Hemichromis lifalili questions

[Moi_Eater]

I recently obtained two pairs of Hemichromis lifalili. I temporarily put both pairs into my mother's 30L community tank. After a week one of the pairs became very bright red and started attacking all the other fish in the tank. Of course, my mother didn't like this one bit so she called me to come over and get those "mean" fish out of her tank! I removed the dominant pair and put them in their own planted 20H that has one inverted 6-inch terra cotta flower pot with a notch cut out of the rim. The fish have since not returned to their bright red coloration and spend most of their time in the pot. They also have uprooted a majority of the plants.

What is the best way to go about breeding this species? Tank setup? Water conditions? Feeding?

I don't have the exact water parameters for the tank they are currently in but it should be close to or lower than this: pH 7.5, kH 5, gH 5

Any help would be appreciated...

 

[tjudy]

My experience with H. lafalili has been that once you get them goign, they are pretty much going to try to over-populate the world. Hemichromis seem to turn their colors on for two reasons: one to raise fry, and two to display territoriality. Your pair will likely color up when they have fry. If they seem hesitant, try adding a target fish. A smaller jewel cichlid is a great target fish for lafilili. They will likely kill it when they spawn though.

I have also found that letting the pair raise teh first brood as long as possible, to the point of reduced numbers of fry even, will 'cement' the pair. They will be better parents the next time around. When I had them, I found that all I really needed for the LFS was about 15 every other month or so. I only took fry from the parents when I needed to grow some up.

 

[Moi_Eater]

Thanks for the tips Ted. I will try adding a target fish to their tank. I guess I'd better see if my lfs would be interested in any before I let them start the overpopulation of the world!

 

[Randall]

Hemichromis lifalili

Dear Sam,

H. lifalili are not picky when it comes to water chemistry, temperature and diet. I agree with Ted in that they do respond well to target fish, but as Ted warns, this method usually results in a very dead fish.

A reasonably planted and decorated tank with moderate water values at about 76 degrees F. ought to do it for you. I'd recommend performing weekly partial water changes and feeding them rich conditioning foods to get the ball rolling.

H. lifalili love to dig and uproot plants when preparing to spawn, so using plants with well developed root systems is advisable. On occassion, the pair will dig around the roots of a plant to expose them, and deposit their wrigglers on top of and in the roots.

Good luck with them; they're a very beautiful and prolific cichlid.

All the best,

Randall Kohn

 

[Moi_Eater]

Hi Randall,

Thanks for the info. The water temp indoors here usually is about 80-82 F during the day and 76-78 F at night. It gets a little higher on warmer days and a little lower on cooler nights.

 

[Moi_Eater]

Hello again,

I have an update on my pair. I temporarily placed 3 comet goldfish in their tank on Thursday since I didn't have any cichlids immediately available to use as target fish. The next day my fiancee called me at work to tell me that they had killed one of the comets and tore the fins of the others. When I got home from work on Friday I found the pair guarding a bunch of almost free swimming fry!

They had spawned in the flowerpot, and I had no idea that was the reason they were always hiding in there! They had only been in that tank for about a week. I guess they are very prolific!

I am leaving both parents in with the fry as Ted suggested (I removed the two surviving comets). It is very rewarding to watch their parenting behaviors.

Thanks for all your help.