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Raise the fry? Or
not?
by Frank Panis
| There is simply no way around it: If you
have tank of some size with a rocky decoration, lots of hiding places, and a
good water quality, then you can't go wrong: most of your Malawi cichlids
will breed like rabbits! Most of mine also do this. Especially the
Protomelas in my tank are extremely productive and both the "Taiwan Reef"
and the spilonotus "Tanzania" females carry eggs about 4 times a year. It
would be tempting to catch these females and put them in a separate tank, so
they can release the fry when they feel like (I recommend not to strip
them!), after which they can be put back in the main tank. The fry would
stay in the release tank and could be raised and donated or sold when they
would have a decent size. Of course every hobbyist needs to raise one or
more batches of fry, just to have this nice experience. However the effort
to raise them can be a pain. Setting up one or more separate tanks for
breeding cichlids is not evident for everyone for various reasons: time
needed to feed the fry, to do the essential water changes, lack of room to
setup those breeding tanks, the huge mess such a room can become (what's NOT
popular with the average wife), etc... Also the pumps, heating and lightning
consume lots of electricity, what soon brings the profit ratio of breeding
cichlids close to zero, especially when they are fairly common fish that are
broadly available!
Protomelas steveni taiwan fry trying to hide in my aquarium background.
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What to do then? I just leave the carrying females in
the tank and if they still look healthy after a while we let them release
the fry in the tank. This usually ends in a feeding frenzy where all adult
cichlids in the tank try to pick such a helpless small juvenile as a tasty
snack. Today when I was photographing my Aulonocara stuartgranti "Ngara" I
was surprised though. This Aulonocara was quickly moving around chasing
little fry. When I looked closer, I saw many small Protomelas trying to
seek shelter in the depressions of my aquarium background. I was surprised
that they managed to stay hidden and unnoticed that long, but soon the
predator in that tank, a Dimidiochromis compressiceps, found out that they
were there though. He started hovering near the background and attacked as
soon he located one of them. Half an hour later the Dimidiochromis had
eaten most of the fry, but luckily some of them managed to reach the
safety of the filter entrance. You could question me why I keep this
predator then? Of course only because I like that species so much. Other
so-called non-predatory cichlids also won't hesitate to grab a juvenile
whenever they see the chance. At least the large Protomelas spilonotus
"Tanzania" was also eager to chase that fry after all!
Is this cruel? I think this is simply unavoidable in
our hobby. If we can't raise them, this is the best solution in my
opinion. Also consider that "possible" hybrids are avoided this way. The
predators are not to blame either. They're just doing what they do in
nature all the time... if we still feel sour about the fry getting eaten,
we can "help" them by completely filling the tank with small rocks, so
they can hide better and have higher survival rates.... .... but that will
soon lead to an overcrowded tank with all known problems as a consequence!
The choice is up to the hobbyist of course!
Dimidiochromis compressiceps carefully searching for fry. |
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