Neolamprologus Multifasciatus Tank

[ashemely]

So, with the recent discovery of the fry I have in my Multifasciatus tank, I've decided to keep a journal. This journal will be geared more towards the growth of the fry. A little background, though. I purchased four Multis in October, and had the one male and three females in a tank in my kitchen. A month later, in November, I decided that I would move the Multis into my tank in my living room. The tank in my living room was shorter, but has the same water volume. I felt that by moving the cichlids the females would have a bigger area to divide amongst themselves.

The Tank:

Tank:
Clearseal 12 Gallon: 18"L X 12"W X 13"H

Filtration:
Elite Stingray 10: 55GPH turnover

Lighting:
Fluorescent 6w tube

Substrate:
Three pieces of purple slate lie flat on the bottom with minimal sand coverage.

Decor:
Amethyst geode

Water Chemistry:
PH: 8.0; Temp: 78F

Maintenance:
25% water changes done at least once every other week

Feeding:
3 x frozen cichlid pellets, 2 x flake, 2 x frozen brine shrimp

Fauna:
4 (1m, 3f) Neolamprologus Multifasciatus, Multi Banded Shelldweller

Flora:
Vallisneria Spiralis x 2 (1 planted in substrate the other planted in shell) and Vallisneria Amazon x 2 (both planted in shells)

Shells:
Escargot shells

Oh yes, and the upside town flower pot was placed in there as an experiment.

 

[ashemely]

Took some photos over the weekend of the fry...
this first one you can see two of the fry underneath Mom, but sticking close to the shells and ditch.

Sorry for the blurriness on this one, but a comparison of size with the fry and Mom.

And this one I threw in there, because apparently I was agitating the Mom and fry too much, so Dad had to come around and shoo me off. He got in the way of almost every shot here after!

 

[Assaye]

I'll be keeping an eye on this =D getting really interested in these critters - can't wait to set up a tank for them.

 

[AdAndrews]

Awesome, any tips on getting them to spawn???

And also, you dont seem to have much substrate in the tank, is there a reason for this, as watching mine dig is a great experience.

 

[ashemely]

I'll be keeping an eye on this =D getting really interested in these critters - can't wait to set up a tank for them.

Thanx, Assaye. I must admit I was getting a tad bored with them as they were the most skittish creatures for a while, always swimming into their shells when I came near. But ever since the fry have come up there has been some major activity going on! The parents are busy protecting their fry, with the male practically always chasing away his reflection, and my other two females are getting quite excited, too. They're not allowed near the fry, but they must sense something exciting is going on, because they are out and about more, too.

Awesome, any tips on getting them to spawn???

And also, you dont seem to have much substrate in the tank, is there a reason for this, as watching mine dig is a great experience.

You're right, I have minimal sand in my tank, and that's because when I had them in the kitchen tank they were removing the sand away from their shells all the way down to the bare bottom of the tank. I didn't like lookin at the glass bottom, so when I moved them into the living room tank I put the slate down first and then just enough sand to cover the areas the slate didn't cover. Also, it's nice having the dark slate down there, because it's easier for me to see the fry when the pop in and out of the shells and crevices, as they blend into the beige sand way too well.

As for tips on spawning, I still quite haven't figured out what I did right. I did happen to stumble upon another website where someone had suggested skipping a water change or two and then doing a 50% water change. This would simulate a drought and then a heavy rain season. I'm not quite sure why this would promote breeding in Tangs as the lake they are in is HUGE. However, unknowingly I did do this. I was super busy with the Thanksgiving holiday and I had midterms the week after the holiday. I was doing water tests to make sure the water stats were good, but I just didn't do any water changes. So after missing two weeks of water changes the next week I did a 25% water change, which I usually do, and I'm supposing around this time is when they spawned. I've read that usually by the time you see free swimming fry they are a couple of weeks old, so the missing water change method may have actually worked.

 

[AdAndrews]

cheers

I see what you were saying about them being a little skittish also, but mine are mostly used to me now, took a good 2 months though...

 

[ashemely]

cheers

I see what you were saying about them being a little skittish also, but mine are mostly used to me now, took a good 2 months though...

Man, mine were terribly frightened of me. It was so hard feeding them, cuz anytime I went near the tank they were in their shells! Once I moved them into the living room tank, though, they got a lot better. I think being in a more active part of the house helped them get used to me, and whoever else happened to pass by the tank. When they were in the kitchen the only activity they saw was once or twice a day when I would be in their cooking, and the far off creature walking to and from the refrigerator. Now, they don't swim into their shells whenever I come up anymore, but they're not so comfortable where they're swimming at all levels of the tank, like yours do!

How's the new pair coming along?

 

[AdAndrews]

cheers

I see what you were saying about them being a little skittish also, but mine are mostly used to me now, took a good 2 months though...

