- Messages
- 2,822
- Location
- Stoughton, WI
I am trying to crack the Parananochromis breeding mystery. Other than P. caudofasciatus, very few of the species have been successfully spawned in the aquarium... at least not consistantly.
We observed in Gabon that the Parananochromis are strongly associated with muddy bottoms and leaf litter... deep leaf litter is some cases. One of the reasons they are not so easy to collect is that they may infact be 'litter divers' and bury themselves deep into the substrate to escape predation (aka... the nets). In one case, P. ornatus, to even catch a few we had to scoop up mud and leaves from slow sections of the stream and pick through it.
I am trying to come up with a way to mimic this biotope. I suspect that the fish actually spawn in pocket in the litter under pieces of wood or rocks that are covered in the pile. I think they like to burrow into plant matter to make caves. I had several caves in the tanks thet were getting no interest, until I stuffed all the caves with long fiber sphagnum moss. Now the females and males both dig into the caves... but after a few weeks there has not been a spawn that I know of.
I am going to try litterally filling a tank 1/2 deep with oak and catappa leaves over these caves and driftwood. The two species I am keeping are P. gabonicus and P. brevirostris. I will keep you updated.
We observed in Gabon that the Parananochromis are strongly associated with muddy bottoms and leaf litter... deep leaf litter is some cases. One of the reasons they are not so easy to collect is that they may infact be 'litter divers' and bury themselves deep into the substrate to escape predation (aka... the nets). In one case, P. ornatus, to even catch a few we had to scoop up mud and leaves from slow sections of the stream and pick through it.
I am trying to come up with a way to mimic this biotope. I suspect that the fish actually spawn in pocket in the litter under pieces of wood or rocks that are covered in the pile. I think they like to burrow into plant matter to make caves. I had several caves in the tanks thet were getting no interest, until I stuffed all the caves with long fiber sphagnum moss. Now the females and males both dig into the caves... but after a few weeks there has not been a spawn that I know of.
I am going to try litterally filling a tank 1/2 deep with oak and catappa leaves over these caves and driftwood. The two species I am keeping are P. gabonicus and P. brevirostris. I will keep you updated.