pelvicachromis sp.aff.subocellatus

[electric eel]

i was wondering if anyone could share a little information about these guys.i've never spawned any west africans before except h.lifalili.i bought a pair a little over 3 weeks ago.they spawned last tuesday.didn't see the female for 2 days.then she came out for brief periods for a few days.the last 2 days or so she wouldn't come out at all.i feared she was dead but when i put in some live daphnia yesterday she would poke her head out and snag a few.is it normal for her to let the male into the coconut shell?they would usually come to the front of the tank to feed if i gently tapped on the glass.the last couple days when i did this he would go in like he was trying to coax her out but he never has stayed in there.he cruises the tank.i like the personality of these guys a lot they seem more interactive(with me) then my apistos.more like rams maybe?

 

[Mike Wise]

I haven't bred this species since the early 80s. As I recall they breed much like Pv. pulcher. Your fish are behaving normally for a breeding pair with eggs/larvae. About 8 days after spawning the female should come out with the fry. If they are anything like mine, you'll be amazed at the number of fry; 100+ wasn't unusual for my fish. Be ready with live baby brine/microworms for the first week. Then you can start adding powdered flakes to the diet. Keep up the water changes. Good luck!

 

[tjudy]

Unfortunately, this species is very rarely exported anymore... and when they were it was usually in mixed boxes of 'wild krib' (all from Nigeria). You fish came from a line maintained by Anton Lamboj for over a decade. I got some fish from that line indirectly two years ago, and your fish are some of the offspring from my group (based upon who you said you got them from). They are good parents, but unfortunately the fecundity that Mike describes is lost from the line. The largest spawns I see are 25 - 30 fry, but this time of year they spawn regularly. Parental care is typical krib, but these are less aggressive to others of their species. I have had as many as six young adults in a 20 long with two pairs breeding at the same time. Due to the rarity of the fish I remove fry after 4 - 5 days toensure I save them all.

 

[electric eel]

thanks for the info!maybe with a little luck i'll have some to hopefully trade for other fish.i've got a lot of different fry right now and am hatching 3 teaspoons of bbs every day.should have that covered.i noticed today that the female has pushed sand(something she's done recently) up in the mouth of her coconut shell to restrict the opening i'm sure she has fry.

 

[electric eel]

i saw ed's post and thought about my sp. aff.the female was in her coconut shell for a full 10days(except to come out very infrequently to take a bit of food)she emerged with no fry.there is so much cover in the tank that its hard for me to observe them unless they are willing to be looked at(which is usually the case they are'nt shy)was hoping she was keeping fry hidden but i think i would have seen them by now and she's gone back to her "cave" again anyway which i don't think that she would have laid again this soon if she had fry.i'm hoping that its just going to take them a couple tries to get it right.surely she wouldnt have stayed in so long if the eggs had'nt been viable and had hatched?would doing a water change (25%)have caused her to eat the fry(as uninvasive as i could manage)mike wise cautioned me to keep the water clean any thoughts?i've had fish that would eat their fry if i looked at them funny and others that you could do a 50% water change and it did'nt bother them a bit.

 

[tjudy]

If the water change is less than 50% I do not think it would have a negative affect. Can you see into the cave with a flashlight? I arrange my caves to I can see into them and check for fry. If the spawn did fail, do not be overly concerned. My established pair spawns regularly, but is only successful 1/3 of the time. I do not really know why. It may have something to do with the amount of inbreeding there is in this line of fish. All the fish of this species I know of in the USA originate from a pair that spawned for Freshwaterfishfan, and the fish he had were line bred from fish in Anton L's posession.

 

[electric eel]

no i can't see in the cave,ted.as frustrating as it is sometimes i always set up my tanks to try to make the fish feel comfortable(unless it is fish that just spawn readily) rather then make it easy for me to watch them.there are three med. pieces of driftwood arranged in a pile in there with 8 javaferns(i think i'm not much of a plant guy)growing on them.i can see the mouth of the cave(barely) and thought i might have glimpsed a couple fry but was'nt sure.i literally cant see the pair if they choose to hide from me.mike had me hoping that like a 100 fry would come rolling out but i was'nt holding my breath after your comment about the fecundity of the line of fish.