punman

You can leave her in the tank if you don't care about the fry. If you want to raise fry, strip after 18-20 days or remove female to her own tank.

I have problems sexing them too. Even my breeding group - there is one I am not sure of. My males rarely show splotches on the side - my females often do. My males seem to have longer dorsal and anal fins going back into the tail area. The fry I am selling are just under an inch - I wouldn't put them with adults until they are at least an inch and a half - I guess it depends on the chance you want to take.

Depends on the number of species too, I find. A given tank with 8 of the same might do just fine, but the same tank with the same number of fish at the same length of fish BUT - say eight different species, might be too small due to aggression.

120 Gallon sump??!!! I'd bet 3/4 of us don't even have a 120 gallon tank. Congratulations!

I wouldn't worry about trying to fill the top third of your Malawi tank. I have my cyps with featherfins - both are Tanganyikan. I would not put either with Lake Malawi.

I'd say, roughly half of what the same size and species fish sells for retail. There are exceptions though. Fish you can't find in your city at a fish store could command a higher price, and some fish may not be sellable at all if everyone has that fish or if no one likes it.

l LOVE THOSE PICTURES!

A short video of this last spawn has been posted. The link is below. Mine is the first one on the list at the moment (Punman). You may have to watch it a couple of times to see the eggs. http://www.cichlid-forum.com/videos.php

Thanks for sharing those pictures. That is a fish I would like to try someday. Do you think they would work with cyps and featherfins in my 180?

At some point I may have some for sale - but it could be months down the road. I bought 13 in the Fall but it is turning out that almost all are male and I have had one spawning giving me 4 surviving fry out of 5. I want to keep those.

Top half of the tank. Do not even feed off of the bottom. Spawn mid-water - not on the sand. But - can you find some in Alberta? Let me know 'cause I would like to add to my collection too.

So, do the eggs hatch in about three days?

I can't believe it. Someone is back at it again. (Probably a different female). I saw part of the spawn and saw over 15 eggs drop over a four minute period and she seemed to have lots in her mouth when I got there. I took some pictures. Male colours were intense. I post one picture below. Note the eggs the female is carrying.

I have 4 petricola in a 20 gallon bare bottom tank with one flower pot arrangement. Should there be a couple of rocks in there too? Sometimes all 4 fish are in the pot.

They scatter their eggs, they are not mouth brooders. I'm trying to get mine to lay eggs in an inverted flower pot with marbles on the bottom, but no luck so far. There are experts here that will answer you I am sure.

I have one Yellow Lab. with my Demasoni - a leftover from when I was raising Yellow Lab fry. I think I will just leave it at that for a few weeks.

I have 15 demasoni fry in a 4 foot - 45 gallon and it seems fine so far. A year or so ago I had about the same in a 33 gallon with lots of rock and then they started killing each other off and got down to about 8 or so and I sold them. I am trying again. I think you could add other fish later as you decide what to do. Most of the aggression of Demasoni seems to be with themselves. Sometimes you never know. The buddy I got the fry from the first time around had about 5 demasoni, 5 Saulosi and 4 New World Sevrum-looking things all in a 33 gallon. In my opinion - too small a tank - bad combo of Africans - and why those New World Cichlids in there? [They were all things he started from fry and he hadn't yet sorted out what he was keeping or doing with the situation]. Nevertheless, all three species were breeding in there. I wouldn't do that. I am trying to provide the ideal environment. I am just pointing out how things are never the same and what should work sometimes doesn't and vice-versa.

Update on my Cyp fry. One of the five was swimming funny at release and died a week later. The other four, at a month of age are doing fine and starting to show some color. They were clear at birth; now they are tan. One of the fry is pictured below. Three-quarters of an inch in length.

In November 2007 I started a New Topic about my Cyathopharynx foai Sibwesa (a featherfin) that I had purchased 19-Oct-2007. The thread was getting kind of long but I wanted to update everyone so I thought I would start fresh. The ten fish (genders unknown – three to four inches in length) were in a 180 gallon with Cyprichromis Utinta. A month later two males started to color up and nest build. I was excited December 23 when one female was holding but awoke Christmas morning disappointed that the eggs were gone. But delight again December 29th when another female was holding. She is close to four inches in length. I have read that these fish don’t always hold well. I don’t have a tumbler and won’t strip fish until after two weeks; preferably longer. I feel like I have been holding my breath since then. Well, January 17th I stripped the female after 19 days and got 21 fry. They were very active a few minutes later, swimming all around. I have them – the fry – in a 33 gallon tank. I post below a picture of an adult male, the holding female, and fry at 30 minutes after release.

I have three Eheims included a used 2217 that has run flawlessly for three years. Who knows how old it was when I bought it. I give it a rinse every three months. I have never taken it apart or serviced it in any way. Maybe I should but it just keeps on going.

Interesting pictures. Thank you for sharing that.

Holy Macro those are the greatest pictures!!!!

As a hobby, where does tropical fish rank? I am not asking you to compare it to family, work, spiritual pursuits, and so on. Simply as a hobby compared to other leisure activities, sports, collectibles, or whatever. I know it could fluctuate from month to month. For example, I like camping and it probably takes precedence over my fish in June, July, and August; but try to make an estimate over a twelve month period. It might be interesting to hear what your top three hobbies are to see if there are any commonalities among fish collectors. My other main hobbies are photography, hiking, and gardening.

I continue my saga or is it nursery story? (Working Title: Fee Fie FOAI Fum) - Yesterday another female was found holding so I snapped a picture. Last week a female held for only two days. Picture is posted below.

I have always loved C. moorii (Blue Dolphins). A few years ago I had some juveniles that I raised to breeding size and that was exciting. But I wanted to try raising some from birth to breeding size to see how long it would take. In the past I had only raised Dolphin fry for two to six months and then sold them. I find they grow really slowly compared to many African Cichlids – especially at the beginning. They seem to take forever to get to two inches. Then they seem to take off in growth between two inches and four inches – then they taper off from four inches to maturity. Well, I can now answer my own question. It took 20 months from release to first spawn. This month I had a spawn from a group of six. Contrast that with some saulosi fry that I raised from birth to first spawn in well under a year. Most people that want to breed fish buy adult proven breeders or juveniles that are halfway there. Do any of you have experience from “cradle to motherhood” with your fish? I know Frontosas take a long time. Mine took 18 months from the time they were 4-6 inches long to breed so I am sure they were over two years of age.