Wolf cichlid -parachromis, dovii, guapote, rainbow bass,

Wolf Cichlid- parachromis, dovii

Wolf Cichlid a fish by any other name this fish is called parachromis dovii, Dovii, Parachromis, Guapote, Leopard Cichlid or sport fishermen refer to this cichlid as Rainbow Bass or the Gold Bass. The name Dovii is paradoxical regarding this fish as it name implies means peace dove the Wolf Cichlid is not peaceful fish. The Wolf is playful, curious, and intelligent; this is one of the few cichlids that can be trained to be hand fed. In the areas where this cichlid is naturally occurring they are usually referred to as guapote (guapote blanco) or lagunero in Spanish and as rainbow or gold bass in English speaking regions all these names are describing just one fish and that is the wolf cichlid or in the US they are usually refereed to as dovii.

The wolf cichlid is one of the largest growing of the cichlidae family; The dovii is somewhat similar in appearance to the jaguar cichlid (Parachromis managuensis), however the dovii is larger and stockier, and a dark, solid, unbroken band runs horizontally thought the flank of the fish; in contrast jaguar cichlid possesses a series of large spots along the flank. Base color of the Wolf cichlid is gold, and well-kept specimens will take on a beautiful lavender color. They have random black spots all over their body and the young juveniles are gold with a black horizontal stripe.

Big and mean best describes this wolf cichlid. Dovii are known for their aggression, so tank mates need to compete with their temperament and size. It is recommended that these fish are kept in a large species tank with no tank mates to avoid issues. They will eat anything small enough to fit in their mouth, and will not hesitate to beat or kill more docile tank mates.

Feed pellets, frozen foods like silversides and krill, and earthworms on occasion. This fish is a substrate spawners. Wolf Cichlids are widely regarded as one of the most vicious cichlids available to aquarists; though many specimens may not live up to this reputation they are still considered wolf cichlid as extremely, strong and powerful cichlid with winning personality.

Breeding can be achieved with very little effort and no specific requirements are needed for breeding purposes. As long as water conditions are maintained at a desirable high quality, I use nitrates denitrator freshwater filtering systems in my opinion this type of filter is worth every penny what we as hobbyists fail to mention is the nitrate filter will greatly reduce the need for water changes in your fish tanks, saving you time, money, and reducing the stress on your Wolf Cichlids a breeding pair of such fish will readily spawn. The aquarium must be large 250 minimum to 500 gallon for a breeding pair of wolf cichlids. As with all members of its genus, these fish are large and heavily built cichlids that produce large amounts of body waste.

dovii Breeding/Reproduction

The Wolf Cichlid or Dovii Cichlid has been bred in captivity. They are substrate spawners and both parents will care for the young. When a pair is formed out of a group, the male should not be too hard on the female. Often times a male will excessively beat up on the female. In this case a divider with the bottom open just large enough to let the eggs be fertilized would be needed.

The female will lay over 1,000 of eggs that hatch in 5 days. The fry are free swimming in a few more days. The young can eat baby brine and other meaty preparations, and offer larger sized foods as they grow. Sort the fry by size as they grow as well, or the larger siblings will eat the smaller ones. The Wolf Cichlid is sexually mature at 10 to 14 months and will spawn about every 4 weeks.

To enhance the likelihood of acquiring a breeding pair, purchase several healthy very young and active juveniles at a young age (between 1” -2”) and grow these specimens until sexual maturity. Generally, you should have at least two breeding pairs. These fish will noticeably become more aggressive and territorial, Remove all other fish at this point and keep the newly formed breeding pair separate.

When a breeding pair had been successfully established, the male will begin to court the female by displaying his erect finnage to the female as he tries to impress her in an attempt for her to accept his mating invitation. The pair will begin to clean a flat surface if the female is responsive of the male's previous courting behavior. The female will then lay approximately 1000 - 2000 orange colored eggs which will then be fertilized by the male wolf cichlid.

The eggs will be vigorously guarded by both Dovii, parents and the amount of parental care is always shown to the eggs as well as the fry. When the eggs 'hatch' after approximately 5 -7 days as you can see in the video, both parents fan the eggs, the eggs should hatch after about 4 days into what we call "wrigglers"; the offspring (known as wrigglers in this stage in development) wrigglers cannot swim, consequently the name, and the wigglers do not need to be fed, because each wriggler has a yolk sac attached to their stomach and the wigglers feed off their yolk sack.

The wriggler stage lasts approximately 5 days, after which the fry become free swimming. Further it is not uncommon for one or both wolf parents will often transport the young into pre dug pits and are guarded the pit and again dig another pit and move the young again. Once the fry only become free swimming you will need to start feeding the fry; the best thing to feed the fry is frozen baby brine shrimp and quality high protein pellets ground to fine powder. 

