interspersed..
"Paul" wrote in message
...
Does anyone have any experience with breeding these dwarf cichlids?

yes )

I knew (hoped) you would have something to say Netmax!!!

yup, what I might lack in quality advice, I more than make up for by
being prolific ;~)

They might have started laying eggs by the time you read this. It
will
just depend on how soon the female approves the excavation, and what
condition she is in to lay eggs.

The excavation isn't very big, as there is not too much room between
the
rock and the bottom of the glass. It is big enough for both of them to
fit
in there at the same time, but only just. Will she be ok with this do
you
think?

As I remember, they only need to fit in one at a time. She lays a
'string' of eggs, moves and he fertilizes the general area.

My bet would be that the eggs are laid in the cave under the rock
which
they just excavated under. Note that their criteria for spawning
sites
is not always where you would like. I've used clay pots, and instead
of
going inside, they sometimes go under.

ha, that's funny. these two have been nice enough to dig their cave
right at
the front of the tank, facing outwards, so I get a great view of their
progress.

Bonus, unsual, but hey, appreciate it.

They do lay their eggs on a flat
surface. They might use the glass at the bottom of the tank if they
get
that far ;~)

They have managed to get to the glass quite quickly.

The only thing I would watch for is that the rock does not collapse on
them. If you do have to move anything, be advised that they will not
care much for any of your meddling. Most of the time, their attacks are
posturing, but not always ;~) Ideally, all you need to do at this point
is leave them alone, and after the eggs are laid, feed the tank from 2
ends, so everyone can eat without the Kribs chasing them away, or having
to leave their nest unattended.

They make excellent parents. Once the fry are free-swimming, they
will
have more trouble in complete darkness, so you can give them a night
light. Everything else depends on what other fish you have in there
with
them.

how many fry do they have? I have a bollivian ram and a few Australian
Gudgeons in with them atm - neither are terribley predatory.

Number of fry? hmmm, something like 40-80 eggs, resulting in 20-40 babies
would be my expectation of the first spawn in a new tank. That's a
ballpark number. iirc, the female sometimes kicks the male out, but not
always. Boiled egg yolk is another good first fry food, but feed very
little, and you have to wait until the fry are free-swimming and they
have completly absorbed their yolk sacs. This is a good time to be
looking at your filter (ie: adding a pre-filter sponge over the intake
pipe). You don't want to be sucking up any of the fry. As well, any
reductions in the water's turbulence after the eggs hatch will facilitate
the parent's teaching the fry where they can safely swim. This is an
aspect which is often unseen in normal well-filtered aquariums. With
only a subtle twitch of a fin, unseen by the human eye, the fry can be
directed to lay flat, or advance as a school upwards towards food
sources.

ps: The first spawn is kind of like a practice run. Generally the spawn
size is smaller, the babies might not be the best genetically, the
parents can make mistakes, or even eat the eggs or fry, and other fish
can interfere in the process. The well intentioned hobbyist also makes
mistakes, messing with new foods, the tank, the filter system and the
fish. Don't worry too much about your success rate. Enjoy the show, and
almost no matter what happens, they will make more )

NetMax


http://www.theaquarians.net/Articles...file_kribensis
..
htm

will look up this link tonight when I can get past the work firewall.