I have babies!

[Complexity]

I just discovered that my Pelvicachromis (aka Kribensis) have fry! I didn't even know they had laid eggs!

I never intended on this tank becoming a permanent tank, but you know how it is. I was using it to hold extra plants and whatnot, but after awhile, I gave in and decided to keep it set up. It was horribly overrun with algae and only just a few basic fish.

I cleaned it up, added caves and added a pair of Pelvicachromis. They seemed to get along okay, but were never successful in breeding. The tank became overrun with BBA so I did an extreme clean out. That got rid of the BBA, but made the male really scared. He started cornering the female, and I wasn't sure if he'd let her live. I changed out the caves and added new plants and the male seemed to settle down. The female immediately took to one of the new caves.

I just fed the fish and noticed one of the amano shrimp was extra jumpy. When I looked in the area that he kept jumping from, I discovered a whole school of little fry! These are my favorite fish, specifically because of how they raise their young!

I don't know how many are going to survive since I will not remove them from the tank. I'll let the parents raise the fry naturally. Many years ago, I was able to get 4 generations in a 29g tank this way. I'm really hoping for the same good luck! I don't want a zillion of them to survive, but if just a few will, that would be wonderful!

I got babies!! I'm so happy!

[Mandocruz06]

Congrats..im sure they will breed like crazy just like convicts..GL

[aquabee]

That's so awesome! You'll have some cool behavior to watch in the next few weeks. :)

[SunnyHouTX]

+1! Very nice

[Complexity]

Thanks, Mandocruz06, I sure hope so! I've been trying to get them to breed for the longest time. I have more Pelvicachromis in my other 29g tank that had some fry a few weeks ago, but they didn't make it. I put 14 juveniles in my 75g tank so I'm hoping some of them will pair off and mate as they mature.

I think I finally figured out what was going wrong. When I started out, I put in clay pots, but had painted them black. I had suspected for awhile that the paint had prevented the eggs from adhering to the pots, and now that I've changed out the caves, I'm more inclined to think that was the problem. The Pelvicachromis seem to really like the dark gray/black Fluval caves. I like how they look so I think I'll get some for my 75g tank, as well.

The ones I'm breeding right now are the Super Reds. If I finally get good success with them, then I'll try with some of the harder Pelvicachromis, like the Kienke and Moliwe.

[Complexity]

Babies are still doing great today! I have lots of them! Must be around 25 or so. Mom and Dad are both taking great care of them. I added First Bites to the feeding today, and the babies took right to them. Mom and Dad are keeping all the other fish well away from the school of fry so it's looking good so far. These might have a chance of making it!

[nacra99]

Congrats!
Need pics...!

[Complexity]

Not sure I'm going to be able to get pics. The dad is getting really frantic now. He's chasing the female all over the tank again so I thought the fry was gone, but I did manage to see what I think were a few fry. Not sure if they're all there or if just a few or left. I'll check again later. Looks like dad just isn't quite getting the hang of this fatherhood stuff yet.

I had 2 males and 1 female in my other 29g with 14 juveniles in my 75g. I just moved the extra male from the 29g to the 75g. So now the paired off couple is all alone in the 29g. They should be breeding soon.

Some of the juveniles in the 75g appear to be females. I know they'll eventually kill each other out as they pair off, but I'm hoping to get at least one good pair, maybe two or three. I have a lot of caves and the tank is heavily planted.

Surely, out of all those, I'll get some families going.

[barrettsline]

That's absolutely awesome. Pics if ya can but i understand that's easier said than done.

[Complexity]

I was finally able to see the fry! Dad is very aggressively protecting them! He has them so well hidden that it took me 5 minutes just to figure out where he was! Then I was able to see the fry. I can't see them well enough to get an idea of how many are still there, but it looked like quite a few are there. Not sure where the mom is. He has her hiding for sure. She's probably in one of the many caves in the tank.

To still have fry today is a really good sign. I cleaned out one of the canisters, cleaned the glass, and did a water change which required that I fiddle with the plants. I was concerned that the dad might get too freaked out by all that and eat the fry, but it looks like he kept them safe through it all. I may pull out my tetras just to help calm the dad down. He's exceptionally protective of the fry!

[barrettsline]

I was finally able to see the fry! Dad is very aggressively protecting them! He has them so well hidden that it took me 5 minutes just to figure out where he was! Then I was able to see the fry. I can't see them well enough to get an idea of how many are still there, but it looked like quite a few are there. Not sure where the mom is. He has her hiding for sure. She's probably in one of the many caves in the tank.

To still have fry today is a really good sign. I cleaned out one of the canisters, cleaned the glass, and did a water change which required that I fiddle with the plants. I was concerned that the dad might get too freaked out by all that and eat the fry, but it looks like he kept them safe through it all. I may pull out my tetras just to help calm the dad down. He's exceptionally protective of the fry!

Just like a good papa should be.

[Complexity]

Babies are still doing great this morning! Dad is overprotective, as always. Finally saw the mom. Just as I thought, she's hiding out in one of the caves. She's really beat up. Most of her tail is gone. Looks like dad doesn't want joint custody of the little ones.

No chance of getting a picture yet. Dad's doing a great job of keeping his little ones under wraps. He's hiding them in the very back, somewhat in the middle, very close to the bottom among the plants and driftwood. No clear space to see them other than a peek through a gap here and there. However, it does look like he still has all the fry. Lots of little ones in there!

[aquabee]

Yay! Great news!! I hope mom does ok. :( Are you going to take her out?

[barrettsline]

Babies are still doing great this morning! Dad is overprotective, as always. Finally saw the mom. Just as I thought, she's hiding out in one of the caves. She's really beat up. Most of her tail is gone. Looks like dad doesn't want joint custody of the little ones.<br />
<br />
No chance of getting a picture yet. Dad's doing a great job of keeping his little ones under wraps. He's hiding them in the very back, somewhat in the middle, very close to the bottom among the plants and driftwood. No clear space to see them other than a peek through a gap here and there. However, it does look like he still has all the fry. Lots of little ones in there!

<br />
<br />

Good to hear the little ones are doing good. Watch after the mom, dad will realize soon enough that he needs her around to.

[Complexity]

I'm going to leave the mom in the tank. There's no other tank to put her in other than my 75g, and it would be very difficult to get her back out and reintroduce her back to the 29g later. I want to try to let the parents work things out, if possible.

I tried, but could not get a picture of the babies. All I could do is get a picture of the tank itself so you can see why it's so hard to get a picture of the babies. The dad has the babies hidden in the bottom behind the driftwood and plants there in the middle where you see the taller plants. He's got them hidden very well. I'll keep trying. Maybe he'll move them to a spot where I can get a pic later on.

Here's the babies' tank. Somewhere in there are about 25 Pelvicachromis fry with a very protective dad.