Shooting for the Texas 3-Peat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[RonR.]

I am pumped tonite!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I have been patiently waiting for my black moba momma to drop her tube.  It has been a slow process........not sure why.  I have seen the tiniest bit of tube and then a little more and little more. Tonite it's showing pretty good, but still has a little more to go.

Here's a little background..........I have 16 F1 egg-bound wigglers in the tumbler.  I have a 2nd moba momma with eggs in her mouth right now and I'll strip her this Sunday.  Now this 3rd momma is getting ready to spawn.  I'm hoping she'll make some moba babies this week.

Guess what she's having for dinner?????

She is very elusive so it was hard to take pics...........here they are:

hiding in a cave.........see how black she is!!!!!!!

close-up of extending tube....i'm keeping my eye on you!


a blurry side shot.........the white dot is her tube right under the 3rd light/bluish white stripe.


she's in back and with the alpha male daddy.  he is not the biggest male in the tank, but he is the big daddy.


16 egg-bound wigglers.  these are the ones I stripped early on day 10.  I had 20 and 4 were never fertilized.  I had 1 with just a head.


another tumbler pic


last tumbler pic with my 16 little jewels.

Thank you for letting me share my excitement with you guys and gals!!!!!!!

[eklikewhoa]

Re: Shooting for the Texas 3-Peat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Friggen sweet Ron!

I bet the black moba momma makes some beautiful babies!

[RonR.]

Re: Shooting for the Texas 3-Peat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Friggen sweet Ron!

I bet the black moba momma makes some beautiful babies!

ek, her fry have the darkest blue coloration and solid black stripes I've seen.  the last round, she spawned over 30 fry.

I can't wait til your zebras start spawning bro!!!!!!!!!!  Now that's going to be friggen sweet!!!!!!!!  Did I just see a smile on your face?

[eklikewhoa]

Re: Shooting for the Texas 3-Peat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hahahaha, just trying to see what you go through every other month with your mobas :wink:

[guppymax]

Re: Shooting for the Texas 3-Peat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is really cool. I love the tumbler pics.

max

[Mzungu]

Re: Shooting for the Texas 3-Peat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's great, thanks for posting the pictures!

"Guess what she's having for dinner?????"
I don't get it... :(

[RonR.]

Re: Shooting for the Texas 3-Peat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's great, thanks for posting the pictures!

"Guess what she's having for dinner?????"
I don't get it... :(

One of the most successful breeding tips I received a while back is tied to what you feed just prior to spawning.  When I see a tube starting to extend, I feed frozen mysis.  I prefer the Hikari brand.  I drop a 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" piece in my 180g and my fish go wild for it.  It has a strong fishy smell to it....more so than frozen krill or even brine shrimp.

Within a day or 2 my mobas are usually holding eggs in their mouth..........the frozen krill sparks the spawn and has worked very well for me.

I'll bet this will work for other african cichlids as well.

[eklikewhoa]

Re: Shooting for the Texas 3-Peat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Maybe I should cut back on that..............I feed my little ones frozens treats more often then that so by the time they get to breeding size they might think it's normal and I might have to go a bit more exotic! cyprichromis feeding time!!!!!! what better treat then their natural food source.

[eklikewhoa]

Re: Shooting for the Texas 3-Peat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

man Ron your mobas got me double posting all over the place!!!

[guppymax]

Re: Shooting for the Texas 3-Peat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"her fry have the darkest blue coloration and solid black stripes I've seen." Does this mean that you select for this trait and are sucessful!?

max

[Mzungu]

Re: Shooting for the Texas 3-Peat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks, Ron, good to know.  :)

[RonR.]

Re: Shooting for the Texas 3-Peat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"her fry have the darkest blue coloration and solid black stripes I've seen." Does this mean that you select for this trait and are sucessful!?

max

max, my black moba momma is wild-caught and she is this dark all the time.  I believe these genetic traits have been passed down to her.  

The fry from my other moba mommas are really nice..........A-1..........but the fry from my black moba momma are one step above..........their blue coloration is darker..........not black, but somewhere between the blues of my other F1 fry and the dark black of this momma.  My other fry have solid black bars......all solid, but some fry have lighter black stripes..........still solid, but lighter, no white areas.  The fry from this black moba momma have the darkest black stripes I've seen.

I'm going to separate these fry once my black moba momma spawns and I'll take a few pics to show the difference.  I really think these little fry have the capability to turn into show quality mobas with good care.

[eklikewhoa]

Re: Shooting for the Texas 3-Peat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Show Mobas?

Go for it!!!!!!



I got a call from Tyrone today and I think he's starting to regret selling you those mobas!  

[guppymax]

Re: Shooting for the Texas 3-Peat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Your pictures of the fry are very good for them to be so young. It will be interesting to see the difference in the color. They must be very special! I know there was a show at FOTAS. Are there other regular shows here local?

max

[RonR.]

Re: Shooting for the Texas 3-Peat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Your pictures of the fry are very good for them to be so young. It will be interesting to see the difference in the color. They must be very special! I know there was a show at FOTAS. Are there other regular shows here local?

max

Thanks. I use a Sony digital camera on auto setting.  I also like to use the flash and angle the shot to avoid getting a glare off the glass.

I'm not sure how this moba female got such dark jet-black coloring........and she's wild-caught and was around 4" when I got her and I've had her for over 2 1/2 years now.

This morning I woke up to find her and her boyfriend spawning behind my holey rock wall.  I had to leave for work as they were just beginning.  When I got home to pick up wifey to take her out to lunch for Valentine's today, my black moba momma had a mouthful of eggs already.

Now that's what I call a great Valentine's present!!!!!!! LOL

ek, Tyrone over at TNT Cichlids is proud of the fact that this is the first time 3 moba mommas have spawned so close together........my tumbler-bound 16 egg-bound wigglers are 22 days old today, my 2nd moba momma is still holding eggs on day 16 and my black moba momma is on day 1 holding eggs.  Must be that Houston water!!!!!!! LOL