Wild Caquetaia spectabilis have spawned - what do I do??

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sjbquattro

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Feb 3, 2009
24
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Northants UK
Hello.
I have owned 2 Caquetaia spectabilis for a couple of years now. They are wild fish. When I purchased them, I had hoped they were male/female but they have always been at opposite ends of my 7ft tank and always fought their corners and stayed clear of each other. Furthermore, they looked like 2 females, although one had much brighter colouration.

2 weeks ago, they had a big scrap (minimal damage though) and I decided to leave them to it. It looked like breeding bahaviour. After the "fight" they seemed to have paired up and proceeded to dig a huge pit in the sand. They defended it together for 2 weeks (I have a large Oscar and a 16" Sailfin Plec in that tank). Last night one of the fish laid approx 500 or so eggs on the bogwood they had cleaned off. The other fish followed her around on the bogwood. Now... what I am not sure of is was this a male fertilising the eggs or is it just a 2nd confused female?

I am totally in the dark here, so hoping for advice. I have always kept big cichlids but nothing has ever bred as the agression levels have always been high in that tank.

First question - how do I know if these eggs will hatch? Both fish are defending the nest site.

Secondly - what should I do if the eggs hatch? I can get a spare tank running quickly and I have already partitioned off the Oscar and Plec, but fry wil easily get past the gaps in the partition.

Thirdly - will the parents eat the fry if they do hatch?

I am also concerned that the high flow and intake on the FX5 and big Eheim filters and Deltec UV will wipe any youngsters out quickly so I am thinking I will have to move the fry if they do hatch.

Sorry for all the questions. I really am on new ground here and hoping for some advice.

Many thanks. Photos shortly.
Stuart
 
sjbquattro;4271919; said:
Hello.
First question - how do I know if these eggs will hatch? Both fish are defending the nest site.

Secondly - what should I do if the eggs hatch? I can get a spare tank running quickly and I have already partitioned off the Oscar and Plec, but fry wil easily get past the gaps in the partition.

Thirdly - will the parents eat the fry if they do hatch?

I am also concerned that the high flow and intake on the FX5 and big Eheim filters and Deltec UV will wipe any youngsters out quickly so I am thinking I will have to move the fry if they do hatch.

Sorry for all the questions. I really am on new ground here and hoping for some advice.

Many thanks. Photos shortly.
Stuart
Click to expand...

Congrats, nice accomplishment.

(1) If the eggs fungus, turn white, they were not fertilized by the male. That is unlkely since it appears you had a male attentive and involved, as you described the spawning behavior. No worries if it happens, its a good thing you have eggs.

(2) I would get a 5-10g tank set up with seasoned filter media and original tank water. When the fry are free swimming, siphon half into the new 5-10g. Keep the other half with the parents and let them defend - it cements the bond, relationship. Raise the siphoned fry up and trade/sell to your local cichlid club or on mfk - that's a desired species.

(3) Unlikely that the parents will eat the fry. You may possibly see them move the eggs, wrigglers to another location, but they will be protecting them, not eating them. When the fry disappear from tank predators and the filter system, keep an eye on the pair - this is where the male blames the female for the loss of fry and violence erupts. You may want to separate them through a divider at that time for a couple weeks, so that they can see each other but not get at each other. Future spawns will likely result once you put them back together and you may need to repeat the process.

Good luck and congrats, that's a beautiful species, one of my favorites.
 
Congrats on the spawning! If the egs remain brownish in color after the first 24hrs or so then they are fertile.Non-fertile eggs will fungish over and turn white.I would leave them with the parents for 2-3 wks after they become free-swimming.If You can find some sponge pre-filters to fit over your intakes that will solve your problem of them being sucked into the filters.If You can obtain a 40gal breeder tank or similar size set it up to move the fry into. Good Luck!
 
Thank you both for the informative replies. Very helpfull :)
I have a spare 30 gallon tank, which I have just cleaned in case I need it. I have at least 3 spare external filters so it won't be a problem getting that system up an running pretty fast. I can move over mature filter media from one of the other tanks easily too.
So far the eggs remain brown-ish after 20 hours. Both fish continue to guard the area closely, although there are no other fish in that side of the partition anyway, so there are no threats to them.
Fingers crossed. Will provide an update tomorrow ;)
 
Wow - congrats on the spawn. That setup looks really nice with the tangles of driftwood. Please post a full tank shot if you can & keep us updated!
 
Congrats!! One of the species that I really want to keep someday....very jealous! :)

If it were me, I'd consider removing the other two fish, move the FX5 and eheim, and start a few large sponge filters now. The tank is big enough that you can probably get away with it for a couple of weeks (with water changes of course). Taking the fry out would definitely work but you'd miss the fun of watching the parents taking care of their young.
 
Congrats on the spawn. That is a great looking pair. Get you a sponge filter cycled and ready for the 30g tank. Personally I would vacuum out the fry right before they are free swimming or net them out shortly after. Specs are pretty rare in the hobby and I would hate for one of the seldom seen spawns to end up eaten.

Raise the fry just like you would any others. I feed golden pearls, frozen bbs, and crushed flakes to all of my fry until they are large enough to take pellets.
 
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