Spawning the Paretroplus damii

Spawning the Paretroplus damii

Written by George J. Reclos Monday, 07 February 2005 00:00

PDF | Print | E-mail

Article Index
Spawning the Paretroplus damii
Page 2: Waiting for the Fry to Swim
Page 3: Raising the Fry
All Pages

Paretroplus damii is perhaps the most cute of all Madagascan cichlids I have seen up to now and it is definitely a pleasure to have a group of 10 individuals (all donated by Jean-Claude Nourissat) in my 1300 litre tank. Its rounded shape, cute face and red colour make it a really nice little fellow. If you take into account that it grows to over 40 cm and is a really peaceful species (at least when compared to Paratilapia polleni, Paretroplus dambabe or Paretroplus nourissati) you will have to admit that it is a nearly perfect candidate for your next (large) tank. The catch is that those little cuties are not readily available and finding them might prove to be extremely difficult.

When I got mine they were sized 2.5 cm (1 inch) and the only red you could see on them was under their eyes. As time passed by the red became more and the fish looked more and more like the ones shown in Dave Tourle’s drawings. When they became larger than 10 cm (in less than 8 months) they were sort of displaying to each other getting an overall red-orange colour which made them even more cute. Luckily, Madagascan cichlids tend to direct their aggression against conspecifics therefore if you have a large tank you can house different species in there and still each one may get its chance to thrive. By “large” I mean really large. If you want to house 20 fully grown individuals you may find out that even my tank (1300 litres) is a bit small. Of course, females tend to remain considerably smaller which makes things a bit easier but just a bit. You have to keep in mind that most Paretroplines need to stay in schools so do not attempt to keep less than 6 from each species in the same tank to avoid aggression directed solely against one individual. Paretroplus nourissati is the exception in this rule since a pair should better stay alone.

My Paretroplines are fed Tetra bits (2-3 times daily), some bits I got from Italy, which they really like (namely Blue Line Grade 122 / basic - once daily) and  frozen shrimp and mussels (once per week). Additionally, every now and then I feed them live snails (taken from the tanks in my fish room in which I have some huge colonies). Lately I added some tanks outdoors with more snails to keep up with the growing demand. Twenty months ago I was still thinking of safe ways to destroy the snails in my tanks and now I am feeding them. Things do change! Although Paretroplus damii is less tempted by the snails (as opposed to Paretroplus  menarambo and Paretroplus maculatus, which regard them a delicacy) still they eat them.

Feeding your livestock heavily means you have to be extremely careful about water quality and I do my best to ensure that this remains as good as it gets. Thus, during winter months I perform 60-70% weekly water changes while in the summer I perform 1-2 water changes per week, changing all the water each time. Although some reports state that this is not well tolerated by Madagascan cichlids my experience is radically different. Not only do they accept it, but they also enjoy it and I have never seen any signs of discomfort during the last 20 months. The water conditioner is added just before the water change and water is added at the same time it is removed. One pipe removes the water from one side of the tank while another one brings fresh water at the other side. This ensures that the water chemistry changes progressively (although I wonder if there is any change at all with those frequent and massive water changes) while the temperature gradually drops by 3 to 5oC during this one hour process. I never allow the water to go below 23oC since I know from my Malawi cichlids that lower temperatures may result in shock. All pumps work normally during the water change to make sure that the fresh water is mixed well with the old one and avoid any fluctuations in its composition and temperature.

Having ten of them allowed me to observe and enjoy their schooling behaviour especially when live snails were offered. Their feeding frenzy and the peculiar method they use to crush the shells is always amusing. However, I had never witnessed the half black / half red breeding colouration of this remarkable fish until July 2004. First came a pair which stayed together all the time searching the tank for a suitable location, excavating all the time destroying my aquascape and bringing out the roots of my Vallisneria. There were plenty of rocks and caves in the tank, but most of them were occupied by my large and small catfishes so they decided to build their own breeding sites. This was fine with me – up to a point – but this point was soon proven to be too optimistic. Within some days a second pair formed which started excavating the other half of the tank. Finally – yes, you guessed right – a third pair started digging in every location left by the other two. There were some displays between the pairs when their pits came in close proximity (oh, those colours !!), but nothing serious. What was serious was the appearance of my tank which seemed more or less like being bombed ! Needless to say, I always regard breeding fish as the ultimate task and the best moment in this hobby so I was not really bothered. Not much anyway. I firmly believe that the aquascape is there to serve the needs of the fish and my own visual pleasure is a lower priority, so I feel that if they want to use the decoration elements in a different way it is their right to do so. You can read more about the decoration of this particular tank in the “From Malawi to Madagascan cichlids” article, while I suggest that the basic principles outlined in the “spawning the Paratilapia polleni” are applied for the Paretroplus damii, too. In short, if you decorate your tank by taking the needs of the fish into serious consideration, this will definitely pay you back in the future when you see that all the elements your fish need are there and you do not really have to interfere during their breeding attempts.

