Before you start, you can look at my previous post on to see pictures and a video of the tank to help you better visualize the situation: http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=308646
Monday of this week, I came home from a 4 day trip to Mammoth Mountain, CA (they were fed lightly while i was gone) and in addition to a nice new layer of green algae on the glass I found that a pair of my newly acquired adult Archocentrus Multispinosa, which I had only received about a week or two prior to, had dug a large pit in a cave of one of my rock structures and the female had the characteristic jet black coloration and they were both intensely guarding the nest, but that night I failed to see any eggs, maybe because I didn't know what they looked like. But the next morning (in better lighting) I saw the nicely sized batch of eggs on the surface of one of the rocks. Well, I watched this week as they guarded those eggs day and night and this morning (as I was walking out of the door to school) I took a three second glance to watch an egg hatch, the tiny fish fall to the bottom of the pit, wiggle up the side of the pit, and then get snatched by the mother.
I gasped and wanted to know whether she ate it or not, but I was already late to school and had to leave. On a side note, I did not see any other fry in the pit, but it did appear as if a few of the eggs had already hatched. Well today I came back from school and to my distress, could not find any fry and by 4 o'clock the rock that once held all the eggs, was wiped back clean. The female is still guarding the pit, but the male has become apparently more relaxed and to my observation, has lost all paternal characteristics, but he seems to be ignored by the female when he approaches the pit, whereas any other fish is scared off. The pit doubles as a cave and my loaches and catfish used to hide in the complex all day, never to be seen until feeding time, so there is a possibility that the fry were moved to another area out of view.
I have been doing my research and have compiled as much information on what happens to the fry of Archocentrus/Herotilapia multispinosa after they hatch and here is what I have found:
Before breeding, the fish will clean a spot to spawn on and then lay approximately 300 pinkish-tan eggs. Incubation is approximately three days after which the pair will move the wrigglers to another area. - http://www.gcca.net/fom/Herotilpia_multispinosa.htm
the fry hatch in about 5 days, and are free swimming by 8-9. - http://www.borstein.com/sam/?Species_Profiles:Central_America:Archocentrus_multispinosus
Fanning and rocking over the eggs, mouthing wrigglers, and pit-digging in the wriggler stage were performed more often by females; chasing other conspecifics and hovering, both during the egg stage, were performed more by males. Thus partial sharing of parental duties exists in this species, especially when the brood is at the egg and wriggler stages. - http://www.sciencedirect.com/scienc...serid=10&md5=4ad00b9af306f4f64e096576dfa350bf
After 3 days the parents will move the newly hatched wigglers to another area of the tank. At times new parents may eat some of the fry. - http://animal-world.com/encyclo/fresh/cichlid/RainbowCichlid.php
Pairs of H. multispinosa breeding in well-aerated water usually transfer their newly-hatched young (wrigglers) by mouth from the spawning site to a substrate pit, where they remain for several days until becoming free-swimming. - http://www.jstor.org/pss/4534262
Allow pairs to form naturally from a group of six if possible. These fish are easy breeders, and will defend their fry even in a community tank. Eggs are laid on a flat area of rock or other surface, and are cared for by both the male and female. Parents will take turns fanning the eggs and warding off predators, and will continue to care for fry once they become free swimming. - http://badmanstropicalfish.com/profiles/profile123.html
At 29°C. the fry are chewed out of their surrounding eggshells 24 hours posthatching. Both parents participate in this phase of the reproductive cycle and share in the transport of the wrigglers to a nursery area prepared in advance. This is usually a pre-dug pit, located some distance from the spawning site. If the bottom is too soft to allow the construction of such a pit, or else too heavily overlain with detritus, the parents will "plaster" the wrigglers against a vertical surface (Baylis, l974) or else hang them in the roots of floating aquatic plants such as Ceratopteris - http://www.cichlidae.com/article.php?id=50
Parents will take turns fanning the eggs and warding off predators, and will continue to care for fry once they become free swimming. The eggs will hatch in about 5 days and tiny fry will be free swimming with in 9 days. - http://www.freshwatermadness.com/so...id-h-multispinosa-t1231.htm?highlight=cichlid
After about 3 days the eggs will start to hatch. Then they are known as wiggler. They are tiny fry with eggs still attached. After another 3 days or so they will start to swim
As they start to hatch the parents will pick them off the rock, clean them in the mouth (looks like munching) and spit them into a pit they dug out for the wigglers. They may move the wigglers to different pits a few times before they start to swim. - http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=196740&postdays=0&postorder=asc&&start=0
When the fry hatch in 2-3 days, they are moved to pits where the male continues to guard them. Occasionally the parents may eat the fry. This behavior can usually be attributed to a lack of room in the tank. - http://fish.mongabay.com/species/Herotilapia_multipinosa.html
When the spawning site has been cleaned, a batch of approx. 300 eggs will be laid. The eggs should hatch after 3 days, the parents may move the fry to another area in the tank. Once free swimming the fry can be fed on finely crushed flake. - http://www.aqua-fish.net/show.php?h=rainbowcichlid
This is my first spawn of any fish and I would really hate myself if I lost the first batch of fry, but before I titled them KIA, I wanted to get an expert opinion on the situation.
