The
Tank & Setup - The tank I used is a 90 gallon tank, although I have
been told they can be spawned in smaller tanks; I do not recommend trying it. I
find these fish to be very docile and not very aggressive by cichlid standards,
however when the dominant male is ready to spawn he can be a bit aggressive. The
water temperature is around 78 degrees and the PH is at 8.2. I used gravel for a
substrate and plenty of large and small flat rocks. I also have clay flower pots
of 3 or 4 different sizes. I hide these behind and or under the large rocks. I
filter the tank with a penguin 330-bio wheel and 2 aquaclear 802 power heads
attached to an under gravel filter. I did weekly water changes of atleast 35%
and with all of my water changes I add 2 tsp of oceanic marine salt per 5
gallons of water. The fish will just about eat any and all foods, But I provided
a diet of sinking shrimp pellets, tetra crisp, frozen blood worms, live black
worms and bio blend for cichlids.
The Fish - I use a small group of 3 (1 dominant male, 2
females)
The Care for the Fry - I feed the fry the same food as
their parents. I just crush it up into a dust or use what has settled on the
bottom of the can.
The Spawning - These cichlids spawn a bit different from
the other mouth brooding cichlids of the rift lakes. The male does not dig a
spawning site, nor does he shake/dance or quiver. Instead he slowly swims over
the site and the female follows. However she does not swim in the circle like
other cichlids, but moves back and forth. Laying an egg and then backing up to
pick it up. All the while the male is weakly defending his selected spawning
site. After a few eggs have been collected the male will swim over the spawning
site again. I can only guess this is so he can discharge his milt again. This
goes on this way until all eggs have been laid and picked up by the female. Also
my fish are now of good size, the male is over 10 inches and the largest female
is just over 7 inches. With fish of this size it is easy to determine when they
are getting ready to spawn. The females egg laying tube starts to show about 6
hours before the spawn and is still visable for 2 to 3 hours afterwards.
Some Tricks - I have found that fish that are over fed
don't want to spawn as much or as often. So I condition the fish for about 5
weeks with a lot of small feedings of good dry food or live food (I usually feed
dry food in the mornings simply because I am in a bit of a hurry and then after
I eat in the evenings the fish then get a tret of either live black worms or
frozen blood worms and water changes. I then cut the feeding back to just the
live food or frozen food in the evenings and also increase the water
changes.