Pelvicachromis taeniatus Moliwe

[nellyfish22]

I have a young pair at the minute who have 2 week old fry and have spawned again. What are the chances of them carrying on caring for the 2 week old fry?As i write this the female has the fry in the cave where the eggs are and the male is staying out of the way.Neither of them are showing any signs of aggression towards the 2 week old fry.

 

[tjudy]

That is a really fast turn around for a pair. I do not think that it will pose any problems until the older fry start to look like adults... but that is months away. Are there any other fish in the tank?

 

[nellyfish22]

no, they are in a breeding tank on their own with no dither fish. The only problem that i can see is that the female is keeping the fry in the cave and I am not sure if she is letting them come out to feed?

 

[tjudy]

She is bringing the fry into the cave with the new eggs? That is really strange. A krib raising fry will take the fry in and out of the cave a lot. Maybe she is taking them out when you are not around.

One way to possibly keep the pair's concentration on the brood, rather than spawning again, would be to put dither/target fish into the tank with them. That way they have to defend the brood (which they are very good at) from a threat.

 

[nellyfish22]

Previously both the male and female had biparental roles and were both actively caring for the fry. However since the spawning the female has kept the fry with the egg's in the coconut shell, and the male has shyed away to the other end of the tank. I lifted the shell today and there it was, a small pile of 2 week old fry with the 50 or so egg's. I have bred apisto's and african dwarf's for some time and never seen this before!

 

[tjudy]

Me either, and I have worked with Pelvicachromis extensively. Fish cannot read though, so they always surprise us by doing the unexpected.