humbug

Pseudotropheus sp “Williamsii North”

Otopharynx sp “spots” Sani

Julidochromis transcriptus 'Kissi Bemba'

Chilotilapia rhoadesii

Lethrinops sp. red capuz Itungi

Lamprologus speciosus (black occie)

Nimbochromis polystigma

Neolamprologus similis

Melanochromis parallelus

I thought I might share some shots of some of my fish.  I keep a few Tanganyikan species and some Malawi mbuna and peacocks, but my real passion is for the Malawi haps. 
 
These are the new kids on the block - Exochochromis anagenys juvis, currently around 10cm

Young Eclectochromis ornatus “Masinje” just starting to colour

Tropheops spawning at Maingano Island

Here's a short clip from Nhkata Bay, Lake Malawi, showing that it’s not the calm body of water many people think it is.  And this was a relatively gentle day - it gets MUCH worse than this!!

The lake is affected by tides, and there can be quite strong currents as we found at one dive site.  Standing on the beach it has the sound and the feel of being at the ocean.  The sheer size of the place really struck me when we travelled from Kande Island to Taiwanee Reef.  That’s not much more than half the way across the lake, and it took us 5 ½ hours by boat.  If you know the shape of the lake, it’s extremely long and narrow.  It’s a massive body of water.

Red Empress - Protomelas taeniolatus.  Filmed at Namalenje Island, Lake Malawi, 7th Sep 2014

We’d been in Malawi for 5 days and it had been blowing a gale the whole time since we’d arrived. It had been blowing hard for the week before that, too.  For five whole days we had been sitting at Cool Runnings Lodge, looking out over the lake towards Namalenje Island, longing to go for a dive.  Conditions just wouldn’t let us.  I’d go to bed at night looking out at that island, and it would be the first thing I’d see when I woke up in the morning.  It just sat there taunting us.

On the last afternoon before we had to leave to head to Red Zebra Lodge and the start of our diving trip proper, the wind dropped.  Three of us jumped in a boat and raced over there. 

The boat dumped us on the island, and I was kitted up and ready to go in milliseconds.  The other two were new divers and were taking their time.  I jumped into a small rock pool and just stood in the shallow water.  Looking down I was surrounded by hundreds of brightly coloured mbuna, with some even coming up and nibbling my feet.  That image will be a memory that will stay with me forever.  There were a bunch of European tourists on the island at the time.  I wonder what they thought about this idiotic woman in her 40’s standing knee deep in a rock pool, encased in neoprene, shrieking in excitement like a four year old child.

Visibility was dreadful after a fortnight of wind, but that dive was really special.  It was my first dive in the biggest Malawi aquarium of them all.   

Who would like one of these for their aquarium?

Dimidiochromis compressiceps (Malawi Eyebiter) at Chizumulu Island, Lake Malawi

Here's some footage of the Lichnos in the fish house at Stuart M Grant Ltd in Malawi, 10 Sept 2014

I've finally managed to wend my way through the minefield of converting GoPro footage and uploading to YouTube, so I'll try to post a few clips of the footage I took on my recent trip to Malawi.

First up - some footage of a Nimbochromis livingstonii I filmed at Lion's Cove. This shows the hunting behavior of these fish - flopping down in the silt, looking like a dead fish, and waiting for prey to come in close. I suspect our proximity was making her a bit unsettled which is why she moved around a bit. A Nimbochromis linni makes a brief appearance at the end of the clip.

Abactochromis labrosus

I'm struggling to find reasonable photos of mbuna!!!!!

Metriclima zebra “Masinje”

I think they are a fish you either love or hate.  These individuals are in really good nick and are a decent size.  I believe they are spawning - fingers crossed they are successful 

No demasoni that I remember, and I'm sorry but this thread is going to be light on for mbuna.  There just weren't many in the fish house. 

Also finding a lot of the mbuni shots that I do have don't have IDs     I'm not going to guess - I'll post some without names - but will do it gradually over next few days.  Can't sit in front of a computer all day - I need to do some water changes!!!! 

Cyrtocara moorii