The fry will begin to swim in approximately 7 days and should be fed with baby brine shrimp or alike. If you would like to rear these fry, they should be removed at this point as they will later be consumed by both parents as the female becomes due to spawn once more. Feed the fry baby brine shrimp until the stage where they are large enough to consume white worm, daphnia and other live foods.

When you purchase your young wolf fish in an attempt to acquire a breeding pair, try to buy fish from different sources. There is a high probability that when buying fish from the same source, fish will be from the same parents (siblings). Breeding fish in this manner may form offspring with genetic disorders usually associated with interbreeding; always buy your young wolf fish are of a similar size.

dovii Aquarium

The aquarium should be large (250 gallons or 947.35295 liters or 500 gallons or 1892.7059 liters) for a breeding pair of wolf cichlids. As with all members of this genus, these fish are large and heavily built cichlids that are aggressive and highly territorial. Decor could be kept to a minimum in such an aquarium and sand or fine gravel should be used as the main substrate. If you desire some landscaping either glue rock together or use a very large flower pots placed on it side if you want to include caves for female Dovii; for the substrate use many pieces of flat slate or rock should also be included for the female to lay her eggs upon; remember this fish is a digger and prefers to rearrange their habit. Include large moss balls or ping pond balls this is highly intelligent fish and suffer from extreme curiosity and boredom always leads to aggression.

wolf cichlid Care and Feeding   

The wolf cichlid or dovii is a carnivore, a predator that feeds on primarily other smaller fish, along with crustaceans and insects in the wild. In the aquarium they can have a pellet base foods but must be supplemented with fish, shrimp, earthworms, and other meaty foods; they prefer floating foods according to one fish keeper. Consider only feeding them frozen, since live fish can carry disease, unless you are willing to grow a ton of feeders on your own.

Keep in mind that giving them live foods makes them much more aggressive naturally. Fed them no more than 3 times a day and feed them only enough food they can eat in 5 minutes. Then do not feed them for 1.5 to 2 days once every other week this is the same as in the wild. Further this will keep the water quality higher over a longer time. All fish require vitamins and supplements added to their foods.

Remember this is a big cichlid that requires a lot of free swimming space, a tank of over 120 gallons is suggested for their long term care. Ideally 150 gallons for a female and 200 gallons for a male should be provided and over 300 gallons if you attempt to breed them. They need good water movement along with strong and efficient filtration. The female wolf cichlid requires and needs many hiding places to protect herself from the male wolf cichlid.

Provide lots of rocks, bog wood and tunnels to dig under with sandy or fine gravel substrate. Put large heavy rocks on the glass, not on the substrate because they dig under everything and falling rocks can crack your glass aquarium and scratch your acrylic tank. Glue desired rock formations together or your Wolf Cichlid will have other plans for your perfectly placed rock tower, just leave some rocks and stuff for them to move that where the large moss ball and ping pong balls come in; Decorating with tough plants is also possible, though strong light levels can cause algae growth. Do water changes of Water changes of 20 - 40% up to twice a week, give or take depending on your water quality.

dovii Diet

The Parachromis are not fussy eaters and will readily accept most food substances offered. Cichlid pellets are a good daily food. Diet should be varied however. Offer a variety of insect, including white worms, crickets (for larger specimens). Chopped meat can also be offered along with frozen finely chopped chicken no bones, frozen halibut, frozen salmon, frozen krill, small/medium silkworms are for medium and large aquarium fish of all types of cichlids excellent for Oscars, Cichlids, Large Angelfish, Barbs and many more; according to many animal experts, Silkworms are one of the healthiest insects you can feed your fish and other pets. Silkworms are low in fat content, are a high source of Calcium, Protein, Iron, Magnesium, Sodium and Vitamins B1, B2, and B3. Silkworms; do provide the essential variety required to maintain healthy cichlids. but never beef heart (due to its high fat content) along with prawn, wheat germ,  Hikari Tropical Food Sticks and high quality pellet carnivore food.

           

Supplement your meat-eating fish's diet with this complete nutritional package. Carnivore diets generally lack a lot of necessary elements. Food Sticks fill in the remaining gaps by providing a full assortment of essential vitamins and minerals to promote health and enhance coloration and (/frozen) Silversides frozen fish. Frozen fish is a much preferred method of feeding fish as many "feeder fish" carry the risk of the introducing disease into your aquarium, possibly harming your breeding wolf cichlid. I can speak to this I feed my Moray Ells and my Ribbon Ells feeder fish and approximately year they would die when I stopped feeding (feeder fish) to my ells and only frozen fish I’m happy to say they are doing fine and are now approximately eight year old.

Sexing

Females tend to be smaller than males but in some cases can grow just as big or as bigger than their spawn mates. The gold/yellow coloration is more prominent in the females, especially during courtship, breeding and raising fry. The male's dorsal and ventral fins are also much more elongated than the female's. Males tend to have more spots and will take on a beautiful lavender color comport varies on individual females or males and situations but aggression is usually to be expected during courtship and spawning periods.

