KimW Posted March 22, 2011 Report Share Posted March 22, 2011 Have a couple of questions for anyone who breeds these...... I have had a pair of these stuck in my malawi tank for months and months, never knowing they were a breeding pair....until last night. I now have both parents being quite defensive of their "corner" of the tank, and a whole bunch of itty bitty little fry swimming just at the edge of the driftwood & rocks in that corner. Is there anything special I have to do to make sure these lil guys survive? or will the parents take care of that, and if so at what point do they stop looking after the young? Also should I be concerned about getting them out of that tank at a certain point, and move them into a grow out tank? ( they are currently in a 90G tank) I ask mainly because all my malawi's I haven't really been concerned about breeding so if they do I just let the babies fend for themselves, but these guys I like and my sister would like some of them so I kinda want to grow them out to an appropriate size. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishkabod Posted March 23, 2011 Report Share Posted March 23, 2011 From what i remember on shellies. The parents keep them safe for a while. I'm fairly sure that if you have a bunch of extra shells nearby and in a group elsewhere you should be perfectly fine. Once they babies are of a good size and have picked their own shell you can scare them into it with a net and easily remove them later. Good luck L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rayfong Posted March 23, 2011 Report Share Posted March 23, 2011 Neolamprologus pulcher are not shell dwellers though, they are rock dwellers. They are interesting because the adults take care of the young until the next spawn. The surviving fry will also help with caring for the young. So eventually you will have a few generations taking care of the young which can make it difficult for the other inhabitants of the tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingin' It Posted March 23, 2011 Report Share Posted March 23, 2011 I used to have a breeding pair of these fish, and while they were beautiful fish, they were also very aggressive towards any other fish who dared come into their territory. You might be suprised to see how many actually survive even if you don't transfer the fry to a grow out tank. It is kinda cool to watch the colony grow and protect itself. Good Luck & Congrats! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vince0 Posted March 23, 2011 Report Share Posted March 23, 2011 i used to have 2 pairs of these in a 55g tank, both pairs spawned every three weeks and I eventually ended up with over 300 fry from multiple spawns. Very nice fish to keep although they are better to keep alone, so as to keep the population under control. The colony will eventually take over the tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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