1st Post! Q's reg. L202

[Craigo]

Hello.
I have purchased my first L's to go into a tank inside my house (instead of outside with all the Malawi colonies)
I have purchased 6 L202's ranging from 8-10cm's
I thought sweet, I will be able to tell the boys straight up as they will be hairy & maybe be able to tell by head & body shape. But I don't think these fish have been conditioned well so I couldn't spot any 'fat' females straight up.
So my questions are
-Are the girls a wee bit hairy? I have 2 seriously hairy boys & the rest seem to have small hair but nothing like the definite boys. could this be a dominance thing or do the girls have a little bit of hair on their body?
-What will be the absolute best diet to be conditioning these guys on, everything I read say Omnivore, not picky...
-Will the fish prey on 2cm fry that may inhabit the tank briefly?
- what is the best tank mates to have? as this tank is inside & the boss of the house insists it look pretty & not just another breeder setup.

Sorry for all the Noob questions but this is my first dip into the world of catties.
Thanks in advance for any help, much appriciated.

 

[Joby]

I've not kept them personally but there is some very good information here

L202s Profile

 

[Brengun]

To make the tank look nice get some big anubias mounted on driftwood. The beauty of it is you can lift it in and out while catching fry and it doesn't mind and just keeps growing.

Make sure the couple of dominant males have caves up each end of the tank so hopefully there isn't too much fighting going on particularly when a girl wants to enter a cave to spawn.

Cardinal tetras are a showy sort of dither fish which don't mind the warmer temps of L202's.

Cherry shrimp do ok with warmer temps as well and look pretty sitting on the anubias.

I usually hide the caves under the driftwood with the opening to the front so I can see any breeding activity.

 

[Irene0100]

lovely,
~I have not bred these but have bred other similar. they are not known to eat fry.
very hard to be sure of sex
give them a mixed diet and if they dont eat one food try it again a week or so later as sometimes they have to learn what they can eat. eg green beans or peas with skin off.
also try flakes and granules like tetra prima. some are fussy eaters, other eat most foods.
enjoy.