Water chemistry

pH of 7.0 - 8.0 preferably;

Temperature of 23.9-27.8°C (75 -82 °F)

Water Hardness 15-20 °d

Stocking Ratio

1:1 M:F

Size of Wolf Cichlid

65-72 cm (25.6-30.") This fish grows to a length of 30" (72 cm).

Diet

Carnivore

Pellet Foods

Flake Foods

Live Food

Life Span Wolf Cichlid

8-12 years

Wild Wolf Cichlid Habitat

Central America

Family

Cichlidae

Parachromis dovii

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Parachromis dovii

Scientific classification

Kingdom:       Animalia

Phylum:           Chordata

Class:             Actinopterygii

Order:             Perciformes

Family:            Cichlidae

Subfamily:      Cichlasomatinae

Genus:            Parachromis

Species:         P. dovii

Binomial name

Parachromis dovii

(Günther, 1864)

Infection/Diseases

The dovii cichlids are subject to infections as well as other diseases that ail all freshwater fish. One common problem is Ich. It can be treated with the elevation of the tank temperature to 86° F (30° C) for 3 days. If that does not cure the Ich, then the fish needs to be treated with copper (remove any water conditioners). Several copper based fish medications are available for Ich. Copper use must be kept within the proper levels, so be sure to follow the manufacturer’s suggestions. A copper test can be used to keep the proper levels. You can also combine increasing the temperature with an Ich medication treatment. Intestinal disease can be treated with metronidazol.

Wolf Cichlid Water Region: Top, Middle or Bottom: These fish will swim in the middle areas of the aquarium.

Social Behaviors:    This is not a community fish, it is a predator that is territorial and aggressive and even more aggressive when spawning. The Wolf Cichlid can be kept alone, or as a mated pair. Other Wolf Cichlids in the tank will be killed by the dominant male.

This fish can only be kept with larger fish that have the same temperament and cannot be swallowed. The Wolf Cichlid will even try to consume a larger fish that is mellower than it by ripping it to pieces if it cannot swallow it whole. The mixed aquarium must be hundreds of gallons with rocks used to form natural territory borders and lots of hiding places for the other fish. It is not suggested to house them with any other fish and they are best served in a species specific tank. If you live in a warm area, they can be kept in a pond.

Sexual Differences: Males are larger, and the females are mostly yellow.

Availability:  The Wolf Cichlid or Dovii Cichlid are sometimes available online and sometimes in fish stores. They will run about $10.00 USD for 2” very young dovii juveniles and if you raise dovii you too should sell at 1.5" to 2".

Iranocichla hormuzensis Iran, Asian Cichlid

Iranocichla hormuzensis Iran Cichlid

In pursuit of rare fish scarcity does not necessarily translate into a species being difficult or interesting to maintain; if you are fortunate to possess a group of the uncommon and fascinating cichlid like Iranocichla hormuzensis.

 

Your first challenge will undoubtedly be locating Iranocichla hormuzensis and once you have found Iranocichla hormuzensis take a picture or post to you tube as cichlid picture or pictures tropical fish; breeding-Iranocichla hormuzensis will be discouraging;Iranocichla hormuzensis.

Collecting Iranocichla hormuzensis Iran Cichlid

Iranocichla hormuzensis is the only cichlid found in Iran and is the lone member of the genus (monotypic). It is a maternal mouthbrooder with an extremely limited range along the southern coast of Iran being restricted to rivers draining into the Strait of Hormuz.

The word "river" can be misleading as you have seen in pictures of this species being collected in ankle deep water flowing at a snail's pace. Every waterway seems to be slightly different, ranging in width from 1-50 meters. Often the streams will experience diminished flow rates and will settle into pools.

Some years the pools may have fish and others they do not. The parameters of the water of its habitat vary wildly in regards to both salinity and temperature. This is a large portion of the challenge in keeping this fish.

Normally when you learn a fish comes from a system of fluctuating measurements and associate it with a species that is easy to keep and a little bit more tolerant of the water when what we put into their tanks isn't perfect.

The challenge is not in the daily maintenance of Iranocichla hormuzensis but in matching those conditions when trying to induce spawning. These waterways have not been studied as extensively as most leaving many gaps in regards to addressing their water quality needs.

A large portion of the terrain in close proximity to these rivers, consist of salt domes. This can cause to the water to be highly saline. Consequently, any influx of freshwater into the system will cause the salinity level to fluctuate. These are mostly small bodies of water and I would consider the conditions to be anything but stable. In addition, the water found in several oases where this fish is found, consists of pure fresh water.

