toddnbecka
05-30-2010, 03:22 AM
I tore down the 75 growout tank today to eradicate the duckweed and thin out the frogbit. In the process I took a head count of the cichlids, and found all 19 peacocks and mbuna still swimming and breathing. I also found 2 tiny new BN fry. Since the common BN I tossed into the tank to grow out are still much too young to spawn, they have to be fry from one of the monster males. I've found a male with a clutch of eggs in a cave twice, but both times were when I was cleaning the tank and disturbed him. That, along with all the growing cichlids, tends to discourage survival of the fry even if the male isn't so freaked out he abandons the eggs.
There is a small chance they could be the offspring of a red male and a common female. I moved 3 common females out of the tank today that were large enough to spawn. One was actually the same size as the females of the unidentified species, but the pattern they display is slightly different and they have longer snouts than the commons. I'm inclined to believe the 2 fry are from the larger males though. It's only been a few weeks since the last time I disturbed the male with the clutch of eggs, and the red males haven't been hanging around the slate caves.
The 2 tiny ones were moved into the 38, joining the 60+ red BN fry that hatched last week, the wee Synodontis multi, and the L-10a breeding group and juvies growing out. I also tossed the 3 larger common BN females into the 38 because it's much easier to get them back out of that tank.
Here's a couple older pics of the gnarly BN daddy:
[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]
[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]
He's actually almost as long as the quickfilter cartridge, a couple inches larger than a common BN male:
[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]
I have an extra male available if anyone is interested. They're just as good as the common BN for cleaning up algae. The glass was so overgrown you couldn't see into the tank when they arrived, and 3 days later the tank was spotless.
There is a small chance they could be the offspring of a red male and a common female. I moved 3 common females out of the tank today that were large enough to spawn. One was actually the same size as the females of the unidentified species, but the pattern they display is slightly different and they have longer snouts than the commons. I'm inclined to believe the 2 fry are from the larger males though. It's only been a few weeks since the last time I disturbed the male with the clutch of eggs, and the red males haven't been hanging around the slate caves.
The 2 tiny ones were moved into the 38, joining the 60+ red BN fry that hatched last week, the wee Synodontis multi, and the L-10a breeding group and juvies growing out. I also tossed the 3 larger common BN females into the 38 because it's much easier to get them back out of that tank.
Here's a couple older pics of the gnarly BN daddy:
[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]
[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]
He's actually almost as long as the quickfilter cartridge, a couple inches larger than a common BN male:
[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]
I have an extra male available if anyone is interested. They're just as good as the common BN for cleaning up algae. The glass was so overgrown you couldn't see into the tank when they arrived, and 3 days later the tank was spotless.