Groundbreaking Taeniacara candidi video..

[ste12000]

Groundbreaking video....

Hi guys, today ive had one of the more memorable days of my fishkeeping career, first my Betta rubra spawned for the first time so ive been sneaking a look at those and their interesting behaviour all day today(spawning behaviour started at 10am and finished 6.30pm) the video is in the bag for that one and it will be uploaded tonight.

THEN.....i noticed that my Taeniacara candidi had started spawning, the male was right across the females cave entrance so i stopped for a nosey..Ive spawned this species around 50 times in the last 2 years and really thought i had seen it all. The male suddenly leant forward and pointed his vent towards the entrance and squirted a jet of milt towards the entrance. I quickly grabbed the camera and shot several minutes of film..i got what i needed to share with you guys and here is one of the shorter videos showing for what i believe the first time the actual moment when T.candidi eggs are fertilised..Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCD4k7YWoV0

 

[Mike Wise]

Ste, totally amazing video. I've never seen the milt released before!

 

[slimbolen99]

Wow. Great vid. Never seen that, uh, so vividly. :redface:

 

[tjudy]

I am surprised that he stayed outside the cave. I have seen big apistos do that, but your fish looks like he could have gotten inside easily enough.

 

[ste12000]

Thanks guys, it was exciting to witness and once i had it on video i was dancing round the fishroom...

Ted, ive seen Taeniacara candidi spawn on numerous occassions and i have never seen a male enter the cave, this is with different pairs from F1 to F6...ive never witnessed a spawn as vivid as this but as i said ive never seen them spawn in the cave together. The male sits outside and fans in his sperm and when finished sits several inches behind the cave...He is not always tollerated when the fry emerge!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmMbQViJIPI&feature=related

Other parents have raised up fry together with no problems....This species still needs plenty of work before all the details are known. Ill continue to work seriously with mine and will continue to post developments and when i feel i have enough information and quality pictures i will be writing a indepth article for the BCA journal..

 

[ed seeley]

Great work Ste! Well done for capturing that!

 

[bigbird]

well done indeed and congratulations. cheers jk :biggrin:

 

[Lisachromis]

Fantastic video. I've always wondered if you could see it or not. You've answered that question for me.

 

[Nymsley]

Thanks for posting these videos. In the second video, its almost mesmerizing how she is able to move her body vertically while the eyes are fixed in one place.

Just curious about this, how does the female kill her mate? How big is the breeding tank?

 

[chris1932]

Very cool. Answers a few questions I've had.

 

[wethumbs]

nice video

I didnt know they like to take a nap just outside the cave upside down...:biggrin:

My males always go inside with the females. Never seen them do at all. I use 1" thick pvc pipe with an endcap.

 

[wethumbs]

just curious

What kind of sex ratio do you get from the spawns? What are the water conditions?

 

[ste12000]

Im glad that this video is proving useful to those of you that are serious about the dwarf cichlid hobby.. Thats what its all about, sharing this useful info and im glad that i am able to share something this special that others can benefit from..

Wethumbs, my sex ratios are almost 50-50, only once ive had a skewed sex ratio and that was on the last spawn, mostly females but there were only 15 so its not exactly a fair comparason..
My water out of the tap is almost pure mountain runoff, the TDS is 55ppm, PH is 6.8 with a very low chlorine count and hardly any pollutants! Ideal really, i use it direct from the tap with no problems at all, ive experimented with the candidi over 2 years and have bred them in a wide range from PH4.5 to PH7, i would say that they are more successful around PH5.5 but there is not much in it.. My largest spawn measured 140 fry the smallest amount they brought out was 6!! The female tends broodcare and after several weeks the male is allowed close although he never helps much..

As i said im still working with them and will continue to do so for many years yet, one thing i would like is new blood..im on F6 at the minute and although they are strong well coloured healthy fish, introducing new blood will be needed in the near future..When your the only person in the UK seriously working with this fish its a bit difficult to find the required new blood!!! If anyone out there does have any wild or very close to wild stock of candidi i would be very interested in speaking to you. Cheers.

 

[dwarf cichlids in Az]

T candi are nice fish I have 12 myself they are in a 30 gal that I set up just for them. While they are stiil small and so far unsexable I hope to get 1 or 2 pairs and look forward to breeding them and takening them to the GCCA Classic in May as well as the ACA in July.