Notice I. hormuzensis teeth

If challenging water conditions were not enough, the area is exposed to extreme temperature changes. Winter temperatures range from 12-30 C while in summer this environment can swell up to 44+ C. Unlike many of the waterways associated with other cichlids, there is very little vegetation along the banks to provide any shade. This combined with the reduced water levels in the summer make for tough living.

When discussions concerning the state of the fish in its native waterways with several people, including several prominent ichthyologists. Some think the fish is in serious peril because farmers are using the water for irrigation and industrialization of the region.

Iranocichla hormuzensis Fin Coloring

The other camp maintains that the fish is not at any greater risk than they previously faced based on limited distribution and tough environmental conditions. The thought process is that the region is so undesirable and desolate that it has escaped the industrialization found elsewhere. Without treatment, the water is too salty to be used for farming. We have not heard much middle ground and the opinions seem to be far apart.

Iranocichla hormuzensis is an absolutely stunning fish when it matures. Iranocichla hormuzensis is relatively small at a maximum length of about 4". While somewhat undersized, it possesses a very stout body.

Juveniles are slightly elongated and one can clearly see the convex shape of the head developing early on. At this point, any hints of future coloration are non-existent. The young maintain a silver-green coloration with no pigmentation in the fins. Iranocichla hormuzensis their body exhibits 7- 11 vertical bars that become less obvious as the fish matures.

Iranocichla hormuzensis dorsal fin contains an easily recognizable tilapia spot. In the description of the species, it is stated that males can be differentiated from females by a greater head length, larger pelvic fins, and greater interorbital width, but frankly I was unable to accurately sex these fish until they began to display certain behavior and color changes and when looking closely, you will begin to notice white spots on the silver fish.

Slowly the male begins to exhibit darkening shades of gray until it appears as a light black. When in breeding dress, the male is intensely black with white and turquoise iridescent spots scattered throughout the body and caudal fin and there are no spots on either the anal or pelvic fins; further the dorsal contains some spots, and has white banding that occurs in the otherwise black fin.

Speckling on the body begins behind the gill plate while the cranial region is black. If you look at other images and read through some of the limited source material available, you will find that males also appear with a black body and a brick-red lower side along with the bottom portion of the jaw.

The species description mentions both of these variants without further elaboration on potential reasons for the differences. It could be diet, water condition, or locale variants, but all of this is simply non validated speculation. As additional taxonomic work is done with this cichlid you can fill some of the gaps in your knowledge base.

The females maintain the silver coloration and vertical barring and seem to darken a little bit but it is just very light gray without all the spotting. Unlike the males, the tilapia spot is easily seen in the females. The differentiation in hues of the females to a swaggering male makes could make a stunning display.

Iranocichla

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Iranocichla

Scientific classification

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum:  Chordata

Class:   Actinopterygii

Order: Perciformes

Family: Cichlidae

Subfamily: Pseudocrenilabrinae

Tribe:   Tilapiini

Genus: Iranocichla

Coad, 1982

Species:  Iranocichla hormuzensis (Coad, 1982)

Iranocichla hormuzensis is a species of mouthbrooding fish from the cichlid family. It is the only member of its genus, and reaches a length of about 10 centimetres (3.9 in).[1] It is restricted to freshwater and brackish habitats in southern Iran. It is the only species of cichlid native to this country, and among the few cichlids native to Asia. Although it has not been rated by the IUCN, some authorities believe it is highly threatened.

    ^ a b Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2006); Species of Iranocichla- in FishBase; April 2006 version.

Stub icon: This tilapiine cichlid-related article is a stub. Iranocichla hormuzensis (Coad, 1982)

By Dave Hansen

I acquired my "group" of fish in November 2007. I say group, but it was only four individuals. This is a species I had been chasing for a number of years and was always near the top of my "must have" list.

I was appreciative to obtain Iranocichla hormuzensis, but will admit only having four individuals made me feel a little nervous. I was unsure of how to maintain them so this really didn't give me very much room for error.

Iranocichla hormuzensis had just been released from the mother about 7 days previous to them coming into my possession and were extremely tiny. When I first gazed into the bag I couldn't even see the fry at all. I poured the contents of the bag into a coffee cup hoping it would be easier to see them. I made out 4 sets of tiny black eyes and breathed a sigh of relief.

I am not a scientist and the idea of playing chemist with water parameters had me a bit anxious. The key factor I was trying to determine was the salt content of the water. I had a couple of weeks to prep and enrolled the help of my fellow fish geek, Nick Andreola, to figure out how I was going to set the tank up.

The actual physical setup was easy; I prepared a 113 liter long as I would for any other cichlid I had maintained. I used a slightly oversized hang on the back filter and because I knew the fish were small I used a sponge over the intake tube to keep from siphoning them up into it.

Further I employed pool filter sand as the substrate and dotted it with several medium size pieces of holey rock and tied in some artificial silk plants. These fish are accustomed to warm water, so I submerged a heater into the tank and set the thermostat for 23C.

