Spawning Report: Julidochromis ornatus, Golden Julie

Name: Lee Agin

Scientific Name of Fish: Julidochromis ornatus

Hobby Name of Fish: Golden Julie

Method of Reproduction: Substrate Spawner, Secretive Cave Spawner

Number and Gender Distribution of Parents: Pair

Origin of Parents: Tank Raised by Mark K.

Approximate number of eggs: Unknown

Date of Hatch or Birth: Unknown

Date of Free Swimming If Hatched: 2/18/2023

Approx. Number of Fry at 30 Days: TBD

Approx. Number of Fry at 60 Days: TBD

Aquarium Conditions:

pH - 8+

General Hardness (ppm) - 150

Average Temperature (F) - 76 degrees

Average Nitrate (ppm) - 10

Aquarium Size: 30”L X 12”W X 12”H, 20 Gallons

Water Source: Fairfax tap

Water Changes: 25-30% every 2 weeks

Filtration System: Hang on Back, Penguin Biowheel

Additives: Seachem Tanganyika Buffer an Prime during water changes

Décor:

Rock and caves

Substrate: Gravel

Lighting Type and Timing: Indirect from other lights in the fish room, on approximately 12 hrs

Food Fed to Parents and How Often: Alternating between Omega One Cichlid Flakes and frozen brine shrimp daily to every other day.

Food Fed to Fry and How Often: Same as parents plus, once I spotted them, alternating between vinegar eels, frozen rotifers, and frozen daphnia daily. Will start hatching live baby brine shrimp today to add to the rotation too.

Female in back on the left:

Male in front on the right:

This pair formed out of a group that I picked up at the PVAS December 2022 mini-auction. Once I noticed that a pair had formed, I removed the other Golden Julies and added a group of juvenile blue wag platies as dithers. The pair excavated a space under the clay cave that can be seen to the left in the pictures above, which is my best guess at where the eggs were laid. I first spotted one of the fry/juveniles swimming upside down on Sat. 2/28/23 under the piece of green slate that is serving as the ceiling of the cave centered in the pictures above. That one can be seen to the left of the female in the picture below:

I started target-feeding that area of the tank with fry-sized food the same day. On 2/19 I noticed more fry, about 6, on the ceiling of that same cave. The video below shows them moving around some shortly after adding some vinegar eels to the tank at the front of that cave: