goeph. brasiliensis breeding!

[The reginator]

My geophagus brasiliensis have just finished with laying their first clutch, the female was laying a bunch of eggs at a time, the male fertilised them then the female scooped them into her mouth, which is a little different to what I've read. I was under the impression that the eggs were laid on some kind of flat suface, covered in sand for a couple of days then the male would scoop them up and guard them, so my question is, has something gone wrong or was the info I had wrong. If they are on track and doing what they should be, how long before I see the little 'uns? Any special care needed?

 

[retro_gk]

Are they in a tank by themselves or with other fish?

 

[The reginator]

They're in a breeder tank on their own apart from a pleco (the cleaner) who stays out of sight most of the time, he can be removed if they'd be better without him....

 

[retro_gk]

The reason I asked is because G. braziliensis is a substrate spawner, and is not known to mouthbrood. Unless your fish is from the G. steindachneri complex, who are immediate mouthbrooders, something probably spooked them.

Are you sure the female is mouthbrooding? Do you have pics of your fish?

 

[The reginator]

I've never been entirely convinced that they're braziliensis tbh, look a bit different from the pics in my book. Here's a photo of the male:

The female is currently hidden under some bogwood, and seems to still have the eggs in her mouth (you can kind of see them through the skin) and is moving them about...

 

[Mike Wise]

You have "Geophagus" steindachneri, the Red-hump Geophagus. As Retro_gk writes, it is an immediate mouthbrooder It can grow over 8"/25 cm long - certainly not a dwarf cichlid.

 

[retro_gk]

Mike is spot on. The steep cranial profile is a dead give away.

 

[The reginator]

Oh well, like I said, thought it was a bit odd-looking, were a gift from someone moving continents, they must be about 4.5" at the moment so I wasn't expecting an 8" fish fully grown! So, despite them not being dwarfs, do you have any idea how long before I see fry, or if not a link to a forum dealing with the larger sized cichlids that could be usefull? Many thanks..

 

[retro_gk]

The eggs will hatch in about 2 days and the fry will be free swimming about a week to 10 days after that.