Lamprologus Ocellatus breeding?

[AaronKWolfe]

I have 5 lamprologus ocellatus in a 29 gallon tank with a bunch of shells. I feed them algaemax pellets every day and every other day i toss in some brine shrimp and daphnia. When can I expect them to start breeding?

Edit: I did some quick tests,
nitrate is 10 ppm
nitrite and ammonia are 0
GH is 140
pH is around 8.8 or so (I'm using a dropper kit)
Water temperature is 78 F or 25.5 C

 

[fishguy1978]

Did you add water?
1. Yes
2. Yes
If 1. "yes" then they are breeding.
If 2. "yes" then they are breeding.

Does your colony contain males and females?
1. Yes
2. No
If 1. then they are breeding
If 2. Sorry no breeding

 

[AaronKWolfe]

Did you add water?
1. Yes
2. Yes
If 1. "yes" then they are breeding.
If 2. "yes" then they are breeding.

Does your colony contain males and females?
1. Yes
2. No
If 1. then they are breeding
If 2. Sorry no breeding

I'm pretty sure it has males and females, I asked for 5 of them and I'm pretty sure I have some males and females mixed in.

 

[fishguy1978]

I'm pretty sure it has males and females, I asked for 5 of them and I'm pretty sure I have some males and females mixed in.

Spawning is also dependent on size and maturity of the fish. How long have you had them? what size are they? Pictures always help.

 

[AaronKWolfe]

Had them about 2 months. They are about 1.5 inches long

 

[fishguy1978]

That is spawning size. If you have males and females there should be some action taking place. I keep N. multies and once I had mature adults they haven't stopped. Your males should be larger than the females and will hover over the shells but not necessarily dive into them when startled. Your females will typically hover over the mouth of the shell they have chosen and will dart in when startled. She will also shake/quiver to get the males attention.

 

[AaronKWolfe]

Ok, I know they breed very readily, but somehow I haven't gotten them to breed in the 2 months I've had them and I don't see any activity taking place either. I just want to be able to keep a colony of them going because I really like them and so does my wife (which means she'll let me keep them).

 

[Milingu]

ocellatus are a bit different than multifasciatus. They don't form colonies. They spawn as pairs or sometimes one male with two females.
Without pair bonding there is no spawning.
I would reduce the shells and add two or three rocks to help them forming a territory.
Adult ocellatus gold are easy to sex. The females have a white seam in the dorsal fin. Sometimes also the anal fin shows some white.

In this video (not mine) you can see the white in the dorsal fin. 0:53 when the female flares it is clearly visible.

 

[AaronKWolfe]

Ok her is what I have now. I see atleast 2 with that stripe. Maybe 3

 

[twentyleagues]

I wouldn't be so sure that 5 gave you male and female mix unless some how knew for sure. I got 10 meeli and it's the same with them almost impossible to tell the difference. I am starting to think I have 1 female and 9 males. I have had 4 spawns and all 4 times the babies end up in the same area with the same fish trying to look after them. This last time I was ready....ish and got about 3/4 of the spawn out to a 10 gallon.