Being new in the hobby, the only fish we kept prior to the Fall, 1988 auction were non-cichlid (except for the new world variety) in a community tank. I purchased six Helanochromis johanni and four Telmatochromis burgeoni fry with only the knowledge that the M. johanni males colored out to a dark blue and the T. burgeoni were small shell dwelling cichlids from Lake Tanganyika.

   With the exception of my past years experience with these shell dwellers, I still have not been able to find any good data on them in any books or magazines. As it turned out, I had two pairs of T. burgeoni (what are the odds of that happening again?).

   The fry were about 3/4 inch and a light tan color, with an irridescent beauty about them. As they grew in size it was fairly easy to pick out the males, as they grew faster and larger than the females. One pair seemed to hit it off as they stayed together most of the time and the female would turn dark gray, almost charcoal, when she danced for the male. I had these in a 10 gallon tank, along with six M. johanni fry (I told you I was new to the hobby).

   When this mating display started I was able to relocate the four T. burgeoni into a 20 gallon tank by themselves. The second pair weren't very amorous toward each other, however, the female would darken and dance for the other larger male who was already spoken for. His mate would then drive off the other female with the force of a demon.

   The pair spawned in the shell and I soon had nine fry poking out from the male's shell. From the time they spawned until I could see the hatch, they kept the other pair pinned in the opposite corners and tore their fins ragged. I didn't have another tank in which to place the haggard pair.

   The female that spawned never lost her dark charcoal color and was a good mother. As the fry reached about 3/8 inch, I noticed that there was another spawn and the small fry were poking their heads out of the female's shell. I was delighted, except for the devastated pair in the corners. My excitement didn't last very long, as two days later all the first-born fry were gone.

   I believed that it was the banished pair that did this, to get even with me for keeping them in that tank.

   The second hatch was small, 3-4 fry, and seemed to swim around quite freely and not be bothered at all by the ragged pair. A third group of fry appeared and the second group disappeared. This time I witnessed that the cannibalism was done by the parents. I pulled the fry and placed them in a rearing tank, while I took the extra male out and figured the remaining male would mate with both females. Wrong! Within two days, I almost lost both females, as the male tore them apart. I then separated all, sold the extra male and let the females heal.

   I have since placed the original pair back together in their own tank and am patiently awaiting another spawn, as they seem to be very compatible again.

   The odd female is currently in a 30 gallon tank with some Tropheus duboisi, Lamprologus leleupi, and a pair of Haplochromis chrysonota (electric blue II). She has her half of the tank and they have their half.

   Despite the losses and aggravation, I believe the male (full grown at about 2-1/4 inches) with fringe extended, and the female, dark in spawning color, are two of the most beautiful cichlids I have ever seen.