African Cichlids

Peacocks

Mbuna

Etc

email

{albertaspruce@albertatrees.net}

Peacocks

Chiwindi,  Blue Regals and Yellow Regals

Ruby Reds ,Sunshine

Eureka

Sunburst, Strawberry

not all are spawning yet

eureka male 

feed them right and they will spawn for you in a few months

Mbuna

Electric Yellow [mildly aggressive]  S S

yellow tailed acei [mildly aggressive]  S

white tailed acei [mildlyaggressive]  S

Blue Cobalt [mildly aggressive]  S

Green Afra [Mildly aggressive MA] S

Cynotilapia axelrodi Nkhata Bay [MA} S

Cynotilapia Afra Gallireya Reef F1 "Blue Reef "[MA] S

Pseudotropheus elongatus mara rocks [MA]  S

Psuedotropheus saulosi [A] marked as aggressive but they are not that aggressive in my tanks and spawn constantly SS

Here is my ruby red male

i have a productive group of these

spawnings weekly

                                                             Approx Size

                            .5 in  1-1.5in   Adult                          Juvenile

Peacock

Eureka                                 colored males                  

Ruby Red                     

*Sunburst                                    

*Chiwindi

*Blue Regals  

*Strawberry                                   

*Yellow Regal                              

Mbuna [they are all spawning ]

*Electric Yellow                  

*Blue Cobalt                                       

*Acei yellow tailed                    

*white tailed acei                             

*mara rocks ready           

*saulosi                         

green afra

*Blue Reef                     

*C axelrodi [limited #]     

              

Bristle nose plecs  out of stock

great clean up artists for the cichlids

* I have babies of those starred with more variety to come I was shut down for over a month!!

care

rearing babies

info below

Also egg tumbler for those hard to rear cichlids see demo

Male Electric Yellow

Action shot see how the tumbler works Egg Tumbler for the mouth brooders have a look at this

  5 layers can hatch several broods at the same time

Some of my experiences with these fish

they can be very aggressive and nasty and it helps to understand  how they think and operate

this is a key point

It often helps to completely re arrange the tank and  when introducing new fish

it is also very helpful to go to the "cichlid forum"

or other sites and find out about the fish before bringing it home

some are just too nasty for most situations

ie kenyi cichlids

when they are classed as extremely aggressive they usually are

Rearing mouth brooders

it is important to try to only rear pure stock

they will cross and this is not desirable

when a female is carrying she usually won't eat and her mouth will be extended

13 days from the date when she is first carrying at 80 F the babies will be ready to strip

i catch her and put her in an ice cream bucket and gently open her mouth with her head facing down and the babies will start to come out

you may have to do this several times before they are all released

check the back of her mouth for any hide outs once she is empty you may put her back with the rest or put her in a safe tank depending on her strength

Some females don't carry the babies very well that is where the egg tumbler comes in

you can put the eggs in there and rear them till the babies are free swimming

I have some available

new babies should be kept in a small holding container

floated in a baby rearing tank and fed there for 10 days or so they can then be released into a secure larger area with fish of the same size

i feed crushed new life spectrum grow pellets to them

and then go to the .5mm when they can handle them

frequent feedings help them grow faster but you must keep the water clean and don't let waste products build up

i use a seasoned foam filter in each tank

watch out for serious aggression and seperate types at this point

ie mbuna and peacocks my not be compatable for too long they may be ok for the first few weeks

and keep the sizes similar

also some types are hard to tell apart when small so don't mix them either

interesting shot above top right brown fish is female ice blue and her mate is middle on the right side they spawn once a month

also you can see the male and female Limontalapia dardenni male below frontosa in the middle he has yellow throat he has amazing color at times  He can turn color off and on instantly He chases the female a lot but doesn't bother any one else except he did kill the other male but thats how these cichlids work

the dardenni's spawn once a month i have to take her very large eggs at about 5 days after they are laid and put them in the tumbler

