flaveolus and company

[Willem Heijns]

Now that the 600g is repaired (it is, really) I'll start a new topic on its inhabitants. They are:

2 males and 4 females of Amphilophus flaveolus (the Apoyo amarillo)
a group of 5 Petenia splendida (supposedly from Río Lacanjá, México)
a wild pair of 'Heros' sieboldii (from Río Gariche, Panamá).
Later additions will include 'Heros' beani and Parachromis friedrichsthalii (La Ceiba variant).

The flaveolus settled in nicely, one male becoming dominant over the other and starting to court the females. Petenia splendida are still juveniles (4"size). But Murphy has decided to go for the sieboldii. The male (6") is showing signs of the same disease that killed all my wesseli. But in a 600g it is impossible to catch a 6" fish without tearing the whole thing down. And I am not prepared to do that (yet again). Fingers crossed, I guess....

[Ken Grimmett]

Willem,

FYI
I just found his site, it lists alot of papers on fish diease and treatment.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/topic_wild_fish
Also, check your silicone tube package. Some sealents have a mold inhibitor that you have to read the fine print to see. This is toxic to the fish.

[Willem Heijns]

Believe it or not, there is also some good news. Just now I found that a flaveolus pair has spawned in one of the caves.

[Ken Grimmett]

Cool...

[Willem Heijns]

And more good news!

After not having seen the sieboldii male for two weeks, he turned up again yesterday. And guess what: his wound has almost healed. All by itself. No medicine from me. His mate is so glad she's showing breeding colours all the time. And he is about to respond to that.

Too bad the flaveolus didn't succeed with their first spawn. About 300 were freeswimming but now they have all gone and the female is fighting with another female that is trying to take her place. Almost like in the wild!

[Willem Heijns]

It finally happened! After having completely recovered from the supposedly lethal disease the sieboldii male is now father to maybe a hundred tiny fry. His breeding colours are the same as those of the female (a sooty black dorsal side and a white belly (except for the chin which is also black), really a sight to behold!

[Willem Heijns]

Trouble brewing.....?

With the sieboldii pair somewhere in the middle of the tank, both left and right corners of it are now home to a batch of flaveolus fry. The sieboldii female travels far to chase them (and Petenia for that matter) off, but as her school of youngsters gets more widely spread I don't think she'll manage in the end. Or will she?

[Willem Heijns]

Parental care in sieboldii is much stronger than I expected. After four weeks the pair still have their fry swimming about without too many losses. They have even grown to a size of .5 to .75 inch.

One of the flaveolus pairs have lost their brood and are hiding. The second pair still has some, but I don't think they will last much longer. Petenia is very hungry.

[Willem Heijns]

Six weeks since freeswimming and the sieboldii pair have hardly lost one youngster. They have grown to over an inch. I would say they are independent.

But how am I ever going to get them out of there?

[Lisachromis]

That'll teach you to have large tanks! just kidding... I'm jealous.

Maybe you need to look into some fish traps?

[Piotr Koba]

Maybe you need to look into some fish traps?

Best are made from 1,5Ltr. PET bottles

[Willem Heijns]

I've had some experience with fishtraps in the past. Problem is many cichlids are too smart. They either don't enter the trap or they find the exit in no time. Clever devils...

[Piotr Koba]

I always use the same traps as TK421 (in topic you shown). Even adult Apistos (very clever fish) were easy to catch using this. Hope it helps.

[Willem Heijns]

The sieboldii pair seem to have reached the end of their brood cycle. Just now I noticed them paying more attention to each other than to their progeny. They have started courting and are preparing a site for the next spawn. The young are staying close to their parents and are thus still enjoying their protection, albeit this protection is more aimed at the site than at the fry. I wonder how long it will take Petenia to find out about this......

[Sandman]

I have a young pair of Sieboldii that have just spawned. It was interesting how the female took on the spawning colors much sooner than the male. I have to say their breeding colors are much more striking "in person " than photographs. I am enjoying watching this pair interact with the other cichlids in the tank.

[Willem Heijns]

A change of plans. The sieboldii pair have decided not to start a new brood just yet. So the male is hiding behind the rocks and the female is still (weakly) defending the leftover fry, which have grown to well over an inch. These fry are not staying together anymore; I see them pop up all over the tank.

This would mean a good chanche for Petenia it seems. Not the case, for two reasons:

1. the fry are really independent and quick to hide when Petenia approaches
2. two new batches of flaveolus fry have appeared, one on either side of the tank.

Petenia are busy watching those newborns. As flaveolus doesn't have a parental care half as good as sieboldii, I suspect these fry to have disappeared by next week.

[Willem Heijns]

The fantastic broodcare of sieboldii apparently has a downside. Two days ago the male disappeared behind the rocks, leaving his offspring to the female and only showing his face every once in a while. This afternoon he showed himself completely.... and completely dead. No external damage, no injuries, just dead.

[aquaticwonders]

Just lost my male Sieboldii, the same way. He started hiding around the rear of the tank and became lethargic. I removed him and noticed he was bleedin from his anus. He ied a few hours later in the quaranteen tank

On a brighter note, i have acquired one of the Flaveolus pairs that you brought over to the UK for the EACG auction. I think they will spawn very soon.

Wayne

[aquaticwonders]

On a brighter note, i have acquired one of the Flaveolus pairs that you brought over to the UK for the EACG auction. I think they will spawn very soon.

Wayne

Flaveolus spawned today!!

[Willem Heijns]

The sieboldii youngsters are doing fine. Without the care of their parents they are now forced to live in nooks and crannies to avoid predation by Petenia splendida. Those five fish-eaters are growing rapidly, but not on sieboldii. On my daily feeding round today I noticed at least seven sieboldii at the same time. I assume there are some 15 of them left.