Tropheus, Cherry Spots spawned

As of last week, two females are holding. They don't seem to be harassed much, so I'm not planning to take all of that rock out and try to catch them. If they start to look like they are being chased and stressed, I will probably remove them to a holding tank, which I will have to go out and purchase because all of my spare tanks have bristlenose fry in them!





A couple of the males.

love those reds!

Congrats Betty!!! They sure do have great color and appear to have quite a mouthfull!!!

Congrats Betty. It's nice to see such clean looking fish spawn.

Congratulations!

Congrats Betty ! Looking forward to some fry pics.

Congratulations Betty

Well, it's been about 18 - 20 days or so since they spawned and both females are still holding. They aren't being chased around and still look okay. I've noticed the last two days that they were showing interest in food, so I crushed some veggie flake and added that and they were both taking in a few small pieces. I wonder if they are getting hungry or if they are feeding those fry.

I've added some small rocks and a couple of fry-saver type fake plants in dark areas of the tank. I hope the moms will feel like releasing them soon.

Aura wrote:I wonder if they are getting hungry or if they are feeding those fry.

Both Betty, the fry and the mother will feed. Amazing isn't it?

oo WOW Betty! These are awesome!! Congrats on the spawns!

Okay, I went back and looked at the dates of the earliest pictures I had of the females holding and that was on the 17th of September, so it's been a month now and they still haven't released the fry.

They are eating small pieces of flake and NLS. They are not being chased around. They both have their spots that they hang out in, mostly undisturbed.

I dread trying to catch them -- I don't want to have to move the rocks around and mess up territory markers, etc. and I don't want to have to worry about them being accepted back after being removed, but how much longer can they safely continue like this?

Betty, Tropheus usually hold for about 4 weeks. I used to remove my females after about 3 week and set them in a 10g maternity tank. There they would release them a bit earlier since there was nobody else to disturb them. However, now I let them spit in their big tank and they hold on for a few more days. You have nothing to worry about. They WILL release them.

Thanks for that info, Klaus. I feel like a nervous wreck waiting to see how it goes for the fry in the main tank.

I just walked by the troph tank and caught a glimpse of a tiny fry out in the open. Mom quickly took it and a few others back into her mouth when she saw me looking! I say tiny fry, but it was actually larger than I was expecting.

Aura wrote: I just walked by the troph tank and caught a glimpse of a tiny fry out in the open. Mom quickly took it and a few others back into her mouth when she saw me looking! I say tiny fry, but it was actually larger than I was expecting.

That´s good news. Congrats.

Congrats Betty

That's awesome Betty!!! Congrats

Congratulations!

I'm really happy to report that the other tropheus in the tank don't seem to have any interest in eating the fry. I'm sitting across the room from the tank and I can see them playing around right underneath the big male. Once in a while he gives them a little chase, but they come right back. Mom tried in vain to keep them in her rocky area.

From what I've read, they don't have very large broods. That seems to be true for this female -- I count five fry, but they are quite large.

Cool...now let's see some pics!!!

Aura wrote:From what I've read, they don't have very large broods. That seems to be true for this female -- I count five fry, but they are quite large.

Betty, a brood between 6 and 12 is normal for the moorii types. Some variants of the brichardi type can go a bit higher.
I find it absolutely fascinating to see the females release these perfectly miniature Tropheus and it is wondrous how they fit back into moms mouth.

betty your a champ breederno douts

I'm working on trying to get a picture in focus, it hasn't happened yet!

Yes it's so cool the way she takes them back in. She's still doing it, but they don't want to go back anymore and she's having a hard time. Yesterday I saw that she has scuffed up her nose pretty badly trying to get into the crack that the babies dart into when they want to stay out and play. I also saw her with a baby struggling mightily to get away from her grip.

Derek, I think it's just that time of year because I have a lot of fish holding in various tanks. Also have a new batch of leleupi and julies as well. I wish they would stop!

Any fry shots yet?

No, I can't get any pics. I'm trying, but they look terrible.