7-25-05: More fry, and lots of them - I'd say 30, maybe 40. Sooo cute. I've taken out some of the extra hecqui; I thought to leave the pair but the male vigorously defended a female who lives in the shellpile, so I left her as well. 7-12-05: Mom's signals are pretty clear: more fry are on the way, or hatched already. Too bad the last ones got eaten. I'm tempted to remove the shell and raise them elsewhere but, well, what would I do with 30 hecqui? Anyway, it gives the parents a bit of purpose, and it's a top-notch snack for the others. 6-18-05: Fry! And, amazingly, they're surviving. Dunno how long that'll last, but the parents are VERY protective. The big male is so gorgeous, and his girl's a lovely fish. 5-18-05: I think I have a definite pair. The very largest fish (he's lovely) and another big one, but smaller than him, control the substrate. He patrols a few inches up and she protects a group of shells. I've been feeding them quite well since I've been home, so I suspect a spawn is imminent. 12-19-04: I was in Buffalo picking up the other fish and (of course) stopped into The Fish Place, which had hecqui in again. The stock had much more size disparity than mine so I bought the two smallest and the largest individuals. 10-12-04: Found, and bought, 6 young Lepidiolamprologus hecqui. Gorgeous! Well, they will be, anyway. Thanks to them the occies had to move out, and I set up a new tank, now the 20a for them. The julie is also in there, temporarily, because he was beating up on the hecqui.

Notes on this species~Photos of this species~The tank I keep this species in