A point to consider is that, unlike Malawi cichlids, which will soon resume their spawning activities after any intervention – even in the open, Madagascan cichlids require a far more careful approach. Since they are not mouth brooders they rely on the location, shape and form of their spawning site to protect their eggs and fry so they may stop the spawning process if they feel that the chosen location is not safe. The more aggressive of them (like my Paratilapia polleni pairs) will first try to eliminate all other fish in the tank if they feel they can do it and then start their spawning attempts. Another thing to consider is that – like some New World cichlids – the female is always at risk. If something goes wrong she may be held responsible by the male. I am sure you can guess the rest.

The display ritual included – apart from the display of the half red / half black colouration - swimming together and, very rarely, jaw lock between the pair. We assumed that this was a “test” by the female to make sure that the chosen male was strong enough to protect the brood after spawning. Every time we observed that, it was very clear that the jaw lock was provoked by the female. The pair would dig a pit and then try it on the spot by getting in it and display to each other by vibrating their bodies. They would then remove any snail shells from the pit, retry it and then move to another location to dig a new one. It should be noted that digging and enlarging the (many) pits was done both with the mouth (in the manner most cichlids do it) as well as with their whole bodies. The pair would “sit” on the bottom of the pit and then shake in a snake–like manner moving away large amounts of sand, thus smoothing the bottom of the pit. They tried every possible combination – litreally. Rocks and sand, bogwood and rocks, rocks and Vallisneria roots (which they gracefully exposed), even sand and Vallisneria roots. For some reason, they kept on changing every now and then although all their digging was focused in “their” area of the tank. This area, although relatively small (we estimated that each pair kept an area of 60 X 40 cm to itself) was supervised at all times and all the other fishes (Pe damii in particular) were chased away. The pairs did not seem to care much about the other Paretroplines in the tank or the P. polleni, but they did pay special attention to the presence of the catfishes, which were chased on the spot.

About that time Johnny and I started wondering where they could possibly lay eggs (if this was their intention) since whatever could be dug was already dug. One day one of the pairs didn’t show up for food.. (I always count them during feeding time…old habits die hard). After searching around the tank we found the pair happily sitting in an architectural wonder which they had built during the morning. Using the rocks, the sand and the Vallisneria roots as walls they had dug a pit about 10 cm deep, which was inaccessible by all three sides. So, all they had to do was to watch the entrance of their new home.. That aside, this location was almost at level with the rest of the substrate so it was kind of invisible to other fish. It is true that cichlids never stop to surprise me with their fantasy and skills, but this was a real surprise even by their standards. Of course, offering them the tools to make these wonders is the fish keeper’s responsibility. Having a 20 cm sand bed definitely made it possible in this case.

I must confess that I could not see what was in their pit and it was Johnny who managed to see where they had laid their eggs. Yes, there were eggs and to make things better these were not covered with fungus. The eggs were laid on the side of a rock while some eggs were also attached under it (I wonder how did they manage to fertilize the eggs there…it would take acrobats to do it). After discussing it with my consultants (Sonia Guinane and Patrick de Rham), I confirmed that Paretroplines are fairly good parents so we decided to leave the eggs there and remove the fry once they became free swimming. The parents guarded their eggs in their pit all the time and I even saw the 13 cm male chasing away a 20 cm Paratilapia polleni male, which came really close to the eggs. Mind you, this P. polleni is the dominant male in the tank.

As you can see in the pictures, the number of eggs did not change significantly between the first day and the second or the third. What was really amazing is the fact the at least one of the parents was with the eggs all the time, no feeding, no swimming, just staying there while the other parent was hovering 10 cm above the pit. The pair would display to any intruder and – in rare cases – would even chase the intruder away. The fact that they kept this area to themselves posed a serious problem to the other two Pe damii pairs which, on several occasions, tried to dig their own pit quite close to theirs. In those cases the reaction of the pair was immediate and left no doubts to the newcomers that they meant trouble.

