Stunt Doubles. Ever
heard of "jelly beans?" The pink breeders below came in as
painted jelly beans -- supposedly a type of parrot cichlid. They're crossed with another species to get this
strange shape. They still spawn like convicts -- even at 1.5 inches.
LA
Pair of pink convicts ignoring camera and preparing to rock and roll in 2-inch
well used clay pot.
The
Nuptials.
The pair starts by displaying their fins at one another.
They sidle up and “rub” together head to tail.
If it’s true love (and it usually is with convicts), they start
locking lips and tugging each other around the tank.
This oft-repeated ritual reduces the breedable females in the
population by half. If she
survives this rasslin’ match, the pair will very likely breed -- not
necessarily while you blatant auteurs watch. We’ll throw in
another flower pot.
LA Pix
We changed their scenery but did not discourage them even a little. They
spawned...
LA
... When we went to lunch. Can you see all the eggs covering the bottom of the pot?
LA
Can you see the huge breeding tube on this miniature female? And the
numerous eggs?
LA
Pic
Looks like about 150 eggs. Will they all hatch?
LA
Pic
Two days later. The white ones are dead. Experienced females
remove them.
LA
Pic
Next day the white ones are gone. Eggs have darkened. A few have
hatched.
LA
Pic
Next day they all hatched and fell to the bottom.
LA
Pic
Next day you can see their eyeballs.
LA
Pic
Next day the larvae are starting to look like baby fish. They should be
up soon.
LA
Pic
Next day much the same.
LA
Pic
Three days later some are achieving lift off -- not really free-swimming yet.
LA
Pic
Next day up and swimming but less than two dozen left out of 90+ eggs. Eating microworms.
Spawning.
Both prospective parents clean the future spawning site.
Their lips can get frayed and injured in the process.
They often spawn inside a cave where you can’t see the eggs.
If your female convict starts hanging out in a certain hiding spot, shine a
flashlight in there. You can
easily see the eggs once you know what you’re looking for.
Or you may see little wigglers.
LA
Guess they spread out At least 40 fry left. They eat
powdered flake foods and microworms.
Wigglers.
When cichlid eggs hatch, they’re still not much more than eggs with
tails and sticky heads. All you
notice is their tail sticking out and wiggling to beat the band.
These larvae need no food. They
have no mouths, eyes, or other parts. They
feed off their yolk sac as they develop into real baby fishes.
They eat no food until they become free swimming.
LA
As time and a half goes by, watching her rear her kids pleases many people.
Artificial
Rearing.
Some species of cichlids make terrible parents.
They eat their fry to protect them from you.
These more fragile species need great care to keep them alive during
their tenderest days. You can pull
convict eggs at any stage. You can
also siphon the fry. They need no
slow airstone to aerate them during the hatching process.
They will hatch and survive, period.
Go
to Convicts 4
©
1996,
© 2003, © 2004, © 2005
LA Productions
3600
Sixth Avenue
Corner
of Sixth & Euclid Avenues
Des
Moines, IA 50313
515
283-0300
Home
Fish
Other
Stuff
