Pufferpack Posted January 31, 2005 Report Share Posted January 31, 2005 (edited) I picked up 4 little Dafodil Cichlids at the CAS auction in November and gave them a 10 gal tank to themselves, unfortunately it is tucked away in a corner of the basement and tends to get neglected a bit. I now have an algae outbreak that I was planning to clean up this week. Well I went over this morning to start removing and scrubbing some decorations and to my amazement I discovered about 2 dozen fry being guarded by a couple of the females. I guess the cleaning will have to wait. Here are a couple pics I managed to get. Will the algae be a problem, or will the fry feed on the micro-stuff in the algae? Edited January 31, 2005 by Pufferpack Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted January 31, 2005 Report Share Posted January 31, 2005 The algae shouldn't be a problem.I purposely try to grow some algae in my fry tanks.It gives the fry something to eat inbetween feedings. Congrats on the fry :beer: Now that they have started breeding you will soon be over run with babies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beermaster Posted February 1, 2005 Report Share Posted February 1, 2005 Congrats!!!!! :drunk: I can only hope i can feel that excitment soon :smokey: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RD. Posted February 1, 2005 Report Share Posted February 1, 2005 The algae won't be a problem, but I'd suggest removing the two fish that aren't part of the pair, before they get ripped to pieces. These fish become very aggessive once they form a bond, and spawn. In a tank that size it's only a matter of time before the parents make mince meat of the other two adults. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pufferpack Posted February 1, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2005 Glad to hear the algae might be helpful to the little pinheads. These fish become very aggessive once they form a bond, and spawn. Are you sure? I've heard that before, but have also read that the Dafodils form little familys, with the juveniles helping care for successive generations. From what I've seen today the 2 remaining females (# 3, the smallest of the bunch, hasn't been seen for a couple weeks) are watching over the fry while the larger male patrols the rest of the tank. One of the females is much smaller and may be a juvie yet, but I've seen no signs of aggression from any of them yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RD. Posted February 1, 2005 Report Share Posted February 1, 2005 Yes, I'm sure. Once a pair bonds, that's pretty much it for any other fish surviving in the tank, with the exception of their offspring. Once they mate, the successive generations will indeed form family type groups, where older juvies will care for younger fry, but any other adults outside of the 'pair' are usually considered a threat, and are torn to pieces. Right now your fish are still young by the sounds of things, as they mature, even in a 25-40 gallon tank, no other fish will survive. Also, unless you have vented these fish, at that size there is no way to tell one sex apart from another. It's possible that if you only have one male, and 3 females, that the mated pair may allow the other females to remain for the time being, but eventually (especially in a 10 gallon) they will most likely be killed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pufferpack Posted February 1, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2005 Ok, that makes sense. Now with all 3 guarding how will I tell which 2 have paired up (other than waiting for one to die), and would the 3rd be suitable to move into a community tank with guppies and cories, or should I be setting up a spare 5 gal to seperate them? at that size there is no way to tell one sex apart from another The largest (the one I figured was male) has long flowing trailers on the tail fin, while the 2 smaller ones tail fins don't (as you can see in the photos) so I assumed they were female. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RD. Posted February 1, 2005 Report Share Posted February 1, 2005 (edited) If they all came from the same spawn, then the chances are good that the largest fish is a male. With this species the fin length is not much of an indication of sex. The only sure fire method of sexing them is witnessing them spawn, or venting them, as this species is considered monomorphic. I would try to observe this tank to see which 2 fish start building a spawning site for the next group of fry, which should be within the next couple of weeks. Once they start spawning they won't stop, with each successive spawn getting larger. Then remove the other fish. They really don't make good 'community' tank fish, due to their aggressive nature, as well as the fact that they are carnivores. More info here: http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=2246 BTW - in an aquarium these fish can get up to 4+ inches, and are best suited to a 25-30 gallon tank. (a single mated pair) In smaller quarters the male can become overly aggressive towards the female, and sometimes even outright kill her. Edited February 1, 2005 by RD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pufferpack Posted February 3, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2005 ...Damn common names, sorry my bad for not being more specific with the proper name. We seem to be talking about 2 different Daffodils here. While you are referring to Neolamprologus pulcher (Kalambo), the group I have are Neolamprologus brichardi sp. Daffodil From Cichlids.com(Poll, 1974) Also known as "Princess of Burundi". Origin: Lake_Tanganyika (endemic) Synonyms: Lamprologus brichardi, Neolamprologus elongatus, Lamprologus savoryi elongatus Length: 10 cm Tank: 60 cm, Tanganyika_Tanks, caves required Water: 27 degree C, hard, pH 8.0 - 8.5 Food: Omnivore, eats small animals in nature (microorganisms), baby-artemia, brine-shrimp, flake-food Body: very bright, beige color, black stripe on the gills, also a yellow dot Morphs: "Kasegera", "Kiku", "Namansi", "Fulwe Rocks" -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Neolamprologus brichardi is a well-known cichlid from Lake Tanganyika, which is easy to breed and so a good beginner fish for Tanganyika-friends. Neolamprologus brichardi is a typical cave-breeder, so it needs many stones and caves in his tank. They create very big groups in the Lake, where the non-parents (the indivuduals not breeding at the moment) defend the territory of this big group. This is probably because a death of them is not so important as a death of a breeding-parent. If there appeares any danger, the whole group will hide, and if often happens, that fries aren't in the cave of their parents but in a cave of another small family - but this doesn't matter for them. This group-breeding behaviour you can see in your tanks too: After the parents have spawned, the fry are protected by them. When they spawn again, the juveniles are still welcome, they also take part in the care of the new fry. So the old juveniles are protected till they're about 3-4 cm. Then they will either join the group or swim away. If they have joined the group, they will create pairs later and spawn too. But in your tank you should remove the juveniles 3-4 weeks after the parents have spawned three times, because if the tank becomes overcrowded, the parents recognize this and won't lay so many eggs when they spawn the next time. This is a protection of nature. One pair of Neolamprologus brichardi can easily create so many juveniles, that after a time the whole tank is overcrowded by the species Neolamprologus brichardi. They start spawning at a size of 3-4 cm, then only a few eggs, but when they're bigger, they'll lay up to 200 eggs In nature the parents often only become 2-3 years old, because there is too little food, but in tanks they can become older. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RD. Posted February 3, 2005 Report Share Posted February 3, 2005 Exact same species of fish, your data is just older, and many species have been reclassified. The Neolamprologus "daffodil" can come from several different locations in Lake Tanganyika, but they all exhibit the same behavioural traits. (very territorial & aggressive) Here's the same fish as yours, from yet another location. http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=2247 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pufferpack Posted February 3, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2005 Found the Brichardi on the same site http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=1601....same description, no wonder the bulk of the snails in the tank have dissapeared.....Good to know. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RD. Posted February 3, 2005 Report Share Posted February 3, 2005 the group I have are Neolamprologus brichardi sp. Daffodil .............. I honestly can't tell by your pics, but if your fish are sp "daffodil", then they are not brichardi, they are N. pulcher. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pufferpack Posted February 19, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2005 Well all 3 adults are still guarding the fry...and the little horndogs just had another batch of about 20-30 fry yesterday . At this rate I'll be overrun with fry before the first batch are big enough to get rid of . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thefishdude Posted February 22, 2005 Report Share Posted February 22, 2005 Snail Time??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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