I filled the tank with water and looked at the volume of water and said to myself, "now what?" I had done as much research as possible on the specific waterways where these fish were found and as I mentioned earlier it varies wildly.

Even if I had exact readings, I had no idea how that would actually be executed in the tank. Nick was on the case though. I had total confidence he would figure this out for me. He called me to discuss and after listening to him explain in great detail; I had no idea what he was talking about. I don't think Stephen Hawking would know what he was talking about!

Nick had a mouthful of equations and numbers and you need this measuring device and oh by the way do you have access to an electron smasher? Maybe I added the last part, but this was giving me a headache. If these fish can't survive in my tank how in the heck will they avoid disappearing in the wild?

I hung up with Nick and told him I would call him later after I absorbed his information. Hopefully he isn't still sitting by the phone. It took a little longer than it should have, but I decided to reach out to the few other hobbyists I knew of who had kept them to uncover their maintenance secrets.

I asked three people and got three different answers. One of them kept them in pure freshwater, another said a large soup spoon of salt per gallon, and the other said a small palm worth per gallon.

Great, what are your local tap water conditions; what size are the soup spoons in Europe, and how big are your hands? After fretting over this for a couple of weeks I decide I will use a soup spoon worth of salt per gallon.

I went to grab a spoon from the drawer and my wife asked what I was doing. I went into great detail to demonstrate how smart I was and I was using this spoon to salt the tank. "You are not using one of my nice spoons for your tanks" was her reply. She handed me a tablespoon from an old cutlery set and said I could have that one. So after weeks of research and discussion I am using a tablespoon of salt per gallon.

I had the tank prepared for a week before I received the fish. Once they were in my hands I slowly acclimated them to their home. I was in my fishroom constantly, checking on, and trying to count the four of them. I was never able to get above three and lost the one very early on and this kicked my stress level up a notch.

The fish has an elongated intestinal tract consistent with an algae based diet (Lamboj, pers comm.). I fed crushed spirulina flake for quite some time. Growth was slow, but they were growing and I considered this was a positive sign and of course during this point it came time to do my first water change.

I drained about 30% of the tank into a bucket and then poured the bucket into a gallon milk jug to precisely measure how much water I had taken out of the tank. I was determined to replace the salt content grain for grain. Half the water ended up on the floor as I was pouring it into the milk jugs.

Iranocichla hormuzensis was my first foray into any type of fishkeeping involving salt and it wasn't going well. I have had prouder moments in the hobby than this disaster in the making.

Water was seeping all over the floor and I had no idea how much salt to replenish. Keep in mind how difficult the conditions are that these fish exist in the wild and this makes all of this obsessing bordering on silly.

I was living in the moment though and determined to do this right. In hindsight I am sure a little less/more salt wouldn't have bothered them much. I now use guesstimation and mix some salt and water into a bucket to fill the tank back up.

I mixed it well and proceeded to siphon the water into the tank from the bucket. The bucket was empty. I looked in the pail and 90% of the salt had stayed in the bottom of the bucket. I walked over and shut the door to the fishroom; I didn't need my family witnessing this spectacle.

I grabbed the hose and went about filling the tank back up. I reached for the spoon, estimated what I needed to get close, and called it good. I attentively watched the fish for the next couple of hours waiting for them to keel over from the shock to their system they must surely have been experiencing.

Amazingly they survived their first water change; subsequent water changes went much smoother and I operated under the motto, "What doesn't kill them only makes them stronger". I drained the water, added dechlor, and slowly filled the water up and added salt as I was filling and it worked fine; as I discovered while tinkering with water parameters, these fish appear to be extremely hardy.

I had no false illusions that this trio would be breeding anytime soon. The dialogue I had developed with the other hobbyists, keeping I. hormuzensis was a wonderful source of information.

It would be around 24 months before I could expect them to breed. I was concentrating on maintaining healthy fish while focused on water changes and feeding. Three fish in a 113 liter tank was not taxing the filtration system at all, but I performed a rigorous schedule of 30% weekly water changes.

In addition to the spirulina flake I introduced algae tabs and the occasional protein flake which were greedily consumed. The fish were putting on size and aggression was not yet an issue.

Despite no dithers or target fish in the aquarium they were not a shy species at all. I enjoyed watching them slowly develop. After a year, one of the individuals began transforming from silver to a light gray. Over a few months the coloration became a darker and darker gray until eventually the body was light black and the speckling became a bit more prominent during this time frame as well.

There were still no signs of real aggression but this developing male had one side of the tank to himself and the other two tended to keep to the other side. All three would move freely without any aggression issues but the tendency of the group was to stay on their own sides.

The male was really coming into his own in regards to his coloration and was now in full bloom. This did not translate into any courting behavior though. Several months went by and the other two fish were starting to spar somewhat. As time drew on, a full out battle between the two females ensued. The two females spent several weeks rushing at each other and jaw locking. I was observing this closely as I could not afford to lose any of the fish. Despite the battle royal no visible damage was being done to either fish. Eventually this activity subsided and one of the females was now hanging out with the male in his rock pile.