Also bottom center you can see two yellow Neolanprologus leleupi

in the middle of them is a daffodil [Neolamprologus pulcher]

The neolamprologus group are tough customers

but not necessarily aggressive to other cichlids unless they are protecting their young many of them lay their eggs in caves and look after them and protect the babies right in the main tank

If you are serious about raising them go to a species tank ie all one species in the tank

Yellow tailed acei male and female look the same

Rearing baby mouthbreeders

Here is the receipe that works for me

note when the mother female is holding

13 days later take her out of the tank and put her in a small bucket and remove babies from her mouth

by carefully opening her mouth with her head facing down in the bucket of water from the tank

make sure you get all the babies

check the back of her mouth

sometimes they have 5 and sometimes 70

my acei had about 70 once

put the mother back in the tank she came from if she is strong otherwise put her in a safe tank where she can recover

then get her back to main tank when she is ready she may have trouble back in the main tank and may get picked on so be careful

that is why i like to put her back right away but she must be strong enough for this too

the babies are then transfered  adjusting to temp and water gradually

to a small floating tank in a incubating tank

usually a ten gallon tank

the small floating container or suspended tank

is usually just a one litre or smaller container

they get fed in here and build up strength for about one week they should be actively feeding before you put them in the ten gallon tank

the ten gallon tank should only have a seasoned foam filter in it with an air stone inside to break up the bubbles

see my section on this page about filters

i feed them crushed nls grower its like a powder i use a mortar and pestel but you can crush it however you want

some people use a pepper grinder like harold from Calgary

you can buy nls at most fish stores but get cichlid growth .5mm

feed this till they get to the 1mm cichlid pellet

i keep my breeder tanks and baby tanks at

80F

the holding time in the mouth could be longer at a lower temp

if the babies are not free swimming when you take the out use a gentle flow of air in their small container using an air stone

or better yet use the egg tumbler

egg tumblers in action many babies saved with these you can put at least three different hatches in one there are five layers

i can give you complete instructions when you buy one

male white tailed acei this pic doesn't do him justice he can have a dark blue to black body and he is very prolific

Complete list of all my fish right now! Jan  2012

It can change

Aulonocara stuartgranti (Cobue) Blue Regal

Aulonocara rubescens

Ruby Red

Aulonocara jacobfreibergi     ureka

Aulonocara stuartgrantichiwindi

A "Stuartgranti Maleri" (Chidunga Rocks)sunshine

Strawberry Peacock

Sunburst Peacock

A 'Stuartgranti Maleri' Maleri Island  Yellow Regal

Labidochromis caeruleusElectric yellow

Pseudotropheus acei    yellow tailedAcei

P. "Acei" (Ngara)                 white tailed acei

Maylandia callainosBlue Cobalt

Cynotilapia axelrodi Nkhata Bay

pseudotropheus elongatus mara rocks

Psuedotropheus saulosi

Cynotilapia afra mbeca   green afra

Synodontis multipunctatuscats cuckoo

plecs

bristlenose plec

Cynotilapia Afra Gallireya Reef F1 "Blue Reef "

See complete list of all my fish at bottom of page

Sunburst male i have lots of babies from this guy

Chiwindi or blue neon i

rearing several spawns book them Dano!

Ruby red mature male  heavy producer

Many of the cichlids like to spawn in a pot on its side they like terra cotta best they can defend it better than an open rock try it

here is the white tailed acei and a chiwindi male and a eureka female

     [ Pre order starred ones *I am growing them out *]

feeding time i have pure electric yellows and yellow tailed acei in this tank easy to differentiate

they grow quickly!

Green Afra male he has a territory now

they really like the rocks and seem to like being in a group the males have the dark nose

have spawned

strawberry male more red lots of babies

my prize dragons blood/strawberry male many  spawnings now  quite red female should be interesting

book yours today!

Pre order babies Now check for those available * Starred

below  details on how to raise these fish

saulosi male and females babies are all orange and dominant males turn blue with black stripes

Yellow Regal Male

Typical Blue Regal males color up early