Spawning Hemichromis cristatus

[freshwaterfishfan]

Hi all, I think H. cristatus is the most attractive Hemichromis species but I am having a tough time spawning them. I have two groups of 5 in seperate tanks (55G and 40 G). One is very acidic water pH 5-5.5 and soft and another is slighty harder, more neutral water 6.5-7.0. Temps around 78. They seem to be healthy and even a little nippy towards each other. Have plenty of dither fish (A. thomasi, P. sacramintos, T. joka) that have spawned in the same tanks. I have had decent success with Hemis (spawned guttatus, stellifer, "liffali", even what I think is bimaculatus) but never have had the cristatus even lay eggs.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks
FFF

 

[Mike Wise]

I kept the "Dwarf Forest Jewel" several years ago. I don't know if it was the true H. cristatus. It came from Nigeria. They were not particularly aggressive and readily bred in 20 gallon long aquariums. You might want to try breeding them by themselves.

 

[Lisachromis]

We spawned these in a regular 20 gallon tank. We started with a small group that slowly got smaller as they got ready to spawn. They spawned readily in our local water. pH of about 7.8. The tank had several large rocks, and some plants in it.

Really sucky pic, but this is several years ago and the camera just wasn't up to what I wanted it to do.

 

[Randall]

Hemichromis cristatus

Hello FFF,

Mike and Lisa are right on it. I kept tank-raised Hemichromis cristatus pairs of Nigerian derivation in 20-gallon long tanks, and they spawned consistently. At about 77 degrees F, the water was fairly soft and acidic, although water chemistry is not very important, and the tank was well planted. Perhaps your pairs are not responding well to the community situation, or if they are wild-caught fish, perhaps they need a little more time.

Good luck!

All the best,

Randall Kohn