Convicts Vs Jewels Parental Care Assignment

[kniesh]

Hi, I have had 2 mishaps when buying fish in the last few months. i have said elsewhere about how I bought a Jewel Cichlid and ended up with a pair. I also was persuaded into buying 2 convicts a while ago which has turned out to be a pair.

Anyway, I am studying wildlife conservation at University and need to do an assignment for a data analysis class with relevance to my course obviously. As both the convicts and Jewels have bred in my 90 gal (48"x24"x18") I decided to do a study comparing the parental care of African Cichlids (Jewels) vs Central American species (Convicts). They have all bred before and there is little aggression in the tank so that is a bonus. My idea is to time the amount of time each parent, i.e male convict/jewel against female convict/jewel and when both stay with the fry. It is turning out to be difficult in timing though as they switch quite a lot and I want to do 20 5 minute spells for each species. Does anyone have any ideas about getting the times they spend with the fry? it is really difficult to do.

Thx in advance, any suggestions welcome

P.S I know this is cheating

 

[ox5477]

I would say try timing during feeding, if both parents come to feed at the same time (which they might if they are first or second time breeders) then obviously this doesnt help you, but one parent may leave to feed while the other stays to guard the young, and then the fed parent will return to let the other parent go feed. This may give you some comparison between the two species. Also, the fact that both parents leave for the one pair may also be an indication of parenting skills. Also, you can compare the breeding rate, how many times per yr they breed (if you have that kind of time).

 

[kniesh]

The breeding amount in a year is a good idea, unfortunately I don't have that time. I think feeding times may distort the data slightly as I am then actively encouraging the parents to leave then, although on the other side this is what would happen in the wild I suppose.

I think I will encorperate into it actually that the data is for captive bred aquarium fish and not wild caught.

my idea is to time, in 5 minute periods to a total of 20 periods (all at the same times of day for both species obviously). This has become difficult but I think it is probably the only way to do it actually. At the end of the 5 mins I add up the amount of time each parent has spent guarding the fry, while the other was off patrolling the surrounding area. These 20 added totals are then the ones I'm going to use to compare the male convict to male Jewel and all combinations I can, i.e I will also be comparing the female Jewel to the male Jewel.

 

[OohFeeshy]

Maybe also do a bit on care under different stimulae- food, potential predators (using something like a coutout of another convoct or whatever), even changes in water conditions.