The last few days there has been an abundance of chasing and shivering going on in my 55 gallon tank. I have 3 very large pits dug out of the substrate. I know which males are doing the renovating so I've been watching hoping to catch them during the breeding process.
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| Latest holding female |
It seems my Cichlids are doing most of their spawning right after breakfast as that's the time I've managed to catch them, allowing me to watch this wonderful event. However, this morning after feeding them I sat to watch them and noticed a new holding female. Luckily I take lots of photos because I looked back and can see the date of my photos and can then tell approximately when they bred. This photo was taken January 28th so I know she's been holding for at least 9 days. Looking at her today I can see her young have hatched as her jaw is bigger now and darker as the fry are darker than the eggs.
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| Proud Poppa |
I was googling "holding females brooding in the same tank" but came up with very little information. It seems there is no hard and fast rule to go by. By watching Stella, and her displays of aggression I have a feeling she wouldn't want to share her space with anyone. I decided to do a little test. I moved a Pleco into her tank and just watched her reaction. At first I thought she was ok with the new room-mate but, within a few minutes, every time she spotted him she would lunge at him. He's quick and hides well so I'm not worried about him surviving but I can definitely see Stella is not going to accept a room-mate.
With Stella being on day 16, I will wait until she spits her babies out on her own before moving her into a recuperation tank. Once she has spit and I have her moved then I'll move the other holding female into the brooding tank with Stella's fry. Since she's already been holding for 9 days I need to move her today. The perfect time to move holding females is between 7-10 days in. Any sooner and you risk them spitting out the eggs and later the fry could be injured or swallowed.
Time for me to set up a second brooding tank.
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