Really interesting stuff, thank you for the information I needed to make a new post of this after my old post got older, I am glad I did. I found answers. Now leaves the question, do I seperate and raise them or would the hybrids be damaging to the diversity of the cichlids.
South American x Central American success!
- Thread starter ChrisH
- Start date
I would raise them but they are hybrids so they have to be labeled as such. As long as they don't get into the hobby as either or raising the fry to see if they are sexually fertal would be interesting.
Haha that's something all of us cichlid nuts have to deal with regularly
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Its often times easier and less stressful to move the parents. That being said, both species are typically very good parents and it is probably in everyone best interest to leave them. Red ceibals really are small at that size and I would recommend feeding baby brine shrimp. When I was breeding them I got them in the frozen section and the LFS and thawed them in a cup and used a baster to apply directly to the cluster. Nice thread!
I now have an alternate tank set up for the fry, I am just waiting on a heater. I am still concerned on my timing, and am wondering how long should I leave those guys in with their mother. I hate to take them on her considering how well she has taken care of them so far. They also seem to be really healthy and have full stomachs. I watched her last night lead the fry into a hiding place when the Male ventured out of his cave. I am also getting a little bit worried though that the Ceibal male is becoming a little less tolerant of the female convict's constant aggressiveness towards him and I fear that he may soon lash out. How long would the fry be fine without a heater in the fry tank, it is the same water from the main tank? What method should I use to remove fry if I need to. I am wondering also at what stage do the mother usually tend to seperate and allow fry to "hold their own". This would seem to be the best time for me to remove them, the fear is that that time may be too late.
At a small size they can be siphoned out.
And why worry about a heater at this time of year?
I have ceibal fry in my pond at the moment, and night time air temps dip into the 50'sF regularly with no ill effect, and the pond is very shallow, so it has quite volatile water temp swings.
And I agree with the above posters, it will be interesting to find out if the fry, as adults can reproduce.
But more hybrids, really don't need to be distributed.
And why worry about a heater at this time of year?
I have ceibal fry in my pond at the moment, and night time air temps dip into the 50'sF regularly with no ill effect, and the pond is very shallow, so it has quite volatile water temp swings.
And I agree with the above posters, it will be interesting to find out if the fry, as adults can reproduce.
But more hybrids, really don't need to be distributed.
The fry are now ranging in size from 1 and half inches to 2 and half inches in length, So far no recorded breeding attempts but numerous conflicts over terratory. I am running out of room in this tank and need to find homes for these guys. The seperated fry, not shown, are smaller with less coloration and a darker hue to their body, they have become too large for their tank being that their is over ten of them so I am wondering if I should start to return them to their birth tank which is already becoming crowded as well. The Male red Ceibal and female COnvict can also be seen. I apologize for the crappy pictures.
Wow this is interesting. What size tank do you have them in. I am not really sure what the best thing to do with them is if you don't want them to be breed or introduced into the hobby. The worst thing to do would be to bring them to a LFS so don't do that.
