Just when you thought that wild caught Petrochromis Kazumbe were the terrors of the aquarium. Well you are in for a big surprise. Petrochromis sp Red Dorsal Rainbow Macrognathus Kipili , these are truly the crazies of Petrochromis world in the aquarium. I don’t know what goes on in the wild but once these WC crazies are housed in the aquarium all bets are off.
 
    I had 2 trios Red Dorsal Rainbows in a 240 gallon tank (8 footer) with two trios of  Texas Bulu Points and Texas Famula, well after 1 month  I had more beat up fish than one of the the Ali vs Frazier boxing matches. This was one of my first mistakes with keeping petros. I totally under estimated these  Red Dorsal Rainbow Macrognathus Kipili. The only solution was to take them out and house them separately until I could get some more. I did indeed get more Red Dorsals. I had a group of about 13 Red Dorsals. This group was placed in a 150 gallon tank  (6 footer) along with 13 Pond Raised Famula Kaiser. There were immediate casualties,  2 Red Dorsal males were eliminated in the span of two days. Since then there have been no other fatalities. The alpha male  exhibits a nice red dorsal all of the time. The subordinate males have a very pale reddish dorsal. The Red Dorsals for the most part ignore the Famula. If any of the petros in the tank wander into the alpha male’s territory he quickly escorts them out. The chase goes for 2 to 3 feet from his territory, then he promptly returns to his territory (rocks). The Famula have bred on the far end of the 150 gallon tank as the other Red Dorsals have not interfered with the breeding process of the Famula.  In short these guys are born killers like their counterparts the Petro Kasumbe.  

   In watching the alpha male do his courting dance, the dorsal really turns a nice solid red. I have not seen any females holding as it is sometimes very difficult for me to tell when the larger petro females are holding. The Famula on the other hand are easier to spot when they are holding.
I guess when you see a female hanging around in the corner she is either holding or one of the petros that has just been assaulted.  In either case a closer look is warranted, because a hour later could be the difference between life and death.

 

   You have to excuse me because when I mention the name Petrochromis, I think of the challenge , the beauty and death. Ok now that I have gotten past that , I will continue “LOL”.

    The Red Dorsal Rainbow Macrognathus Kipili seems to be just a little larger than the Kasumbe. I don’t really know if that is because of the difference in age. It seems that the height of the body of the Red Dorsal is just a hair higher than the Kasumbe. At least this is what I am seeing in the petros that I have in my tanks. These Red Drosals are nowhere as colorful in the body as Petro Kasumbe Orange or Helembe. The Kasumbe sport an orange and white blotch pattern or the Helembe sports a blue and orange blotched pattern.  In my opinion the nice red dorsal of the Red Dorsal Rainbow Macrognathus Kipili  makes up for a lot even with the lack of good body color.

 

    These are just some observations that I have noted in this ongoing article. When and if I get these guys to bred I will add all of those details to this ongoing article.

 

The above is dated as of 02/25/2010:

 

To be continued: