|  I'll begin the series with a wonderful West African 'jewel', Hemichromis
letourneauxi. This not often seen cichlid is found sporadically throughout
the Nilo-Soudanian region, an area which exhibits a high degree of geographic
isolation and resulting speciation. The only other two cichlids from
this area which are found in the hobby are the Egyptian mouthbrooder,
Pseudocrenilabrus multicolor and Chromidotilapia guentheri. Throughout
most of its range, H. letourneauxi is the only red jewel fish present
in a given drainage. The only exception is the Niger River in which
Hemichromis guttatus and cristatus can be found.
Like most cichlids native to the Nilo-Soudanian region, but unlike
most of the Hemichromis species, H. letourneauxi prospers in hard and
alkaline as well as soft and acidic water, reflecting the fact that
even under riverine conditions, these fish encounter a much wider range
of seasonal variation in hardness and pH than do their Guinean counterparts.
Males of this species are about 9 cm. TL while females average about
7 cm. TL. In non-breeding dress, both sexes are a dull ruby red with
a central ocelli on the flanks. With the onset of sexual maturity, females
take on a very intense ruby red color and do not exhibit any ocelli.
Male coloration is less intense, but red nonetheless.
H. letourneauxi proves
very undemanding with respect to its preferred water temperature and
has been found in waters ranging from 72°- 94°F. For best results,
I'd recommend a daily average of 75°F with an increase to 85°F
for breeding purposes.
This cichlid is easy to feed and will eat practically anything including
freeze dried krill, frozen foods such as mysid shrimp and bloodworms,
flakes, pellets, and will particularly relish snails which are the primary
food in the diet of the letourneauxi population found in Lake Volta.
I've never maintained
my cichlids in planted tanks and cannot tell you anything about the
habits of this cichlid with regard to snacking on, or uprooting your
prized greenery. From what I've read however, even sexually active letourneauxi
will not aggressively feed on plants.
I've previously maintained a group (2 males + 6 females) of H. letourneauxi
in a 75 gallon tank together with a group of Thorichthys pasiones. In
my experience, as with other red 'jewel' species, if maintained in large
tanks, they will prove to be reasonable neighbors towards heterospecific
species which are too large to eat and may in fact completely ignore
them. They will do best if maintained with those species that will return
the favor.
More of a challenge
will result in relationships with conspecifics. Territorial boundary
disputes between males will increase in frequency as the fish grow to
sexual maturity. Generally, sexually mature letourneauxi of both sexes,
indicated by the increase in the intensity of the red coloration, become
increasingly reticent to share their quarters with subdominant and non-breeding
males or females. Once a pair is formed, I've found it best to remove
all the non-paired fish to another tank containing amicable roommates.
I'm currently maintaining the above group of letourneauxi in a 40 gallon
breeder and find their requirements exactly the same.
I maintain all my cichlid
tanks with 2 mm natural gravel, driftwood, and usually a piece of terra
cotta drain pipe over and around which I use flat Pennsylvania shale
to provide caves for adults and nooks and crannies for fry and juveniles.
I've had letourneauxi females deposit egg plaques inside caves, on driftwood
and on flat vertical rocks in the aquaria. The eggs hatch in about 2
days at 80°, at which time the parents moved the wrigglers to an
excavated pit in the gravel, near a rock border delineating their territory.
Within 1 week post hatch, the parents were seen tending about 200 mobile
fry of about 7 mm. TL around the aquarium. The parents are excellent
protectors and enthusiastically carry out their custodial duties. Interestingly,
I once maintained these cichlids over a pea gravel substrate and found
that they did not exhibit any pit digging for egg placement or post
hatch.
I feed the fry powdered commercial food (Hikari: First-Bites) and Artemia
nauplii. Within 3 weeks they will feed on crushed flake and frozen Mysis.
At 6-7 weeks post hatch, the fry should have grown to about 20 mm.
TL though as with any group of fry, there will be some variation, and
the early striped pattern evolved to the lateral spot characteristic
of this species as non breeding sub-adults. At about this same time
in development, the parents will take a decreasingly active interest
in the fry and begin the onset of preparation for another spawn.
If you can find Hemichromis letourneauxi, I highly recommend this cichlid
to you. It's reasonably easy to breed and maintain, can live amicably
with other species with careful selection to size and is an extremely
beautiful and rewarding little fish.
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