Ptychochromis sp. East Coast Gold spawn

[Vincent Fu]

I just returned from being out of town and saw that my Ptychochromis sp. East Coast Gold had spawned:



The eggs actually resemble the fine gravel I have in the tank.

Before I left I saw that two females appeared to be defending territories, but I had some Ptychochromoides katria bullies in the tank with them. I removed the bullies just before leaving town and was rewarded with this spawn upon my return. I bought the East Coast Gold in January after they had spent a few months in the store's tanks. I believe they originally came from Old World Exotic Fish. I grew them out in a bare-bottom 55 gallon tank and just recently transferred them into their new 60-gallon 48x15x17 home. I have two 3.5" SL males, the female that spawned looks to be just a bit shy of 3" SL, and the others are 2-3" SL.

[Lisachromis]

Congrats! Hope the spawn works for you.

[Dan Woodland]

Congrats! Sometimes I think the fish actually wait for us to leave before spawning. Dan

[Bas Pels]

If I ever heard an excuse for having another hollyday it is this one ! However, you might be right, it does work that way.

[Vincent Fu]

I was beginning to think that the spawn was all gone because for the past few days I could only see a handful of larvae bopping around. But it turned out that the larvae were just well hidden. I got last night and found some free swimming fry:





I siphoned about 2/3 out to put into a fry tank.

[Tom Williams]

This is good to see!!! Nice Saros to.

[Lisachromis]

Very nice!

[Vincent Fu]

When it rains it pours.

I had another pair that spawned but I just let the fry get eaten. Then the original pair spawned again on Wednesday. This is the female guarding the eggs:



I still have a 10 gallon tank full of fry from the first spawn:



I hope I don't have to use all of them as feeders.

Nice Saros to.

Do you mean the plants? They're plastic.

[Marco Arroyo]

Thats very nice, congratulations

[Vincent Fu]

I caught them in the act this time:

[babyjax13]

Thanks for the fish!