cichlid breeding mound

[snapdragon9]

Has anyone ever heard of anyone replicating a cichlid breeding mound in any aquarium? (I would imagine it would have to be a large tank!)

[sailor]

If the cichlids are in an appropriate size tank, in the right water conditions & stocking levels, they are going to make the breeding mound themselves. If all the proper criteria are not met and your fish are not ready, I don't think a man made mound would help the situation any.

What type of fish, size tank etc are you talking about.
I know you can aid in the breeding & spawning with caves etc with calvis and comps, but it still boils down to the other requirements being met.

[Tooch]

Pouring in some cold water in the tank makes them think it just rained as well, which is supposed to help... But like sailor said, other requirements need to be met

[snapdragon9]

I stumbled upon pictures of actual breeding mounds online, and some of them look large and elaborate; just wasn't sure if that could be replicated very easily...just wondering, thanks!

[plow]

what is a breeding mound? :confused:

[sailor]

Some species of african cichlids build a ring like nest on a higher spot in the substrate. It makes it harder for some of the egg stealers to find and also easier to defend by the parents.

[AquaBANG]

this video of lake malawi starts with a display of breeding mounds which are upto 6' in diameter. check it out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bb7q3L7uVM&feature=related

[sailor]

Yes that's a great video. Jewel of the rift is awsome as well.

[Tolley]

I know nothing about lake malawi so that vid was awesome thanks sudhirbits!!!

[AquaBANG]

my pleasure. check out the tanganyika videos posted by algenco. they are awesome.

[RainMan]

I like those vids... my cichlids have always made their own breeding mounds(bowls) or they will use the lower caves. I don't think making them is going to help. If anything... they are going to think it's another fish's breeding area and reject it. Totally guessing on that one though???

I've seen pumpkin seeds, perch, and blue gill do this around the edges of the lakes where I live. I can kayak right over top of them and look in. They are pretty cool! North american cichlids. :) Anyway, the mounds can be anywhere from 1' to 3' in diameter. It's about twice the size of the fish at least. It would be hard to do that in a small tank.

[Dixie]

I've seen them in ponds and rivers here in West Virginia. I'm not really sure the OP was going to try to make one lol but I did. I sunk a little glass shallow bowl down in the gravel then I put an aquarium ornament that looks like a tree stump with several openings for the fish to swim in and out of on top of the bowl (for some privacy lol). No babies yet but I'm not really trying what I call hard either lol. Since I have gravel instead of sand I thought if they wanted to do the baby thing, it would be easier to pick up eggs from the bowl than pick through the gravel. I made a couple caves with flat rock bottoms too, just in case they would want to. No pressure though lmbo.