By no means were they exhibiting pairing behavior, but were definitely getting along enough to allow each other in the same area. The other fish stayed in her half of the tank. I have not seen any fighting between those two since that one frenzied period.

The male was now in breeding coloration at all times and could be seen displaying to the female often. He would sashay across the tank and court the other female as well. This went on for several weeks before I actually witnessed a female with buccal cavity full of eggs.

Over several months I had a female holding three times and never more than a week. The next time it happened I decided I would strip the eggs and tumble them. Unfortunately there has not been a next time. While the male has maintained his vibrant hues and occasionally shimmies up to a female, there has been almost zero courting behavior.

More time passes I determine it is time to start tinkering with some water parameters to see if I can trigger a spawning. The nervousness I exhibited a couple of years ago is now gone and I am not too concerned about playing mad scientist.

Many fish will spawn during a rainy season because they have learned that along with the rain come enhanced food sources. The first thing I do is to slowly lower the salt content in the tank.

Once lowered, I would maintain it for at least a month. By the time I have tweaked it down as far as I felt comfortable with; the salt levels were about 25% of the original quantity. This wasn't working.

Next I varied the diet and begin feeding mosquito larvae I was collecting in a bucket outside. I also increased the frequency of the protein flake. With little effect, I tried a different brand of food, again, with no luck.

The next factor to alter was temperature. I began by lowering the temperature of the heater and eventually turned it off. The lowest temperature the water reached was about 18C.

I also proceeded to alter the salt content again as I was experimenting with the temperature. Once this failed to trigger any responses I began to crank the temperature up and had the heater up to 31C before deciding not to go any higher.

I will admit while I was frustrated it was an enjoyable challenge as well. These fish were making me work to entice a spawning and I was having fun trying to outsmart them. After many months of this I still had nothing as far as spawns, but still had 3 healthy fish that appeared no worse for wear.

I reached out to a friend who wasn't having any luck and he was able to pass along 4 females from his group all in the name of getting this species to breed. While there has been increased courting behavior only one spawn has been witnessed and it was aborted several days later.

The shifting of parameters has resumed and different variations are being attempted. I have a friend who has proven he can spawn almost anything. He lives close by and we have moved the fish over to his house so he is working with them as well. It is more important to me to achieve a spawn and be able to share these fish than it is to keep them in my fishroom just for the sake of having them.

The slightly alarming sequel to my story is that most of the other known groups in captivity have stopped spawning and no one is producing any fry.

Iranocichla hormuzensis has been the most challenging fish I have kept to date and I am as enthusiastic today about them as I was when I was lucky enough to obtain them. It is an absolutely stunning fish that would be the highlight of any collection.

 I hope the attempts to spawn this fish are successful and more people will get the opportunity to enjoy them. This will only lead to more awareness of a beautiful cichlid and assist in expanding our knowledge base.

http://www.aquapress-bleher.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=400&Itemid=1

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Aquarium Fish-Keeping Cichlids, Breeding cichlids

Group Cichlids-Photo by georgiaaquarium.org

People begin keeping fresh water cichlids and purchase new aquarium because of their beauty. With the variety of colors and shapes, it's not unlike saltwater fish tank without the fuss and expense of salt water tank, without the salt or the upkeep of salt water fish tank!

However before long, some people become interested in breeding cichlids, rather than just having them. Quite often this is due to the cichlids breeding without any intervention on the aquarist's part, who thereafter becomes interested in keeping the next batch of fry.

By and large, the majority of African cichlids are mouthbrooders. This means that the eggs are actually brooded in one of the parents' mouth - typically the female cichlid's mouth. Other types of cichlids (shell dwellers for example) they are egglayer cichlids. How do you get your cichlids to breed? How can you protect the female, and ensure that the eggs hatch successfully? And then how do you protect the young from hungry predators?

The first step in breeding cichlids is to obtain fish that will breed. While this may seem obvious, it's not as simple as obtaining a male and female of the same species of tropical fish. With African cichlids, it's much better to obtain a harem, quite often referred to as a breeding colony. If you only have a pair, the male may be too aggressive towards the one available female, resulting in stress and potential death.

When you have your breeding colony, you'll want to give them a good environment. Have plenty of caves, rocks, shelves and crevices that the cichlids can choose as their territory and breeding ground. Don't bother with aquarium plants; they'll only be removed by the cichlids!

To get your African cichlids in breeding condition, you need to feed them well. I've always found spirulina flakes to be excellent quality food, as well as the occasional earthworm, white worm or crickets and live bay shrimp.

When the fish are ready to breed, you'll notice the male chase the female and do a mating dance, which consists of shimmying in front of the female. The female will drop eggs, and then proceed to pick them up in her mouth.

