Pel. roloffi spawning

[tjudy]

Thanks to Kevin I have a pair of roloffi now. My intention was to split the pair up amongst my captive bred specimens, but the pair decided to spawn.

I placed a captive bred male in with the pair. They immediately attacked him and defended a territory (the whole tank). A day later they spawned.

Female in cave:

http://home.centurytel.net/TedDebJudy/FishImages/fem roloffi cave.jpg

Male near cave hiding/guarding:

http://home.centurytel.net/TedDebJudy/FishImages/male rolof guard.jpg

 

[dhm325]

Hello Ted. Congratulations on the spawn. Please tell me what your water parameters were. I have a pair in a 30 galllon tank with some dithers fish. But I can't get them to spawn.


Thanks. David.

 

[tjudy]

In order for the spawn to be successful, I suspect that the carbonate hardness needs to be lower than 3 and the mS (ppm TDS) reading needs to be very low. Right now the water conditions in their tank are: mS 130 (65 ppm TDS), pH 6.2, KH = 0, temp = 76 F. I have been changing 30% daily the past two days with pure RO/DI to get the mS down to below 50.

The trigger to get them to spawn was to place another P. roloffi in the tank. Try any other Pelvicachromis species. Even a P. pulcher should work. Set up a cave that is full of gravel. The act of excavating the gravel is an important part of their courtship and breeding preparation.

 

[tjudy]

Here is better... but not great... picture of the female.

http://home.centurytel.net/TedDebJudy/FishImages/fem roloffi June 23.jpg

 

[dhm325]

Hey Ted, I did a 20%-30% water change daily with pure RO water. Yesterday I found free swimming Rollofi fry. However the pH had crashed to about 5.0. I plan to gradually increase the pH to around 6.2 over the next 2 weeks. I hope this won't injure the fry. Do you have any idea what pH level will produce a roughly even sex ratio? I am assuming that the sex of the fry will be determined during the first 3-4 weeks of life. I have also read that it is actully the first 6 weeks, but I am not sure.

BTW I think that Rollofi fry are smaller than P. taenaitus fry. Or is it just my imagination?

Thanks for your help Ted.

David

 

[tjudy]

The low pH might be necessary. I am not well versed on pH levels and sex ratio, but I am pretty sure that the pH has to be lower than 5 to really skew the ratio.

 

[Blackshark667766]

Pelvicachromis rollofi

Ah yes; "yellow kribs". Haven't seen them on sale for a while (about three years) :!: I spent about a decade in Sierra Leone back in the 80's, yet never even saw a Tilapia mariae! We used to help our the local fishermen down at Lumley beach with their marine catch by pulling in their net; sometimes very much effort with very little reward.

It's amazing to think about all that, after so many years. Are yours actually (stated in context) from Sierra Leone or from Liberia?

Sorry if I can't help over water conditions: by the time I left, most of us drank water straight 8O from the tap (we were virtually immune to mosquitos too! :lol , well perhaps not :lol: .

If I remember right, most of the soil was made up of a sort of unforgiving red clay punctuated by massive rocks made of gabbro (a kind of granite which (unusually) changes colour over time to turn :!: deep black. Only really hardy plants grew there, without assistance


I don't really recall river water tasting as low as 5.5 ("sour") and as for sex ratios I firmly believe that this has a much to do with "hardness" as anything else. I've just lost me old male subocelattus (about 4yo) but still
have two pairs of F2 P.taeniatus sp "Mogwue"(??). Even at 1.5cm they are beginning to look truly beautiful - not that they didn't in the first place :!: . win some lose some :x :lol:. Excellent pictures by the way: art like that is somehow beyond me, but I'm trying,



take care,



Nick

 

[Blackshark667766]

Pelvicachromis pic

Here is better... but not great... picture of the female.

http://home.centurytel.net/TedDebJudy/FishImages/fem roloffi June 23.jpg

Not great Who are you trying to kid :?: Snaps of that quality can take literally hours to wait for and years of experience of practice to wait for in the first place :!:

Perhaps you are just encouraging "hopeless" amateurs like me to have a go: I accept the challenge. Give me a wee while to "figure out" the instruction manual (seriously) :!: I will try not to disappoint you :!:



Nick