Breeding Hints and Tips
No Stripping. Observing the Mouthbrooding Care of Fossorochromis rostratus
Written by Tuesday, 30 October 2001 00:00
Note: the "No stripping" in the title is a referral of a common practice done by many professional breeders. It's sad how a magnificent reproduction technique is abused in order to gain as much as possible fish with the least possible effort. The successful mouth breeding strategy, an evolution of millions of years, that allows theses cichlids to have less, but larger juveniles, is really magnificent to observe. That's what this article is about: the wonderful after care of the fry! It's also evident that not all Malawi Cichlids keep the juveniles in their mouth that long. Mbuna fry instinctively search for the first shelter they can find when they are released. On the other hand (how ironically) some of the large predators like Tyrannochromis nigriventer keep their fry until they reached a size of more than 3cm! In the lake some Copadichromis sp. release their juveniles all at once in the open water to ensure a better survival rate.
Each one of us who has kept large haplochromid cichlids in a well decorated and decent sized tank for some while, probably has observed and admired the magnificent spawning behaviour of these beauties. Usually this event is announced a few days in advance by the displaying, courting and chasing of the lucky dominant male. The mating procedure can take a few hours and the result is a happy exhausted male and a female carrying many fertilized eggs. In normal conditions (tank temperature about 28°C / 82F) the eggs will hatch in the female’s mouth after a week and in about three weeks the fry is ready to be released. But as the female mostly stays in the main tank the juveniles will end up as a quick snack for the other cichlids in the neighbourhood and there will only remain one or two lucky survivors that seek shelter between the nearby rocks.
Have you ever observed the extended mouth brooding care of a female Hap in a separate tank? Most probably you didn't see it yet , as this requires a large tank (minimum 200L / 50USgal for large Haps) with normal decoration. I used a 300L (80USgal) and decorated it with a relative thin layer of sand, a few small rocks and a one piece of large PVC tube for hiding. This tube was positioned in such a way that I could see and photograph the female and her fry. As a filter I used an Eheim professional interval canister with integrated heating. After filling with water of 28°C (82F), the tank was cycled for a few days to be sure it was OK to transfer the female. This filter was ran in perfectly because it was hooked up to the main tank since I used it in the 13th ABCV show.
Soon after the female relaxed after her transfer, she took them back into her mouth.
Transfer time! As it takes a while for the cichlids to get awake, it’s relatively easy to catch them early in the morning when the lights are still off. As I knew where she usually sleeps the female was netted in no time. I carefully transported her to the new tank in the net to stress her as little as possible. Once I released her I nevertheless noticed that 2 of the numerous fry accidentally got out of the mouth. Luckily the mother relaxed after an hour or 2 and grabbed the fugitives back into her mouth. At this stage the fry were 1.5 week old.
To my surprise the female already released the youngsters the next day. It was extremely quiet in front of her tank, as we were all sitting outside due to the nice and warm weather. It was a wonderful sight. All these tiny mini-cichlids were swimming in a swarm around the mother! They were so numerous that I really couldn't count them. This was a sign for me to start feeding. I took some pieces of Cyclops out of the freezer and threw them gently in the tank. These cubes of food were interpreted as a clear threat for the mother and she immediately started collecting the fry, also an amazing sight! As soon as she opened her mouth the juveniles rushed in as soon as they could!
The next day when I added food the same thing happened. Again the fry rushed into the female’s mouth as soon as she opened it. This time she released them again after about 20 minutes. Soon they started eating from the small floating Cyclops. I was happily surprised that also the female started eating! As I can read in many messages and emails the females are supposed not to eat during the whole carrying period. She started digging in the sand and under the stones for food while her flock of fry was swarming around her! It’s a magnificent sight seeing her eat while she even manages recognizing fry when she swallows one by accident. It gets spitted out again while the food is eaten. Truly amazing!
The next day she started chasing the fry. Soon I discovered that the caught ones were released again without a scratch. I find it a bit odd and can’t find a real reason for it. Is it just the hunting instinct of the mother and her recognizing (tasting?) the fry preventing to eat them? Is this a learning process for the fry meant to sharpen their alertness?
As soon as she refused to let the juveniles enter her mouth, I removed the female. This was the clear sign that her task was be completely done and she could be returned to her males.
One thing is sure: I had a great fishy time the latest weeks! I can surely recommend trying this as it probably will enjoy you as much as it did to me. All you need is a second decent tank and a known after caring Hap.
Photos by the author.
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