The male will fertilize them. It has been theorized that this is where the 'egg spots' come into play. The egg spots are the small round yellowish spots on the male's anal fin. Many feel that when the male shimmies, these look like eggs that the female hasn't yet collected. She attempts to, and the eggs that are in her mouth are able to be fertilized by the male.

The process will be repeated a number of times, until the female loses interest (just like people!). If the eggs weren't properly fertilized, they will be disposed of. If they're fertilized, they will be kept until the eggs are hatched and the yolk sacks have disappeared. This can take from three to five weeks.

If you want to keep the baby cichlids, I strongly suggest that you remove the female to a comfortable tank for the female cichlid a place of her own. This can be a smaller tank, with some rockwork for her to hide in.

You don't need to feed her, although when the eggs hatch (you'll see the wigglers in her mouth) you may want to toss in a very small amount of flake food. She may pick at it for the sake of the fry. There will be a follow-up article explaining how to strip the female cichlid, a process necessary if she won't release the eggs or if she eats them.

To feed the babies, you can crush up some flake food into a fine powder. Take a little, mix it with water. Then suck it into a straw of piece of aquarium tubing. Then insert it into the water near the swimming cichlid fry, and release it for them to eat.

Allow the female cichlid to feed back to health before putting her back in the tank. Also, try to keep the fry with her for at least 1 week.

There are over 160 genera and more than 900 species of Cichlids with newly discovered species reported on a regular basis. This group offers a huge diversity of color, behavior, size, and body shape. Cichlids are widespread throughout the world, including Africa, South America, Asia, Central America, and even North America. 

All these Cichlids come from only one family, Cichlidae, and thus are separated in this book by the geographical area from which they are found. Most Cichlids kept in captivity come from the Great African Rift Lakes, Lake Malawi or Lake Tanganyika; various African rivers, the Amazon Basin in South America, or Central America.
   

SOCIAL BEHAVIOR

 

The Cichlid Family includes a huge, diverse group of fish. Thus, it is difficult to make generalizations about this family. However, it is safe to say that many cichlids have a tendency towards aggressive behavior. This conduct can be attributed to cichlids' highly developed brood care. Other cichlids are shoaling fish which are best kept in groups like

Blue Dolphin Cichlids-Blue Moorii.

PAIRING:- several different types of bonds are formed between male and female cichlids.

These include the following:

Monogamy-The female and the male remain together after spawning.

Polygyny- The male stays together with several females

Polyandry- The female bonds with several males. This form of pairing is rare.

Agamy- No lasting bond is formed between the pair and they separate right after spawning.

BROOD CARE

Cichlids take care of their young in several different ways. Six "family" forms are common among cichlid parents.

Nuclear or Parental Family: Both parents equally share the duties of caring for the young. Nuclear families are usually formed by monogamous, open-water brooders, although exceptions are common. It is generally very difficult to distinguish between the sexes.

Matriarch/Patriarch Family: The female watches over the brood, while the male defends the territory. When the fry become free-swimming, the parents bear the tasks of parenthood equally. This family form is usually formed by monogamous, open-water brooders. Sexual dimorphism and dichromatism is common.

Patriarch/Matriarch or Male-with-Harem Family: The male defends a large territory, which includes multiple spawning sites of several females. Each female assumes the responsibility of her own brood. The male is polygamous, and clear sexual dimorphism is present. This form takes place among cavity brooders.

Matriarch Family: No bond is formed between the pair. The female cares and guards the eggs and the fry. In this family pattern, the fish are agamous and usually the female is an Ovophile mouthbrooder.

Patriarch Family: As with the Matriarch Family, no bond is formed between the parents.  The male carries the eggs and the fry. No sexual dimorphism or dichromatism can be found. Only one mouthbrooder forms a true patriarch family, Sarotherodon melanothe row.

Extended Family: The parents as well as the offspring of previous spawning care for the young. Extended Families are formed by cavity brooders of Lake Tanganyika, including the fish belonging to the genera Julidochromis and Neolamprologus. 

BREEDING

Cichlids have highly developed brood care and reproductive behavior. Nearly all Cichlids lay their eggs on some substrate, whether it be rocks, plants, or sand. Cichlids are now characterized into two breeding groups; Open and Shelter Brooders.

Open brooders lay eggs on an open surface, such as rocks, sand, and plants. The eggs can number as high as 10,000 from one laying. These eggs are usually small and clump together. Clear sexual dimorphism and dichromatism is usually evident. Examples of open water brooders include Pterophyllum, Symphysodon, and most species of Cichlasoma.

Shelter brooders can be divided up into two groups; cavity brooders and mouth brooders. Thereby in general, shelter brooders lay substantially less eggs, usually not more than 300, and have larger more colorful eggs. These fish are easier to sex because males are larger and more colorful.

