Breeding blue lumpheads (Cyrtocara moorii) ?

[Midas]

Has anyone had experience breeding these fish before?

I have two and they seem to be going through the motions of breeding at the moment. They were acting strangely a few weeks back and one of them ended up holding some eggs in its mouth for a couple of days, but after that the eggs disapeared. Things seem to be getting interesting again over the last few days. I suspect that I may have two females, but I'm not sure as they are still less than half size. One of the two could be a male as it is bigger and has a more pronounced hump on its head. However, it was that fish last time that ended up holding the eggs in its mouth and from what I have read the female is supposed to do that, not the male. Any ideas? I might just have to wait and see what happens this time around to know if I have a pair or not.

[Rob]

Hi Midas,

So you gave into the temptation and got some lumpheads then.

Haven't had experience with successfully breeding them, though with my pair I find the easiest way to sex them is their dorsal and anal fins. The males are longer and more pointed, by longer I mean that they reach back and touch his caudal fin, supposedly size and size of lump are not definite indicators of sex.

Limited experience with other mouth brooders has lead me to believe that the first couple of spawns don't succeed due to the female swallowing the eggs, but after that they sort themselves out - of course there are always exceptions to rule.

[Midas]

Thanks Rob,

Yep, gave in about 7 months ago. They were about 2 inches long when we got them and their about 3 inches long now.

I had a look at their fins and both fish seem the same, with quite short dorsal and anal fins. Going by that it looks like I might have two females. Oh well, I'll have to keep a look out for a male.