Barely! And it definitely took a lot out of him, because since the spawning he's had really labored breathing and he's not eating. This was probably my one and only chance to test this out, because I don't think he'll be around much longer. 
Geophagus hybridizing? I'd never seen it before... until now.
- Thread starter ryansmith83
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most intriguing that a real purist is seeing it ;-)
the old man deserves special pampering. maybe squirt some liquid vitamins at him,, live black worms. ha
the old man deserves special pampering. maybe squirt some liquid vitamins at him,, live black worms. ha
The male has perked up a bit and I notice he's doing the circle dance with a second female orangehead. If that's true, it means the two largest orangeheads that I thought were males are actually both female. Maybe that's why they're spawning with the G. parnaibae -- they don't have any males of their own species available.
I carefully separated the live wrigglers from the fungused eggs with a piece of airline tubing. I count 12 of them. Some had already fallen off the pot and rolled into the sand; saw them wriggling when I shined a light over the tank.
I'm not real hopeful about any surviving, given several factors:
- The female was young and this was her first batch of eggs
- The male is old and not very virile anymore
- They are two separate species, so the fry may be weaker
I've noticed in some cichlids, like my Heroina for example, that a female's first spawn sometimes doesn't turn out well. I went through something similar with my first batch of Heroina eggs. 99% of them were infertile, and the ones that hatched into wrigglers didn't make it to free-swimming. The second batch was the exact opposite with only 3 or 4 fungused eggs out of several hundred, and I ended up with fry coming out of my ears. If the same female spawns with the male again, I may have a better hatch rate on the second try, unless it's the male shooting mostly blanks.
It's an interesting development. It's a shame that the male parnaibae isn't in better health. Then I could rule out his fertility as being one of the issues. I obviously don't plan to release any of these fry outside of my house, but I'd still like to raise them up and document it for the sake of doing so.
My friend said I should name him Hugh Hefner, given that he's on his death bed but still running around with pretty, barely legal females.
I carefully separated the live wrigglers from the fungused eggs with a piece of airline tubing. I count 12 of them. Some had already fallen off the pot and rolled into the sand; saw them wriggling when I shined a light over the tank.
I'm not real hopeful about any surviving, given several factors:
- The female was young and this was her first batch of eggs
- The male is old and not very virile anymore
- They are two separate species, so the fry may be weaker
I've noticed in some cichlids, like my Heroina for example, that a female's first spawn sometimes doesn't turn out well. I went through something similar with my first batch of Heroina eggs. 99% of them were infertile, and the ones that hatched into wrigglers didn't make it to free-swimming. The second batch was the exact opposite with only 3 or 4 fungused eggs out of several hundred, and I ended up with fry coming out of my ears. If the same female spawns with the male again, I may have a better hatch rate on the second try, unless it's the male shooting mostly blanks.
It's an interesting development. It's a shame that the male parnaibae isn't in better health. Then I could rule out his fertility as being one of the issues. I obviously don't plan to release any of these fry outside of my house, but I'd still like to raise them up and document it for the sake of doing so.
My friend said I should name him Hugh Hefner, given that he's on his death bed but still running around with pretty, barely legal females.
Damn Ryan.....how old is the parnaibae? Like 10-15 years old? He must be scratching death's door if he's having that much trouble breeding. Hopefully the old timer will at least have a month or two left in him before he says his goodbyes
Also I've noticed you say you had more of them and they were all F1s....we they all from the same parents yet bred together? 
Just curious as I have 3 Paraneetroplus Breidohris, 1 males 2 females in growout and I want to know if it's possible they'll pair up and terrorize the other growouts.
Just curious as I have 3 Paraneetroplus Breidohris, 1 males 2 females in growout and I want to know if it's possible they'll pair up and terrorize the other growouts.
I finally found a reason to put my waterproof iPhone case to the test. It's best if you view the video directly on YouTube so that you can select the HD option: http://youtu.be/6I4-bju9fXk
I count ten fry. I had twelve but I found two fungus balls in the net breeder so I'm guessing they didn't make it. The other ten are developing well... you can see heads now, which they didn't have yesterday. They were just egg sacs with tails.
[video=youtube_share;6I4-bju9fXk]http://youtu.be/6I4-bju9fXk[/video]
I count ten fry. I had twelve but I found two fungus balls in the net breeder so I'm guessing they didn't make it. The other ten are developing well... you can see heads now, which they didn't have yesterday. They were just egg sacs with tails.
[video=youtube_share;6I4-bju9fXk]http://youtu.be/6I4-bju9fXk[/video]
Also I've noticed you say you had more of them and they were all F1s....we they all from the same parents yet bred together?
Yes. Nothing will stop fish from spawning with their siblings or their own young. They're only fish, after all. If you have males and females, and they're comfortable enough to spawn, they will. Sometimes you don't even need both sexes -- same-sex pairs will pair off and go through the motions of spawning. It's more common with two females but it's possible with two males as well. This is how some aquarium strains of fish end up heavily inbred, though you don't really have to worry about it in the first few generations most of the time.
