|
|
This page is mainly for those that keep cichlids. Hopefully the page that brought you here has more specific information about the fish you are interested in. This is general data about how cichlids reproduce.
There are really three major methods that African cichlids, and cichlids in general, use to reproduce. How fish reproduce is a very important consideration when populating an aquarium. You should be aware of the method as well as the mate and tank requirements when selcting your fish and their tankmates.
The following terms generally classify fish reproductive methods:
- Mouth Brooder
- Maternal Mouth Brooder: This type of cichlid is best kept in groups of 1-2 males and 4+ females. The dominant male will be responsible for most, if not all, of the breeding that takes place in the tank. The male is best kept with a group of females. The number of females to keep with a single male is dependant upon tank space, tankmates and your breeding style, but a few generalities and reasons can be stated to help you make a decision. First, when a male wishes to mate he will attempt to court a female. If the female is ready to mate, no problem. If the female is not ready and does not have a way to evade the male, the courting process can be very stressful to the female, if not damaging. Second, if the female mates and is removed from the tank, to spit in peace, and is then reintroduced to the male's tank, he will have built up enough hormones while she was gone that she will be beaten senseless upon her return. Overall, it is just better to have a number of females per male to spread aggression and mating to ensure that the female can have sufficient time to recover or prepare to mate. With this type of mating the male will mate with anything of his type, or closely related to his type, in the tank.
- Bi-Parental Mouth Brooder This type of cichlid has both the male and female share in the entire breeding process. Generally the female will hold first for half of the brooding time and then pass the eggs to the male to finish the process. This reduces the stress on the female and allows her to resume eating and recovering much more quickly than if she holds for the entire time.
- Substrate Spawner
- With this type of cichlid a bond forms between a single male and a single female and they generally form a lifetime bond in the mating process. Things to consider for these fish is that you do not want to have a group of females for each male. Another consideration is that once the male picks a female, he is done looking and will begin to harass or kill others of his type within the same tank. This is an issue once fish have reached maturity. If you purchase 6 or so juveniles in order to get a pair or two, be watchful of their activity. As they reach maturity, if you see a fish in the upper corners of the tank acting in a docile manner, it is best to remove them to another tank. In this way you should remove fish until you see the last two are together in the tank, this should be your pair that have accepted each other as mates. These are generalities, you can have more than one pair or even more than one female per male in a large tank.
|
|
|
