Taeniacara candidi fry raising behavior

[Sylvio]

Hi all, my wild-caught Taeniacara candidi bred about a month ago and the female was caring exclusively for the fry, who are growing quite nicely. There are plenty of microorganisms in my filterless aquarium and I also feed baby brine shrimp twice a day.

The male kept a certain distance, every once in a while chasing away the small tetras. He almost never went near the fry. When he did, the female didn't get nervous and just nudged him away or ignored him. He didn't seem interested.

Last night I noticed the male guarding the fry for the first time, bobbing up and down guiding them around the aquarium. The female was nowhere to be seen. This morning I saw her protecting the cave where she spawned the first time, certainly with a new batch of eggs.

I've never seen this kind of behavior in other dwarf cichlids: the female caring exclusively for the fry and all of a sudden the male taking over after breeding again. They never seemed to take care of the fry together.

Has anyone experienced this with T. candidi or apistos?

I've attached photos of the aquarium, you can see the male in one of them, the fry are hidden in the plants. Some extra algae now because of the heavier feeding for the fry.

Thanks!

 

[anewbie]

My a. sp ortegai male did the same. I had to remove the females and when i removed them the male took over caring for the young for a few days but after a couple of days lost interest.

 

[Sylvio]

Interesting, thank you. Let's see if my male loses interest. So far he is still with the fry. Not sure how this will play out in a week or so when the new batch is free swimming...

 

[Mike Wise]

I've experienced male brood care in N. anomala when the female suddenly died. He even took on the checkered brood pattern seen on females. I don't know how large your tank is, but it might be a good idea to remove the fry before the next brood appears. The male could consider the older brood a threat to a new one and try to drive them out of the brood territory.

 

[Sylvio]

Thanks, Mike. It's surprising to see the "late" brood care from the male because it seems to show some understanding of what's going on -- not having the pure female mother instinct.

It's a 30 gallon tank. Yeah, I'm considering taking them out once the new brood is out of the cave.