We have been working a little while on another BAP project. We built a new rack, set up a 40 gallon breeder on top, and determined to breed one pure strain of African Cichlids from our larger 55 gal. community tank. We stumbled upon a large male Auratus at our LFS. Large ones are pretty rare here, since they tend to be exceedingly dominant in Mbuna community tanks. Since we already had several beautiful females we had raised over nearly a year, we decided to give it a whirl.
First week seemed almost too good to be true -- they spawned within 24 hours! The female was holding, and we thought it was going to be easy. Well . . . the female swallowed her eggs (definitely her first batch ever) . . . and we went months with nothing more going on. So, we added our second female (albino Auratus) to try to stimulate pairing. We also upgraded their diet. Then, we did a large water change, during which we removed all the cichlids to buckets. Before putting them back in, we rearranged the decor and lighting. About a week afterwards, she is holding again. Hoping for a successful spawn this time!
Short Video of our Golden Mbuna Holding:
Thanks! She still seems to be holding, but she's still new to this . . . and we are not sure if she really has a "mouth full." It might be a small clutch of eggs. We'll see! We have a game plan . . . if it doesn't pan out, we'll wait til the next full moon...
Yes, the large rack was quite a project! Hopefully these mbuna will deliver a successful spawn. Once that's all done, and our video journal is complete, we'll share the whole affair -- including building the stand.
Congratulations on another spawn. Fingers are crossed that the female doesn't accidentally swallow her babies.
And you built that beautiful tank stand? Well done. Who said fishrooms have to be ugly, utilitarian affairs?