found one person so far who sales them but they are around 15.00 a peice for a 1.5-2.5in fish!

It is all about the water when breeding. A lot of water changes helps the process along. Atleast it works for me.

You may want to consider another choice for your breeding program. There is still quite a bit of confusion as to the 'real' Lethrinops intermedius. Sometimes its risky to invest all the time and effort into breeding incorrectly identified fish. If you choose to do this species, make sure you & your original stock supplier are absolutely confident on the ID.

The Lethrinops group is a great one to get into. i think more & more people will start keeping them in the future. This is one genus that a sand substrate is a MUST to fully enjoy these fish. For your 75, consider some of the 'red cap' types or any of the other smaller growing varieties (6" and under).
The L. albus is starting to make a splash on the scene because of it's unique combo of colors, small size & fiesty 'tude.

L. albus (Kande Isl.)

Wow. Nice looking fish! Do you have any of those?

Yes, I've got a group sharing a 75 with a group of Copad. Mloto Undu


So far, I've been able to keep several males of each type without any casualties. There's about 6 females of each type as well. They're pretty prolific breeders once they get going.

Do you have any fry or juvies? I would love to raise some of these.

Right now I've only got about 6-8, 1"ish left out of a batch of the L. albus. They were already destined to make the trip to Dave's shop on a trade, so you'd have to work out something with him on $. But I bet he'd be pretty reasonable if you were picking them up at FOTAS (or having them shipped out very soon) and he didn't spend much time/space/effort growing them out further.

The Copads are just now starting to show breeding behaviour.

Copads are very nice let me know when those produce. I would love to make a trade or send some $$$. Thanks

Love that Copad!! Very striking color, bet he looks awsome in the tank!

It's going to be part of my living real soon! But it's not going to make me rich. I really enjoy it everyday