Monday of this week, I came home from a 4 day trip to Mammoth Mountain, CA (they were fed lightly while i was gone) and in addition to a nice new layer of green algae on the glass I found that a pair of my newly acquired adult Archocentrus Multispinosa, which I had only received about a week or two prior to, had dug a large pit in a cave of one of my rock structures and the female had the characteristic jet black coloration and they were both intensely guarding the nest, but that night I failed to see any eggs, maybe because I didn't know what they looked like. But the next morning (in better lighting) I saw the nicely sized batch of eggs on the surface of one of the rocks. Well, I watched this week as they guarded those eggs day and night and this morning (as I was walking out of the door to school) I took a three second glance to watch an egg hatch, the tiny fish fall to the bottom of the pit, wiggle up the side of the pit, and then get snatched by the mother.
I gasped and wanted to know whether she ate it or not, but I was already late to school and had to leave. On a side note, I did not see any other fry in the pit, but it did appear as if a few of the eggs had already hatched. Well today I came back from school and to my distress, could not find any fry and by 4 o'clock the rock that once held all the eggs, was wiped back clean. The female is still guarding the pit, but the male has become apparently more relaxed and to my observation, has lost all paternal characteristics, but he seems to be ignored by the female when he approaches the pit, whereas any other fish is scared off. The pit doubles as a cave and my loaches and catfish used to hide in the complex all day, never to be seen until feeding time, so there is a possibility that the fry were moved to another area out of view. I have been doing my research and have compiled as much information on what happens to the fry of Archocentrus/Herotilapia multispinosa after they hatch and here is what I have found:
Before breeding, the fish will clean a spot to spawn on and then lay approximately 300 pinkish-tan eggs. Incubation is approximately three days after which the pair will move the wrigglers to another area. - http://www.gcca.net/fom/Herotilpia_multispinosa.htm
the fry hatch in about 5 days, and are free swimming by 8-9. - http://www.borstein.com/sam/?Species_Profiles:Central_America:Archocentrus_multispinosus
Fanning and rocking over the eggs, mouthing wrigglers, and pit-digging in the wriggler stage were performed more often by females; chasing other conspecifics and hovering, both during the egg stage, were performed more by males. Thus partial sharing of parental duties exists in this species, especially when the brood is at the egg and wriggler stages. - http://www.sciencedirect.com/scienc...serid=10&md5=4ad00b9af306f4f64e096576dfa350bf
After 3 days the parents will move the newly hatched wigglers to another area of the tank. At times new parents may eat some of the fry. - http://animal-world.com/encyclo/fresh/cichlid/RainbowCichlid.php
Pairs of H. multispinosa breeding in well-aerated water usually transfer their newly-hatched young (wrigglers) by mouth from the spawning site to a substrate pit, where they remain for several days until becoming free-swimming. - http://www.jstor.org/pss/4534262
Allow pairs to form naturally from a group of six if possible. These fish are easy breeders, and will defend their fry even in a community tank. Eggs are laid on a flat area of rock or other surface, and are cared for by both the male and female. Parents will take turns fanning the eggs and warding off predators, and will continue to care for fry once they become free swimming. - http://badmanstropicalfish.com/profiles/profile123.html
At 29°C. the fry are chewed out of their surrounding eggshells 24 hours posthatching. Both parents participate in this phase of the reproductive cycle and share in the transport of the wrigglers to a nursery area prepared in advance. This is usually a pre-dug pit, located some distance from the spawning site. If the bottom is too soft to allow the construction of such a pit, or else too heavily overlain with detritus, the parents will "plaster" the wrigglers against a vertical surface (Baylis, l974) or else hang them in the roots of floating aquatic plants such as Ceratopteris - http://www.cichlidae.com/article.php?id=50
Parents will take turns fanning the eggs and warding off predators, and will continue to care for fry once they become free swimming. The eggs will hatch in about 5 days and tiny fry will be free swimming with in 9 days. - http://www.freshwatermadness.com/so...id-h-multispinosa-t1231.htm?highlight=cichlid
After about 3 days the eggs will start to hatch. Then they are known as wiggler. They are tiny fry with eggs still attached. After another 3 days or so they will start to swim
As they start to hatch the parents will pick them off the rock, clean them in the mouth (looks like munching) and spit them into a pit they dug out for the wigglers. They may move the wigglers to different pits a few times before they start to swim. - http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=196740&postdays=0&postorder=asc&&start=0
When the fry hatch in 2-3 days, they are moved to pits where the male continues to guard them. Occasionally the parents may eat the fry. This behavior can usually be attributed to a lack of room in the tank. - http://fish.mongabay.com/species/Herotilapia_multipinosa.html
When the spawning site has been cleaned, a batch of approx. 300 eggs will be laid. The eggs should hatch after 3 days, the parents may move the fry to another area in the tank. Once free swimming the fry can be fed on finely crushed flake. - http://www.aqua-fish.net/show.php?h=rainbowcichlid
This is my first spawn of any fish and I would really hate myself if I lost the first batch of fry, but before I titled them KIA, I wanted to get an expert opinion on the situation.
