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Marlier's Julie

Checkered Julie ~ Marlier Cichlid Family: Cichlidae

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Julidochromis marlieri Photo © Animal-World: Courtesy Frank Schneidewind

   A very interesting and intelligent fish, the Marlier's Julie has a great personality!

   The Marlier's Julie or Checkered Julie is somewhat shy and will stay in the rocks more towards the back of the aquarium, darting out to retrieve food. However they have a most interesting swimming style. They move in a determined manner up and down, sideways in between the rocks, or hang upside down under rocks. They also have a nice contrast of color, almost a checkered pattern, and have beautiful blue highlights encircling the body.

  They are moderate to easy to care for. As long as weekly water changes are done to keep the water at optimal levels, they will stay healthy. The Marlier's Julie does well in a community cichlid tank and can be kept singly, in a pair, or in a group of several pairs. Though they are one of the larger of the Julies, reaching up to 6" (15 cm), they can easily be kept in a smaller tank of 20 gallons for a pair. They can also be kept in a larger aquarium with other Tanganyika cichlids of similar size. Provide them with a sandy or fine gravel substrate along with lots of rock formations. Plants can also be included as they will not bother them. This fish will breed in captivity, and the plants will provide cover for the newly hatch fry.

   There are several slightly different color pattern variations of the Marlier's Julie, and all are very attractive. These patterns vary depending upon the location in Lake Tanganyika where each specimen is collected. It is important to keep conspecific varieties and similar species separate to help prevent hybrid strains from entering the trade, thus losing the true color forms.

For more Information on keeping this fish see:
Guide to a Happy, Healthy Freshwater Aquarium

Dream Aquarium Build your own aquarium The Coolest and Funnest Screensaver in the World.

Distribution:
   The Marlier’s Julie or Checkered Julie was described by Poll in 1956. It was named after Belgian G. Marlier, a collector of these types of fish from Lake Tanganyika. These fish are found in the northern and southern areas of Lake Tanganyika in Africa. They like deep waters with rocks and will not swim far from rocky areas. They feed on invertebrates such as snails, small aquatic insects, sponges, microfauna, and Aufwuchs. Aufwuchs refers to tough stringy algae that is attached to rocks. “Loose” Aufwuchs can contain insect larvae, nymphs, crustaceans, snails, mites and zooplankton.They will rarely come to the surface in the wild.

Status:
   This species is listed on the IUCN Red List with the status of 'LC', meaning 'Least Concern'.

Description:
   The Marlier's Julie has a torpedo shaped body and a slightly downward pointing mouth for eating algae, snails, microfauna, and Aufwuchs in the wild. They have a nice contrast of color, almost a checkered pattern, and have beautiful blue highlights encircling the body. This is the only Julie with a stripe under the eye.
   Depending on location, there are slight differences in color. Some localities include Katili, Samazi, Magara, Halembe, Kala, Kambwimba, Cape Tembwe, or Katoto; as well as two locality variations described here:

• Isanga: This variety has less of a contrast with a tan base color and about 5 dark brown vertical bands and 2 thinner horizontal lines, forming a checkered pattern. There is a dark brown dot on the base of the tail fin. The fins are a gray/silver color with electric blue at the tips. There is also an electric blue line in the cheek area and a few speckles on the gill cover. The face also has dark brown lines that run horizontal on the head area.
• Gombe Island: This variety has a silver to cream base with 7 dark brown/black irregular horizontal stripes from the first one under the start of the dorsal to the last one at the base of the tail fin. These thick bands each have 1 to 3 dots that are the same color as the base color and a marbling of those 2 colors in the face. The fins are more clear with a light blue edging on the dorsal and tail fin. The pelvic fins are light blue for the most part and the anal fin has a dark blue outer edge with a light blue line above it. The pectoral fins are a light yellow gold color.

   All cichlids share a common feature that some saltwater fish such as wrasses and parrotfish have and that is a well-developed pharyngeal set of teeth that are in the throat, along with their regular teeth. Cichlids have spiny rays in the back parts of the anal, dorsal, pectoral, and pelvic fins to help discourage predators. The front part of these fins are soft and perfect for precise positions and effortless movements in the water as opposed to fast swimming.
   Cichlids have one nostril on each side while other fish have 2 sets. To sense “smells” in the water, they suck water in and expel the water right back out after being “sampled” for a short or longer time, depending on how much the cichlid needs to “smell” the water. This feature is shared by saltwater damselfish and cichlids are thought to be closely related.

Size - Weight:
   The female Marlier's Julie grows to a length of 6” (15 cm), with the male being a little smaller.

