Yesterday one of my small orangeheads dropped her tube and started vigorously cleaning the inside of a flower pot in my 150 gallon cichlid community. I got these fish last November at about 1 - 2" long and this is the first time they've showed signs of spawning. I sat and watched for a long time to see if she'd chosen a male, and she did... a male Geophagus parnaibae.
Tonight I came into the room to find the female orangehead laying eggs on the walls of the pot with the male parnaibae following behind her, fertilizing them. I'm amazed that he even had the strength... he's an old fish and the last one of my original group of four F1. The others have all passed of old age and this guy has been looking pretty bad for a while. I expected to come in and find him dead any day. Now he's spawning. He hasn't bred in two years, since I lost the last female parnaibae.
I peeked in a little while ago and there is still a large clutch of eggs, but the male is already chewing. This is where things get interesting: orangeheads are delayed mouthbrooders, picking up the fry after they hatch. G. parnaibae are immediate mouthbrooders, and in the three pairs I've bred, it's always the male who picks up the eggs as soon as spawning is finished. It appears he's already picked up some.
Is there really any chance these may hatch?
[video=youtube;EoQCVnIDb2A]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoQCVnIDb2A[/video]
Tonight I came into the room to find the female orangehead laying eggs on the walls of the pot with the male parnaibae following behind her, fertilizing them. I'm amazed that he even had the strength... he's an old fish and the last one of my original group of four F1. The others have all passed of old age and this guy has been looking pretty bad for a while. I expected to come in and find him dead any day. Now he's spawning. He hasn't bred in two years, since I lost the last female parnaibae.
I peeked in a little while ago and there is still a large clutch of eggs, but the male is already chewing. This is where things get interesting: orangeheads are delayed mouthbrooders, picking up the fry after they hatch. G. parnaibae are immediate mouthbrooders, and in the three pairs I've bred, it's always the male who picks up the eggs as soon as spawning is finished. It appears he's already picked up some.
Is there really any chance these may hatch?
[video=youtube;EoQCVnIDb2A]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoQCVnIDb2A[/video]