fishyNZ

Great article.

I will be preparing 2 more growout tanks for the B-line fry whilst the A-line juveniles will go to a bigger tank. That is all for now.

About 30+ fry still managed to escape the stripping process. Both parents seemed to be in good condition; head coloration is slowly returning back after almost being completely faded.

I managed to successfully strip the fry from the father’s mouth, possibly a hundred or more.

Within 24 hours, the eggs were picked up. I had only seen the male holding; his jaw had a noticeable protrusion and was in a motion on its own.

The good news is that my “B” couple, now in their own tank, successfully spawned (3rd attempt). The eggs were laid on bare glass; a lot of sand was sifted aside.

My apologies, it has been a while since I last updated. I recognize the level of interest for this particular species and appreciate all previous comments. The fry/juvies from my “A” couple (video above) are growing quite well; they are now at least 2.5cm. I have been feeding cut prawns every other day aside from the staple Repashy/NLS mix, which is fed 3-5 times daily. They are in a small 70L tank so water changes are done daily, sometimes twice per day, at least 30% each.

http://www.3reef.com/threads/reef-safe-plastics-leaching-myths-facts.57828/ I also bought and used the clear ones on Warehouse, but no more than 60L. I used them mostly with fry and juveniles. With heater and no protection.

I fed baby brine shrimp for the first 2 weeks, at least once a day. After that, I fed them a slightly soft NLS-Repashy mix cut into about 1cm block cubes. 1 cube is dropped in the evening, which normally lasts 24 hours. Lately, I also drop a pinch of finely-grounded NLS pellets (less than 1mm) in the morning.

Pic below taken a week after video above. Managed to save about half a dozen fry and put into a 60L tank, with sponge filter. Pic below taken today. After several weeks, the initial few fry I've managed to save have now grown to slightly more than a centimeter. Also, their parents have managed to spawn and successfully hatched another batch. But as I've not been able to separate them out into another tank, sadly those fry just became food.

I have only seen the eggs lying on the bottom glass. The pair in the video above sifted a lot of sand which made the bottom bare, at least on the spawning site. The other pair is in a bare bottom tank. I believe the eggs “disappeared” between 24-48 hours after being seen. I don’t know who picked up the eggs initially but it was the male that I noticed holding (mouth closed, not eating or going for food), at least after a week or so. Free-swimming fry were seen a short while after that.

Nice Tang, livingart. I don't want to stare too long as I might start marine... Would be nice if importers can get them in again even once in a while. Need to increase or improve the gene pool as there are already signs of inbreeding even on first generation offsprings.

Advertised at Redwoods' Facebook page as "Brilliant Earth Eater - Red Head" (c.2015). After seeing the photos, I had a gut feeling and initially bought 3. And then bought another 3 soon after. Of the 6, I lost 1 whilst 4 paired-up (2 couples). Both couples actually spawned (in separate tanks) though I haven't seen any fry off the other pair. I counted about a dozen on the advertised photos so I'm sure there are other keepers. There's someone here in the forum I believe, based on his signature.

A number of first batch fry (above) went to a couple of places up north. I would say a large percentage of the first batch have deformities, particularly symmetrically downward-bent pectoral fins. As far as I know these are appearance only and do not affect movement at all. A few juveniles remain from succeeding batches. They don't have any deformities last I checked but will be holding until they get much bigger. There is also a new batch of fry, a few weeks old.

Thanks. Were there any other fish in the tank? I think the fry could have gotten bigger as the male spats them out at least once or twice per hour. No worries, you are first on the list.

Well it was no fun at all. I noticed yesterday that the number of free-swimming fry has gotten smaller since the video was taken. So with a fine mesh net, I waited until the father spats out the fry again and scooped as many as I could. The father initially scampered but when I pulled-up the net he went back to retrieve the rest. I got about a dozen or so fry and put them in a plastic breeder box. This afternoon, just about half remains. I'm moving them to a separate tank and hopefully I could get some luck raising them. Meanwhile, the parents will have their own tank. This is their second spawning in about 3-4 weeks, so I got some time to prep.

Thanks. As there are other fish (a lot) in the tank, the fun part is to extract the fry from the father so they don't get eaten when spat out. Have never bred a mouthbrooding species before.

After several days of the eggs "disappearing", I noticed the male with his mouth always closed even when food's near. Took a video, continued observing and about 15 minutes later, out comes a clutch of fry from his mouth. Totally surprised!

Whereabouts are you at? Haven't noticed any voltage fluctuations here at Silverstream. My Sunsun filter though has been vibrating loudly for several weeks now. May need to change the impeller.

I'm after a breeding pair of Pelvicachromis taeniatus or perhaps a group of juveniles (5 or more). Shipping to Upper Hutt at my expense and risk. TIA

Around 40cm max for Central American cichlids like Midas/Red Devil/Jaguar.

Yes had to break the bank. Not too mention scrambling to “reallocate” tank space. Redwoods' sell in pairs, which is good if breeding. Whilst Aquaworld also has the Nannacara (not the electric one) dwarf cichlid.

No luck unfortunately. Over several months I lost one by one to unexplained deaths, most with bent spines. The last three died recently due to an ich outbreak over several tanks; even with early detection and treatment.

Tank update (left side only). They breed easily and almost continuously. Several third generation fry are growing up already.

pm'd you