Care and feeding:
   The Marlier's Julie is an omnivore. In the wild they feed on invertebrates such as snails, small aquatic insects, sponges, microfauna, and Aufwuchs. In the aquarium they can be fed Cyclops, water fleas, shrimps, Artemia or other special foods for Lake Tanganyika cichlids. Feed 2 to 5 small pinches of food a day in smaller amounts instead of a large quantity once a day. All fish benefit from vitamins and supplements added to their foods.
   A minimum 20 gallon tank for a pair is suggested, and 75 gallons or more for a community type tank. They do fine in either freshwater or brackish freshwater but need good water movement along with very strong and efficient filtration. For freshwater an optional practice is to add 1 heaping teaspoon of salt per 11 gallons of water. This is considered to be a simple and natural remedy for wounds, minor fungal infections and film over the eyes of fish in transit. Using a marine salt (used for salt water fish) will add some trace elements. Sand or very small sized gravel must be used to prevent fry from getting stuck in gravel that is too big. Provide lots of porous rocks and/or whole or pieces of clay pots forming caves and crevices.They stay very close to rock structures, so the more rocks there are, the more comfortable they will be. Plants can also be included as they will not bother them, and will provide cover for the newly hatch fry.
   Do normal water changes of 10% to 15% a week, or more frequent changes depending on the nitrite/ammonia levels and stocking numbers. The Lake Tanganyika cichlids cannot handle large water changes very well unless the new water chemistry closely matches the water they are in. If a large water change is needed, changing 15% every couple of days should bring water back to normal. This inability to tolerate large water changes is due to Lake Tanganyika being very deep and the water tends to stay stable.
   These fish are susceptible to typical fish ailments, especially if water is stale and of poor quality and oxygenation. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Water changes, not overfeeding or overcrowding, and observation along with feeding your fish the proper foods (thawing frozen food and adding vitamins) will keep them in optimum health.
   One common problem is Ich. It can be treated with the elevation of the tank temperature to 86° F (30° C) for 3 days. If that does not cure the Ich, then the fish needs to be treated with copper (remove any water conditioners). Several copper based fish medications are available for Ich. Copper use must be kept within the proper levels, so be sure to follow the manufacturers suggestions. You can also combine increasing the temperature with an Ich medication treatment. A copper test also can be used to keep the proper levels.      

Water Region: Top, Middle, Bottom:
   These fish will swim in the bottom areas of the aquarium.

Acceptable Water Conditions:
   Hardness: 10 - 13 dH (gH 12-20/ kH 14-20)
   Ph: 7.8 - 9.5 (8.4 is optimal)
   Temp: 72 - 80° F (22 - 27° C)

Lake Tanganyika is the second to largest lake in the world, thus contributing to a low fluctuation in Ph and temperature. Several things all Lake Tanganyika cichlids need are:

1. Stable temperatures kept within acceptable limits.
2. Lots of oxygen to survive. Lake Tanganyika is a very oxygen rich lake. Bubblers need to be going day and night, even if there are plants.
3. Avoid overfeeding and overstocking.
4. Do a 10-15% water change weekly.
5. Regularly check nitrates (no more than 25 ppm), Ph (less than 7 is not tolerated), total hardness and carbonate hardness.

Social Behaviors:
   The Marlier's Julie does well in a community cichlid tank and can be kept singly, in a pair, or in a group of several pairs. This fish is a community cichlid that can be kept with other Tanganyika cichlids that are similar size. They are peaceful toward those of the same species, but will not tolerate their own offspring. They will tolerate those of a different genus.
  They will breed in the main tank and if there are enough crevices. You may want to remove a confirmed pair to a 20 gallon tank to breed, as they will aggressively protect their brood from any intruders. Once the fry are 1” long, the parents will chase them away. Do not house with other color variations of the Marlier's Julie to avoid cross breeding. If breeding them do not house with plecostomus as these fish will eat the fry at night.

Sexual Differences:
   The Marlier's Julie female has a longer genital papillae that is flatter on the end. The male's genital papillae is shorter, more pointed, and angled toward the back. The male's have a lump-like swelling on the neck and are normally smaller.

Breeding/Reproduction:
   The Marlier's Julie has been bred in captivity. They are shelter spawners so provide them with caves made from rocks and/or clay planting pots and/or pieces of slate, as they adhere their eggs to the “roof” of their cave. Young couples need practice to become successful parents. Buy 6 to 10 juveniles and let them pair off. Once you have a pair the male will start to mark off territories. Remove the others or they will be chased off. It is best not to rearrange the rocks or move any decorations around in the aquarium once they form territories. This can stress them out and will very likely break the bond a male and female have made. The reason for this is that part of their bond is connected to the “territory” more than to each other. If stressed, one of the pair will kill the other.
   The male will entice the female into a cave and their spawn will be from 50 - 100 bluish green colored 1.2 mm eggs. They will spawn every 5 to 7 weeks. Make sure there are a lot of crevices for the young to hide in and do not use plecostomus in the tank, as they will eat the young during the night. The parents are dedicated to their young, and will take turns guarding the fry while the other leaves to eat. Although the parents do well guarding their fry, only about 10% will survive. For a higher success rate, siphon out most of the fry when they are born and put them in a separate 10 gallon tank, leaving a few in the tank for the parents to care for. Feed the fry baby brine shrimp.
  The parents will allow the fry to stay in the area until they are 1” long, even when new batches are hatched since they will help guard their siblings. The fry are slow growers. It takes almost 2 months for them reach 2 cm in size. See the description of monogamous cichlids in Breeding Freshwater Fish.

Buy Marlier's Julie From LiveAquaria.com

Availability:
   The Marlier's Julie is available both online and in fish stores, ranging between $8.00 and $30.00 USD, depending on size and variety. Purchase from a reputable dealer, due to hybridization it takes a trained eye to choose the correct color strain that has not been crossed.

Author: Carrie McBirney

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