Breeding Petricola

[Druchii]

Question..

I have a pair of Petricola in my mbuna tank, but because of the nature of tank they have not spawned... they are always following each other around and one is always fat with eggs, so i know i have a piar and they are of right age/size (6cm)

MY question is - is it ok to take them out into a much smaller tank and breed them?

Ie' can they fit into a 2ft 50L tank and spawn and breed in there ?

Any help would be great

 

[mr.dark-saint]

Petricolas. I was at Mainly Cichlids not too long ago where Mr. Jim Ellenberger (the owner) was telling me how he breeds his. He has them with Haplochromis sp. "Christmas Fulu" and other similar Haps. He informed me that they're "Cuckoo" spawner like Synodontis Multipunctatus. Basically they (the Synos) go in while the Haps are breeding and eat their egg and switch it for a Syno. egg in the confusion (sounds fun to watch ). His set up for them had many Haps so someone was always getting knocked up (so perhaps more "breeder" size mouth brooders is what you might need?)..

Has you Cichlids ever produced any young yet? If not then they (Peticolas) are waiting for them to or the pair is lacking a boy. Just 'cos ones fat and the other is not doesn't make them a pair (to me) it just sounds like the fat one's quicker at eating .

I'd concentraight on fatening and breeding the cichlids and if they are a "pair" then the babies should follow.

What tanks are they housed in currently? A smaller tank?

 

[Druchii]

Has you Cichlids ever produced any young yet? If not then they (Peticolas) are waiting for them to or the pair is lacking a boy. Just 'cos ones fat and the other is not doesn't make them a pair (to me) it just sounds like the fat one's quicker at eating .

I'd concentraight on fatening and breeding the cichlids and if they are a "pair" then the babies should follow.

What tanks are they housed in currently? A smaller tank?

By god yes.... I have 40 malawis in the tank, they are breeding all the time unfortunatley the petricola are a bit timid i think to get in on the act....

I have them all in one large tank at the mo, but from this site and others have found out that they are also egg scatterers, therefore I was thinknig of seperating them out to enable me to breed them...

Yes one could just be a fatty, but, the fat one always leads and the one behind is always well, sniffing about the front ones bits and they tend to go in to a T shape, i've heard this is a good sign...

I'm probably getting some F1 PEtricolas 5-6cm to add to the numbers anyhow - they are beautiful fish


I have heard that it takes petricolas a long time to become sexually mature, but at 6-7cm i think the time has definately come

heres hoping

 

[Cheffi]

Here's a very interesting article I've read;

http/www.calypso.org.uk/Aquarticles/arti..._petricola.html

Remember me when you've got babies

 

[smithrc]

I've been reading about breeding ours for a year now (since we got them)...

Tonight I witnessed some strange behaviour, while out feeding the rabbits, My wife and I looked in at the tank from the dark and witnessed 4-5 of the 7 swimming up and down the tank rubbing against each other...
(3 by the time I got close with the camera)
(See the 5mb Video > HERE <)

I am excited about this - but at the moment (as you'll see in the Video) they are in our 350l comunity tank...

1. Do you think I'm getting excited for nothing?
2. Small I get a tank setup and move them about now or
3. Let them do their thing this time - and next time offer them what they need (by that time they should be in a 4ft in the living room)

 

[Druchii]

I've been reading about breeding ours for a year now (since we got them)...

Tonight I witnessed some strange behaviour, while out feeding the rabbits, My wife and I looked in at the tank from the dark and witnessed 4-5 of the 7 swimming up and down the tank rubbing against each other...
(3 by the time I got close with the camera)
(See the 5mb Video > HERE <)

I am excited about this - but at the moment (as you'll see in the Video) they are in our 350l comunity tank...

1. Do you think I'm getting excited for nothing?
2. Small I get a tank setup and move them about now or
3. Let them do their thing this time - and next time offer them what they need (by that time they should be in a 4ft in the living room)

nice video - but no idea about the breeding....


My syno's love swimmimng in the current cuased by a filter out let - I think they like the bubbles tickling them so much

 

[Cheffi]

I've been reading about breeding ours for a year now (since we got them)...

Tonight I witnessed some strange behaviour, while out feeding the rabbits, My wife and I looked in at the tank from the dark and witnessed 4-5 of the 7 swimming up and down the tank rubbing against each other...
(3 by the time I got close with the camera)
(See the 5mb Video > HERE <)

I am excited about this - but at the moment (as you'll see in the Video) they are in our 350l comunity tank...

1. Do you think I'm getting excited for nothing?
2. Small I get a tank setup and move them about now or
3. Let them do their thing this time - and next time offer them what they need (by that time they should be in a 4ft in the living room)

nice video - but no idea about the breeding....


My syno's love swimmimng in the current cuased by a filter out let - I think they like the bubbles tickling them so much

Ditto...mine too. In fact sometimes they all line up across the spray bar and do sychronised drifting in the current.

 

[mr.dark-saint]

Here's the (I've also read they may scatter the eggs) if you have Loaches, Pleco and other rooting or midnight snackers even if your Petricolas did breed they'll be fish food (by morning or by late morning at the very least). Most fish likes to swim over an "up draft" (kind a like us going to an amusement park). I've had Fat goldfish get blown by a powerhead and go back to it over and over , or Snodontis Angelicus doing the same thing or Congo Tetras swimming against the water then finally getting blown away (then another would take it's place and so on). Sometimes I wonder if they do it for "fun" or an "obsticle"?

 

[Druchii]

I've just gone and got 8 F1 petricolas to add to my existing colony of 2

and i know have continual 24 hour around the clock petri action.....

...these little guys (and gals hopefully) go everywhere, i do not think that there is one part of the tank they have not yet covered....

they all have different degrees of bravery at the mo, but I am hoping that in a few months time they have got the novelty of swiming everywhere out of their system and that I can start breeding them