Big Fun

[gwand]

I am currently raising three groups of fry, and as you Canadian’s say, “this is big fun.”

In my 60 gallon tank, one pair of six Anomalochromis thomasi had hatchlings on Christmas Day. This is the first spawn for the pair and they are outstanding parents. Despite the Christmas Day appearance this was not a virgin birth. Parents and fry have taken over a third of the 4 foot tank’s footprint. This self proclaimed territory has become their fortress. No one enters. And I mean no one! Both parents are equally involved in guard duty. It is amazing watching the parents guide the fry to different sections of their property - I suppose in search of microscopic food. But talk about a costume change. The colors of the pair have really intensified showing deep black vertical lines, royal blues, yellow and deep red highlights. They are magnificent.

In my 20 gallon long, the sole Apistogramma cacatuoides pair had their third spawn on December 24. This time they have delineated a large territory: 50% of the tanks foot print. Talk about a learned behavior! There were no survivors from the first two spawning events when the pair were newbies. The twenty gallon long is a community tank housing Molly, Platy and endler predators along with this family of a. cacatuoides. On this third spawning the parents finally understand how to defend their fry. The male, his wild orange mane flowing in the current, charges lion-like fending off much larger Molly with mouths agape. Heroic behavior that would make Homer proud. As opposed to a. thomasi parents the cacatuoides have more division of labor. The female guides the fry in search of food. The male does not. She occasionally places a fry in her mouth. At first I thought she was eating her young. But then she would gently release the fry. Anyone aware of that behavior in a. cacatuoides? The male not the female does the heavy lifting chasing off predators.

The third fry I’m observing come from the mating of a pair of golden sailfin Molly. The female delivered about 25 fry, each a golden nuggets. Then her job was over. She just swam away. The fry were on their own being preyed on by other tank mates and even the Molly parents. Eating one’s young is a mind blowing behavior to observe. I thought the parents were well fed. Next time I will feed them more vigorously. What a contrast in parenting compared to a. cacatuoides and a. thomasi. I managed to save 5 fry by placing them in my QT tank.

It has been a delight raising fry. I am lucky to have a lfs and a fish club that will take my offspring. Now I have an operating breeder tank. The a. cacatuoides pair are my first visitors to the breeding tank. I am hoping to get better at this and continue to have Big Fun.

 

[Back in the fold]

Watching any cichlid guarding and rearing their fry is something every aquarist should see in their own aquarium . It is absolutely fascinating . I read something once about Convict Cichlids , that the female clicks a bone in her jaw and the young hear that and know to settle down for the night . That could be something that all cichlids do but I don’t know . Watching the cichlid parents pick the young up in their mouths and move them is something to see as well . I have read that a cichlid has more bones and moveable joints in its mouth than the human hand . Fascinating fish .

 

[GaryE]

A bunch of things. The rolling of fry in the mouth is common to most dwarf Cichlids. I see it in both South American and Central/West African species. Interestingly, those species have relatives who are mouthbrooders, so it may be a behavioural step on the way.
It's generally interpreted as cleaning the fry. Some males will do it too, though I never saw that with cacatuoides. It's there with African Pelvicachromis.

Watch where she avoids taking the fry, and you'll know where the low oxygen spots in the tank are.

There is learning, and modelling. I found fry raised with their parents guarding them learned how to care for their own fry more quickly, sometimes getting it right on the first try. I used to breed fair numbers of Apistogramma njisseni, and would rotate females and break up pairs for some genetic diversity. If I saw a wild import, I always bought bigger females, as they knew what to do already. They would always succeed on try one. I tried the same trick with other Apistos, with the same results.

I had a place with harder water at one point, and kept a lot of wild mollie species. It's a very diverse group, which you would never know from the fish in stores.

They rarely ate their fry. Very rarely, which kind of became a problem. They ate the fry of other livebearers kept with them, but didn't hunt their own after the first hour or two. The fry went to the bottom, hung out and gathered strength, then went to the surface. They were in 40 gallon species tanks though - no sharing if I wanted fry. In smaller tanks, fry were doomed.

Wait til you see what this video shows. That is a great Cichlid breeding show.