L. Brichardi

[herpetology!]

Hey, I have a rather interesting 30 Gal tank. It is unheated, so stands at about 20 C. It has 3 adult paddletail newts and is heavily planted on one side, with a female flag fish (my male just died randomly the other day but wasn't eaten) that lives in the plants. I have 1 male betta that is doing well in there, as the newts don't hunt near the surface.

I also have 2 adult L. brichardi who have made a nest in one of the caves I made. They were put initially to get eaten by the newts, but instead tore the poop out of my Labeo species (black shark) who is living with my dads pond fish, since he will end up out there anyways next season.

I am curious as to if I can tell what gender these brichardi are. I really want them to spawn so the newts can eat the babies. The adults don't fight ever, the one with longer strands on the tail I believe is male as he excavated a cave. The other one might be male or female, it's hard to say. Is there behavior that would help indicate the gender?

[jvision]

Birchardi tend to form a pair bond, so if these fish are working together, chances are they are male & female. You'll like need to get the temp up to close to 80F on a consistent basis for them to spawn, as they ate from Lake Tanganyika - a huge tropical lake that has very little fluctuation.

[herpetology!]

I can't raise the temps. If anything, it's actually too warm for the newts at room temps. Do you think they will spawn despite the lower temps? I've had feeder guppies reproduce in there before. How can I tell if they are working together versus just ignoring each other?

What type of timeline do they have for breeding? I haven't seen any eggs laid anywhere yet.

Edited February 17, 2012 by herpetology!