At present, I have to two J. dickfeldi nurseries going – one in a 33g long and one in a 20g long. The 20g is species only. The 33g also contains a lone male ‘Lamprologus’ ocellatus.
‘Lamprologus’ ocellatus
Should you remove cichlid fry?
Yes and no. Answers to that question depend on several factors. However, for one example of why you should not allow a breeding pair of cichlids to have multiple broods in the same tank, look no further than Julidochromis dickfeldi. Many species of cichlids can get along just fine with multiple generations of their own offspring, especially shell dwelling species. However, some adult cichlid pairs consider an older brood a threat to the newest brood and will treat the older brood(s) accordingly.
Friggin’ fry on the move!
In my last post, I talked about the J. dickfeldi fry that I accidentally vacuumed up during a water change. It didn’t register with me at the time, but one of the dickfeldi pair seemed to be spending an inordinate amount of time toward the center and even right end of the tank. I couldn’t understand that because the rocks are on the left end of the tank (see photo above). So it seemed natural that is where the fry should be.
Friggin’ fry!
I’m posting this one about fry because there are a couple of interesting observations from my 33g long. This is the tank that has (or had) three Julidochromis dickfeldi and five ‘Lamprologus’ ocellatus. I lost a couple of occies from what I think was aggression – one male and one female. I now have two males and a female. The deceased female was a bit of a runt, and I had been concerned about her for a while. Out of the original five, she was by far the smallest. She just never grew much. She got ostracized, and I think one of the paired dickfeldi got her.
A cichlid keeper’s intuition
Two ways that you, as a cichlid keeper, can truly understand the behaviors of your fish are through observation and experience. The longer you keep certain species, the better acquainted you’ll become with their behavior. Over time, your intuition will guide you. Trust it!
A shellie tank rescape
If you recall my post a few days ago on the excitement of cichlid spawning behavior, it included the above photo of my recently set up 33g long tank. In that tank are six ‘Lamprologus’ ocellatus and three Julidochromis dickfeldi.
Spawning cichlid behavior excitement
One of the absolute greatest joys of cichlid keeping is witnessing spawning behavior. Because I have new fish from an order I placed several months ago, I have been anxiously awaiting some pairings and subsequent spawning. All the fish I received were older juveniles or sub-adults, so I knew that pairing up would begin in a few months. You can read about the new fish in this post from back in May.
New ‘Lamprologus’ caudopunctatus tank
A little over a year ago I picked up a 30g rimless tank (called Symbolic) by Mr. Aqua. At that time, I had intended to make it a species-only shellie tank of ‘Lamprologus’ ocellatus “gold”. I got the tank set up, cycled it with some existing media, and was off to the races. But as the saying goes, “The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry,” which is exactly what happened. My plan didn’t pan out for a variety of reasons.