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Although my preference is for smaller fish, I do like to keep and try to breed a good variety and in the past I have kept some cichlids. Due to not having a really big tank I had kept some Apistogramma species, but then moved on to my first venture with slightly larger cichlids;- the attractive and peaceful Labidochromis caeruleus. I kept these in a 36" tank with mounds of Tufa Rock, with, as it is a nice soft rock, holes drilled in. This provides many safety retreats for the fry when necessary. I also used Ocean Rock with some Java Fern wedged in. I had some plant pots scattered around and a couple of caves, one at each end of the tank, made up of slate and Lakeland stone. I enjoyed breeding the caeruleus, a bonus being that the fry stayed with the adults and they were all an attractive yellow colour; ie there were no little dull brown ones! (Much easier to do deals with at aquarist centres who, in many cases, aren't too keen on cichlid trade-ins!) Having by now reared quite a few caeruleus and, over 2 years gradually built up a group of Synodontis multipunctatus (3 females and 2 males), it was time to try a new species with the "cuckoo" catfish. I always found the male cichlids with pale blue and dark blue,almost black stripes very striking. Although I had to keep in mind that some could be quite aggressive, especially in my relatively small (for cichlids) 36" tank. With those limitations to consider, I browsed around looking for a peaceful species and (playing safe!) decided to try the Labidochromis sp. "hongi". If I got cichlids, that's fine, if I got Synodontis, even better! I bought 6 young fish from Mal Connell (a cichlid and Discus enthusiast). I got 4 females and 2 males and put them in with the Synos and left them to sort out their living space and let nature take its course. Over 4 months later and the first spawning took place;- the male constantly driving the female and trying to lure her back over the flat slate forming the roof of the cave. This had previously been meticulously cleaned. After a lot of intense body dithering and very vigorous tail wafting she was sufficiently impressed! By now, his colours had intensified and he had an almost black patch under his chin.  The next phase was that the two fish circled each other over the slate and the female deposited the eggs. After each circle she quickly picked these up and then tried to pick up the "egg spots" on the males anal fin (can be seen in photo) which resulted in the eggs being fertilised. She would swim away briefly and then the spawning would resume. This continued until the female retreated under the rock with her buccal cavity full of eggs. During most of the action, the other male had stayed at the other end of the tank and the Synos had swum round but with no real "intent". Approximately 18 days later and I saw that the throat was back to normal and eventually counted just 7 fry moving in and out of the Tufa. They were around 1 cm long, a plain brown colour and were not threatened by any of the adults. They grew well and at 5 months old they were 4.5 cms long but in the mean time there had been a double spawning at each end of the tank. One pair using the cave roof and the other pair using a flat stone (as in photo). On this occasion the Synos became very active. With both pairs busy spawning there was an abundance of pheromones released which stimulated the Synos. They were constantly on the move, nudging and driving each other and in turn being tupped away by the male cichlids from the spawning spot. This frenzied activity continued throughout the spawning time with both females quickly and anxiously taking the eggs up.  I watched patiently, enthralled by this battle of wills. However when the "dust had settled" I had never seen, (even allowing for the frenzied action), a Syno egg appear. Sure enough, when the incubation period had passed I had 2 more batches of cichlid fry swimming around the rockwork. I later tried a group of Pseudotropheus saulosi, a species in which both males and females are attractively coloured. However I did find the males to be rather more aggressive than the males of the Labidochromis species. Once again I observed the spawning rituals and all the usual the Syno activity. |
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Summary It would be nice to report a fairy tale ending but I have to say I never did see any Synodontis fry! So for a change, we have a report about a failure. Nevertheless I did enjoy the sight of a busy cichlid tank with a bonus of the fascinating interaction of the Synodontis. Certainly anyone thinking of trying, for the first time, a cichlid breeding venture would find any of the above species very satisfying. Plea.. If anyone reading of my efforts has succeeded with Synodontis multipunctatus and feels like sending a report to me I would be more than pleased to include it, especially if you have any photos for us all to enjoy! Copyright. Caeruleus photo - David Marshall. Text and other photos;- Ivor Hilton. |
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