Rainbow Cichlid Spawn!

Tony

Tony

Alligator Snapping Turtle/Past Pres
So I've had a big pair of rainbow cichlids in my planted 45 for about 6 months or so that I got from Holly (thanks again!). The male is gorgeous, but doesn't always get along with the female.

Holly brought over 3 more juveniles the other day and I dropped them into a planted 20 high. 4 days later....

563493_3005580625823_1451612197_32176150_1361065767_n.jpg


They're dong a good job at protecting their eggs so far. Only a couple that have gone white. Keeping my fingers crossed they will be herding fry pretty soon.
 
rich_one

rich_one

Members
Nice work! My rainbows do the whole show, but then never actually spawn... dangit! LOL... congrats!

-Rich
 
hollyfish2000

hollyfish2000

Members
Yah Tony! Now, to give them a fighting chance at matrimonial harmony, pull the third wheel out of there. Maybe give it to the big guy up above and see if she's more amenable. (Unless the flat rock has done the trick by now!) :D
 
Tony

Tony

Alligator Snapping Turtle/Past Pres
Success!

About the middle of last week, all of the eggs disappeared. I assumed it was because I removed some fish from the tank and upset the parents and they ate/abandoned the eggs/wigglers. I was wrong. :)

Checked the tank yesterday and there's mom - herding the fry around the tank. So far, I've only seen her act aggressively towards dad... no tolerance for him or the other couple of fish in the tank. Is this fairly typical? Do the males sometimes assist in fry defense/raising?

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hollyfish2000

hollyfish2000

Members
yeah, Tony, I've done the same thing. They hide them wrigglers and you think they're gone until there are hundreds of fry swimming around.

BTW, I feed mine First Bites

Yes, it's common for them to not co-parent, although they are supposed to, and sometimes do. But my big male, more often then not, drives the female away and won't let her stand guard. Hopefully your young ones will get the drill next time.

My big boy is, once again, guarding wrigglers. he's a machine, that one!! :p
 
hollyfish2000

hollyfish2000

Members
Tony -- how did it turn out. Did any babies survive. I've ever only had one fry that survived in the tank without being pulled out and raised separately.
 
Tony

Tony

Alligator Snapping Turtle/Past Pres
Yeah... they disappeared. :s

Will pull some next time they get busy.
 
mchambers

mchambers

Former CCA member
The rainbow fry I got from Hollyfish in mid-December are now quite large, fully colored, and behaving more assertively. They also gobble up as much food as possible. I walk into the tank area and they come to the front of the tank, demanding food. I wouldn't be surprised to see eggs soon, although I may need to move some of them to a different tank to give them more room.
 
hollyfish2000

hollyfish2000

Members
Hey Matt. Glad to hear it! The three "babies" I put back in the 58 with Mom and Dad are pretty large, too, although not fully colored up. I think Dad puts the kibosh on that. One is starting to sport trailers, though, so he's a boy. Then I also have the one who survived on his own. He went from tetra size to half dollar size in just a few weeks. I'll have to pull some soon. My 58 can only handle two pair, unfortunately. Aren't they a great fish!!:wub:
 
dogofwar

dogofwar

CCA Members
I got some little ones from Christine a couple of months ago and they're doing great. They'll start breeding at about 2.5"...

Rainbows have always been one of my favorites!

Matt
 
mchambers

mchambers

Former CCA member
Trailers?

hollyfish2000 said:
Hey Matt. Glad to hear it! The three "babies" I put back in the 58 with Mom and Dad are pretty large, too, although not fully colored up. I think Dad puts the kibosh on that. One is starting to sport trailers, though, so he's a boy. Then I also have the one who survived on his own. He went from tetra size to half dollar size in just a few weeks. I'll have to pull some soon. My 58 can only handle two pair, unfortunately. Aren't they a great fish!!:wub:
Click to expand...
Are trailers a reliable way to determine gender? Which fins have the trailers? I've been assuming that my two biggest and brightest are male, since they all came from the same spawn.

Great, detailed article on rainbow cichlids here, by Paul Loiselle.

http://www.cichlidae.com/article.php?id=50

Among other things, it explains why they are so tolerant of varying water conditions.
 
hollyfish2000

hollyfish2000

Members
Well ignore the "he's not coloring up" comment. The little boy with the trailers is now guarding eggs with this chosen female. Both are doing a super job and picked a good spot. Unfortunately, Big Daddy is also guarding wrigglers (which I didn't realize and did a water change today so wiped out many of them.) He always insists on raising them alone, so mom is wandering around the tank, as is the third wheel of the babies. The little baby about the size of a quarter isn't bothering anyone and OK for now. From experience, having two pairs in a 58 can be difficult. Not sure what I"m going to do. Great little fish, though.

Yes,. the boys get long trailers on the dorsal and anal fins, and the girls don't. The boys are bigger and more colorful, too, but the size difference seems to manifest later on in their maturity. See the trailers on my big boy.

boy.jpg
 
hollyfish2000

hollyfish2000

Members
Are you sure they're gone? i've never had that happen. Sometimes, though, we think they're gone but they've just hatched into wrigglers and the parents have moved the wrigglers elsewhere in the tank.
 
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