Man, mine were terribly frightened of me. It was so hard feeding them, cuz anytime I went near the tank they were in their shells! Once I moved them into the living room tank, though, they got a lot better. I think being in a more active part of the house helped them get used to me, and whoever else happened to pass by the tank. When they were in the kitchen the only activity they saw was once or twice a day when I would be in their cooking, and the far off creature walking to and from the refrigerator. Now, they don't swim into their shells whenever I come up anymore, but they're not so comfortable where they're swimming at all levels of the tank, like yours do!

How's the new pair coming along?

ahh, yea! i remember the first feedings, what i decided to do is to feed sinking catfish pellets, that way, the fish will find them withought them disintegrating, and i still do it today tbh, quite funny watching one trying to swallow a pellet that fills its mouth..

The pair havnt spawned yet, i am moving the other 4 out of the tank into a smaller tank in the next couple of days, so leave them in peace..
one thing i did find intresting is that one of them has dug a near perfect circle in the sand, maybe they will lay eggs in the pit

 

[ashemely]

I fed them sinking catfish pellets too, for awhile, at least. Like you said the pellets are so big they can hardly fit into their mouths. My tiniest girl, who was the one who ended up having fry first, is just barely over an inch long, and she had so much trouble trying to eat the catfish pellets that I went and found another pellet to give to them. It's a frozen pellet by gammafirst or something like that, that is for cichlids and it sinks to the bottom of the tank, too. Actually, it sort of drifts to the bottom of the tank, which gives the cichlids time to recognize that food is coming, and I think they might also think that it's live food. The pellets are their favorite, it's the only food where they're willing to go into another one's territory to get some.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you and your new pair.

 

[AdAndrews]

cheers.

 

[ashemely]

OK, have some new photos of the little ones. I'm thinking they are around 1cm in length now and they are getting just a tad bit of yellow on the top of their dorsal fin (best seen in shot three.) I'm feeding them some powdered fry food once a day, or at least trying to. It's awfully hard as the powder ends up swirling around the tank. I suppose I could turn my filter off while I place the powder in there, but that just occurred to me as I'm writing, so I will give that a shot tomorrow. They will eat whatever scraps they can fit into their mouths on flake or frozen food day, however, Mom and Dad are very strict and won't let the fry swim too far away from the shell area. Anyway...

Merry Christmas

 

[ashemely]

So, I've had this feeling for a week or so now, that one of my other females might be pregnant or had recently laid some eggs. Now, the reason I thought this was because she was being very skittish, was staying close to her favorite shell and being unusually territorial and aggressive to the neighboring female. Also, the male was spending a lot of time with her when I had very first discovered fry in my tank. By the way this female is the one that lives on the left side of the tank. Today I thought she looked particularly eggy, as her abdomen looked quite full, and I was just fixin to go get the camera to take a picture of her, when I see something tiny sort of dart in front of her. How odd. I struggled to find this tiny creature as it was white and where it had gone off to. And sure enough it's another fry! WHAT?! That's right fry from another female. I'm amazed at how lucky I must be, and quite proud that the big boy is finally a stud. Anyway, I seriously doubt I will be able to capture any pictures of this new batch of fry, as they are in a more sandy area of the tank. But they look to be about the size of when I found the first batch of fry, so I'm guessing that puts them around two weeks younger than the first batch. I'm absolutely gobsmacked.

 

[kiriyama]

Still jealous, but well done again

 

[ashemely]

Update and pic time.

All of the fry and adults seem to be doing quite well. The fry are not growing very quickly, but then again, with the holidays and all, I wasn't quite on top of the feedings as I was at first. However, that's not to say that the fry aren't getting fed, they pick up the leftover tiny bits of food the adults seem to look past. Even though the fry are not getting bigger, they are certainly getting more active. They seem to be swimming a lot more and able to keep themselves afloat and not just darting from one rest place to the next. During feeding time they are getting more adventurous and are leaving the shell covered area more to grab those precious tiny bits of food. I've also caught a couple of them 'fighting' or at least play fighting just in the entrance of a shell. I'm not sure if they were for real fighting over the shell or just playing, but it looked pretty serious. And because they are swimming better and faster, it is much harder to get some decent pics of them. Although, I do have a new head count: The first set of fry I have now counted seven (before I thought I had six), and the second batch of fry I still have only counted three.

You might have to strain your eyes a bit and find the blurry silver bullet shaped fry with bright blue eyes. Next water change I will try and move some of the sand away from the slate so that the camera can pic up the fry better. Oh yes, and the last pic I am throwing in here is some sort of eggs I found on one of the shells. These are most likely snail eggs, but they usually lay their eggs on the glass or plants, plus the female didn't look very bulgy to me, but I didn't know she was pregnant the first time, too. Anyway, thought I would take a pic just in case it was something special.

Mom and two fry underneath her.

Mom and a single fry below her to the right.

There's actually five fry in this pic, but only a couple of them came out alright, the rest are just blurs.

And the eggs, yah pretty sure they're snails.

 

[AdAndrews]

Looking good, it will be a nice feeling to raise them til adult hood, im sure. My "pair" are getting more and more friendly and flare up when they come close to each other, so, i guess for me its just wait and see, knowing my luck, though, they are probably just 2 males