Chilids Spawning.

[fatheadminnow]

What can be done to the tank (temp, etc...), or what signs are there that can determine that my Cichlids are going to spawn?

Does age/size also play a role in when a Cichlid decides to spawn?

Thanks
-FHM

 

[kribensis12]

What kind are you trying? Generally, if you take hte temp down for a week or 2, and dont do any water changes, and then turnt he temp back up, and start doing water changes, they will breed.

 

[stang1]

If it's the ones you have in your sig, then you don't really need to do anything as they will breed of their own accord.
If you have both sexes, the male will display to the female by doing a little "shimmy" in front of her.
You'll know if they have spawned because the female will mouthbrood and her throat will look slightlty swollen.

 

[fatheadminnow]

Yes, it is the Cichlids in my sig.

The two labs are female, and the rest are males.

I wish I had male and female of the same species so they would not cross breed, but my LFS did not have any of the same species that are different sexes unfortunately.

If they have not spawned by summer time here, I think I might try to do the lower and then raise the temperature method.

But there is no set breeding season like other animals in the wild?

They will pretty much breed whenever they feel like the time is right? Which could be whenever? And Age does not have that big apart in it? They are about 2-3 inches long right now.

Thanks guys for the info thus far!
-FHM

 

[stang1]

Mine started breeding a couple of weeks after I added them to my tank and they were all about 2".
I've noticed that some of my "fry" which are only about 1 1/2" and 3-4 months old are now displaying to each other!
I've never done a huge water change and I haven't adjusted the temperature.
I do have about 175kg of rock in there, though, which probably makes it easier for fry to survive.

 

[fatheadminnow]

Mine started breeding a couple of weeks after I added them to my tank and they were all about 2".
I've noticed that some of my "fry" which are only about 1 1/2" and 3-4 months old are now displaying to each other!
I've never done a huge water change and I haven't adjusted the temperature.
I do have about 175kg of rock in there, though, which probably makes it easier for fry to survive.

When you say "displaying" do you mean that the males do that "shimmy" thing?

Thanks again for your help!
-FHM

 

[fatheadminnow]

YOU WONT BELIEVE IT!

I was just watching my fish and one of the males swam in front of a female, and shook very fast!

He did that twice, and now he is following the female around!

I can't believe it!

They might spawn sooner than expected...lol!

I will keep you guys updated if anything spectacular happens.

-FHM

 

[kribensis12]

WOW! Congrats! Your lucky. My male dosen't Display, he just owns the tank.( he does a fair bit of chasing though)

 

[fatheadminnow]

Yeah, my other male (which is the dominant one) chases all the time. That is like all he does unfortunately. It is actually one of my smaller males that did the "shaky" thing to one of the females.

I thought he was having a seizure at first lol.

-FHM

 

[kj23502]

I thought he was having a seizure at first lol.

yea, it's pretty crazy, huh!! My afra spit her fry a few weeks ago and so far we've only had one survive that we can see, but we just have minimal rock work. Unfortunately I have 3 afras and 2 are male Hope the female doesn't get harassed to bad until I get more females.

Good luck on the spawning and hope all goes well

p.s. don't forget it's common for them to not hold the entire time and loose the first batch of fry.