Cavity brooders lay their eggs in caves. The parents participate in brood care and may become aggressive towards other fish while caring for the eggs and the fry. Examples of cavity brooders include Apistogramma, Julidochromis, Neolamprologus, and Pelvicachromis.

Mouth-brooders are fish that, at some point during brood care, will take their eggs or the fry into their mouths. Mouth-brooders are divided up into two further categories depending on when the parents take the eggs/fry are taken into the mouth. 

Ovophile or "egg-loving" mouth-brooders - The male makes a pit in his territory, where the eggs are laid. The eggs are sucked up into the female's mouth usually, but occasionally, during spawning. After hatching the fry remain in the safety of the mother's mouth until they can fend for themselves.

The male, of some of these species, often has colorful, oval-shaped marks on its anal fin. These spots serve an important role in the fertilization of the eggs and are known as egg spots or egg dummies.

After the female has laid her eggs and sucks them into her mouth. She sees the eggs spots on the males, and thinking they were eggs she missed, will try to suck them up. At this moment the male releases sperm which the female sucks up into her mouth, thus fertilizing the eggs. Such as Ovophile mouthbrooders include- Aulonocara, Haplochromis, and Pseudotropheus.

Larvophile or "larvae-loving" mouth-brooders lay their eggs on a substrate. After the eggs hatch, the female picks up the fry and keeps them in her mouth. Sometimes the parental protection stops after the fry are released from the mouth; Examples of Larvophile mouth-brooders are Geophagus and Sarotherodon.

DUMMY-EGG SPOTS

Many cichlids, especially those of Lake Malawi, have colored patches on the anal fin which serve to aid spawning. These patches are known as egg-spots, dummy eggs, egg dummies, or false egg spots. These spots are especially important in the fertilization of the real eggs.

When the female takes the real eggs into her mouth, the male spreads his anal fin, displaying his egg spots. The female sees these and sucks at them assuming that they are real eggs. At that moment the male releases sperm, which the female sucks into her mouth, thus fertilizing the eggs.

FEEDING

 

Since there is such a variety of cichlid species, cichlids have a wide range of feeding habits. However most cichlids have an enormous appetite and are easily fed.

Omnivorous cichlids make up the greatest majority of cichlids. In nature, these fish feed mostly on insects, crustaceans, and worms, but at times also eat plants. Thus in aquaria these species should be offered a mixed diet of live foods, flakes foods, and plant or vegetable matter. Examples of omnivorous cichlids include Cichlasomines, many West African species, Angelfish, and Herosspecies.

Carnivorous cichlids are predatory species which are specialized for eating other fish. Generally these species will eat small tank mates, although not fish of a similar size. In aquaria, carnivorous cichlids can be fed live fish, worms, insects, insect larvae, and crustaceans, but also some will accept pellets, tablets, and large flakes.  Examples of carnivorous cichlids are many Haplochromines, Pike Cichlids (genus Crenicichla), Cyphotilapia and Convict cichlid (Amatitlania nigrofasciata) species.

Herbivorous cichlids are species that prefer to feed on plant matter. These fish will eat live aquarium plants. In aquaria, herbivorous cichlids feed on plant-based flake and pellet foods, plants, and vegetables. Some species will also feed on live foods. Examples of herbivorous cichlids include some of the Tilapia species and majority of the Mbuna cichlids are herbivores, Pseudotropheus crabro, – A Malawi Cichlid, The Peacock cichlids.

Some species of herbivorous cichlids feed on the thick algae growing on rocks. Living in the algae are micro-organisms and crustaceans known as Aufwuchs. Types of cichlids that consume the algae and the Aufwuchs living within include Lake Malawi Mbunas and Lake Tanganyika Tropheus.

STRIPPING

 

Once we have a case in which stripping must be performed, there are some rules to follow in order to make it safer for you and your fish. Before handling the female WASH YOUR HANDS ALL THE WAY TO YOUR ELBOWS THOUGHTLY WITH SOAP AND WATER AND DRY OFF be sure to wet your hands in the tank, dry fingers can damage the protective mucus or even tear scales apart.

Hold her body firmly but without pressing it, and use a wide bowl to keep the head under the water while you gently open her mouth with a paper clip, Q-tip, etc., and allow the eggs to fall to the bottom. It’s been most peoples experience with few exceptions, rarely do they get any viable fry when stripped the next day after spawning.

Most people prefer to wait at least five days, after the eggs have hatched and then place them inside their filter. Most people prefer using the "hang on" type of filter that returns the water to the tank as a small waterfall. They place the eggs in a net (to avoid the waterfall dragging them) so they receive a continuous flow of clear oxygenated water.

Any white, fungused eggs must be quickly removed away from the viable ones. Survival rates are over 90%. Of course breeders will develop techniques and skills that fit their tank set up and the species they keep.