A gift from Nanochromis splendens - one of the dwarfest dwarf Cichlids.

[GaryE]

I've been closely watching a female Nanochromis splendens, a Congo region (very - 5cm) dwarf Cichlid I got a few months back. I have bred previous pairs, and while these ones were acting very differently, all signs pointed to broodcare. Today, I was rewarded with a view of a group of tiny fry being tended to by their mother.

They are slender fish, adapted to stay low and not be swept away by quick moving water. In past breedings, pairing was preceded by hair raising violence, as the pair tested each other's strength and fitness. THis time, they paired off peacefully and have been very much like Pelvicachromis (kribs) in their courtship. All the pairs I've worked with have been wild caught, and all arrived young and slender. I don't know what's different this time, but I'd rather see this pretty fish displaying than fighting.

Here's one of my old pairs.

If you search for them, you hit an old article from the last time I bred them, in TFH magazine.

 

[BigDog]

That’s so cool to hear.

 

[emeraldking]

I love almost all dwarf versions of fish....

 

[GaryE]

What a difference a couple of days can make. My Nanochromis aquarium looks like an urban guerilla war zone today.

It's a four footer, decorated with rocks all along the bottom, as fits with the fish. Today, they were using every spot of cover, moving along the bottom almost invisibly but very angry. The tank is in a north south set up, and the fry were in the northern end. At some point, the breeding pair attacked the south end, which had more complex rocks, and drove the pair in there out. They have the fry in their safe place there.

The dislodged pair have been raiding back - not attacking the fry that I could see, but going for the breeder male.

I have rearranged sightlines to start. I opened up an area about 18 inches wide to make it flat sand - no rocks, no plants. A demilitarized zone of sorts, no man or fish land. If they are going to attack, they won't be able to use every inch of cover as they were doing. But now, both ends are very complex, so one territory wouldn't seem better than the other. I'm hoping the danger of getting walloped by the hormone beast of a guarding male will keep the angry but not as amped fish at their end.

These are smart fish, and there is almost no difference between individuals. If I get in there with the net, once they start scattering, I won't be able to say who is guarding and who is attacking. Catching them isn't easy.

I'm going to stay the course and try to hold on until a week has passed. If the young don't have parental care, my experience is that they are more likely to be bad parents themselves. They learn. I could lose the fry by doing this, but I'd rather have quality fry than lots of fry, and be distributing fish that won't care for their young.

It's a good thing these fish don't have access to artillery.