Hairy_Trev
Mostly New Member
Partly in celebration (?) but also to seek opinions from more experienced aquarists, I think my Peacock Malawi are breeding, but it's not how I expected things to be and seek knowledge from the more enlightened ones on the forum...
Just before Christmas, I decided to convert my largest tank (200 litre) into a Malawi tank, and although some said it was too small, many advised me that it was suitable as these fish need to be overcrowded. Everything was set up and 15 fish were ordered (with caution) from a mail order supplier in a single batch. Although I don't like to bomb a new tank with lots of inhabitants at the start, on this occasion I felt it adviseable. Having a group of fish establish themselves and then add more would be likely to have the later additions to be bullied as intruders. It seems I was wrong in this and I sadly suffered 11 casualties, but the supplier were sympathetic and with a degre of guarantee, gladly replaced the deceased, in a more cautious manner... now for the interesting stuff...
I had originally ordered male/female combinations of 6 colour varieites (12 fish), plus 3 additional females... one of which was my beautiful lady 'Nagara'. This was one of the original survivors and took on the dominant role, which continued wwith the addition of the replacement fish. Although she chases some more than others, generally things are looking good... but tonight....
I noticed 'her' and a smaller Red Blotch to be circling each other, vibtrating fins, shaking enthusiastically in one particualr area of the tank. It appeared that the smaller red fish was nuzzling and 'kissing' the underbelly of Mrs. Nagara... All other fish have been chased away and are cowering in the corners, reluctant to come near, and any intruders in their love nest are quickly repelled!!!
Now... it was my understanding that a male will dig a hole or depression in the sand, the female lays eggs in it and the male then returns to fertilise the eggs, which she then picks up and carries in her mouth... but their behaviour seems more like Cory breeding habits... With most of my fish being well coloured, I've generally used "egg spots" on the anal fin to be a guide to gender... Mrs. Nagara shows none... but certainly has extreeeeeemely bold colours... a beautiful dark, but bright metallic blue.... is 'she' really "Mr. Nagara"? The Red Blotch often swims very slowly along the rock surface as if spawning, but no sign of any eggs... she is also looking very tight-lipped, suggesting that it's holding eggs or fry.... Is it poosible that the Red (which I'll now call "she") has taken eggs into her mouth, and is now encouraging the Nagara (Now "He") to eject sperm which she can use to fertilize in her mouth?
Summary of Facts....
What I beleived to be the dark blue female Nagara, I now think is male
The Red blotch I thought was male is actually female...
The red blotch appears to be holding it's mouth tightly closed (To prevent losing it's contents?)
Also, the red appears to be encouraging the other to eject sperm...
Please tell me your thoughts...
Just before Christmas, I decided to convert my largest tank (200 litre) into a Malawi tank, and although some said it was too small, many advised me that it was suitable as these fish need to be overcrowded. Everything was set up and 15 fish were ordered (with caution) from a mail order supplier in a single batch. Although I don't like to bomb a new tank with lots of inhabitants at the start, on this occasion I felt it adviseable. Having a group of fish establish themselves and then add more would be likely to have the later additions to be bullied as intruders. It seems I was wrong in this and I sadly suffered 11 casualties, but the supplier were sympathetic and with a degre of guarantee, gladly replaced the deceased, in a more cautious manner... now for the interesting stuff...
I had originally ordered male/female combinations of 6 colour varieites (12 fish), plus 3 additional females... one of which was my beautiful lady 'Nagara'. This was one of the original survivors and took on the dominant role, which continued wwith the addition of the replacement fish. Although she chases some more than others, generally things are looking good... but tonight....
I noticed 'her' and a smaller Red Blotch to be circling each other, vibtrating fins, shaking enthusiastically in one particualr area of the tank. It appeared that the smaller red fish was nuzzling and 'kissing' the underbelly of Mrs. Nagara... All other fish have been chased away and are cowering in the corners, reluctant to come near, and any intruders in their love nest are quickly repelled!!!
Now... it was my understanding that a male will dig a hole or depression in the sand, the female lays eggs in it and the male then returns to fertilise the eggs, which she then picks up and carries in her mouth... but their behaviour seems more like Cory breeding habits... With most of my fish being well coloured, I've generally used "egg spots" on the anal fin to be a guide to gender... Mrs. Nagara shows none... but certainly has extreeeeeemely bold colours... a beautiful dark, but bright metallic blue.... is 'she' really "Mr. Nagara"? The Red Blotch often swims very slowly along the rock surface as if spawning, but no sign of any eggs... she is also looking very tight-lipped, suggesting that it's holding eggs or fry.... Is it poosible that the Red (which I'll now call "she") has taken eggs into her mouth, and is now encouraging the Nagara (Now "He") to eject sperm which she can use to fertilize in her mouth?
Summary of Facts....
What I beleived to be the dark blue female Nagara, I now think is male
The Red blotch I thought was male is actually female...
The red blotch appears to be holding it's mouth tightly closed (To prevent losing it's contents?)
Also, the red appears to be encouraging the other to eject sperm...
Please tell me your thoughts...
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