Well, everything had gone well up to this point so it was evident that something unfortunate would happen sooner or later. According to Murphy’s Law “if anything can go wrong it will” and this was definitely the case. Three days post spawning the parents decided to move the eggs to another place which was carefully chosen to be protected and out of sight. Out of our sight anyway. A very wise move indeed, which automatically meant that the chances of those fry to survive were now considerably slimmer, unless we could think of a clever way to find out where the parents and the fry were and – of course – a way to get the fry out of there. On top of that, time was really against us because as long as the fry were not free swimming, the parents would be able to guard them well and defend their home efficiently. After becoming free swimming this would be far more difficult and the fry would normally be eaten by the other tank mates. We even thought of breaking down the tank, but we soon realized that this was out of the question. With 100 Kg of bogwood, a Vallisneria bed running all over the tank and 300 Kg of rocks in it, we had to find another way. To start with…how much time did we have before they became free swimming? Naturally, off to our consultants again !!

Well, according to Sonia, the eggs usually hatch in 3-4 days (it was definitely 3 days in our case) and the fry are free swimming at 5-6 days after they hatch. In total it takes something between 8 and 10 days for the fry to reach the free swimming stage after the eggs are laid. Although time was pressing, we did a preliminary attempt to locate the parents which was unsuccessful. I hate to admit it, but it seems we are not going to make it. I am almost sure all the fry will be eaten when they become free swimming so – although we will do out best to locate them in the next 2-3 days – I am already working on plan B which calls for isolation of the eggs either with their parents or without them. After all, losing all the clutch while I am just some inches away is not something I can easily live with.

I really do not know if high temperatures have anything to do with spawning. However, I would like to note that the pair spawned (and all Pe damii pairs were actively seeking for a place to do the same) after a period of four days during which the temperature of the water never fell below 28.5oC (actual air temperature 33oC inside the house and 38-39oC outside – maximum water temperature recorded during those days 31oC) followed by a couple of massive water changes (almost 100% each in two consecutive days). Whenever this kind of observation is made, you should always take into account that my fish have just reached sexual maturity therefore one may argue that they were simply unable to spawn earlier and the higher temperature observed is merely a coincidence. The effect of external parameters – like ambient and water temperature – should be seriously taken into account only with adult individuals or, at least, fish which have already spawned in the past. Thus, a higher water temperature may or may not trigger spawning. However, the fact that this was observed with other species too (Paratilapia polleni and – quite recently – Paretroplus nourissati) points to this direction. Huge water changes may remind the fish of the rain season (something well documented for other species like Lake Malawi cichlids and Symphysodon discus) apart from the fact that they greatly contribute to the fish growing much faster and reaching sexual maturity much earlier. In my personal experience I have seen my 4 cm Paratilapia polleni reaching a size of 16 cm in less than 10 months, while my larger Paretroplus maculatus grew from 4 to 18 cm during the same period. Paretroplus damii were acquired at a size of 3.5 cm and measure 13 cm now (over the same 10 month period). Finally my Paretroplus nourissati almost doubled in size (from 3-5 cm when acquired to 6-10 cm today) in 9 months, but one has to take into account that this species has a much smaller final adult size (18 cm) as compared to the others (30-35 cm). This finding is further supported by the personal observations of other hobbyists. The “rainy season” emulation has worked remarkably well for my Paratilapia polleni pair. They are kept in a tank of their own, therefore I feel more confident  to try this “trick” a couple of times. The result was five spawning attempts (all successful) over a five month period. Since I don’t want to “exhaust” my female I will not continue this “experiment” but it definitely shows that it works with – at least some – Madagascan cichlids. Mind you, live food has never been offered to them – just good quality pellets and frozen shrimps (the latter, once a week).

It is clear that we need to learn a lot more about the spawning of Paretroplus damii and I can tell you that we are all determined to do just that. I don’t know how “frequently” they spawn but we may well have a second chance before this article goes online. The part you have read up to this point was written in the first half of July so we have 45 more days till uploading. Judging from Paratilapia polleni, this may be enough.

Indeed, it was enough. After I got back from my summer vacations, I thought of giving it one more try – the target being Paretroplus damii again. After two huge water changes (almost 80% each day) I raised the temperature to 28oC. Within 48 hours one of the pairs had occupied the “preferred spot” and laid eggs. Needless to say, this time I had the upper hand since I had already heard the story and knew what I had to do. On the third day (72 hours after spawning), I removed the rock on which the eggs were attached (making sure that the eggs were not exposed in the air – which is far more difficult than it sounds for a deep tank) and placed it in an 100 litre tank with pre-conditioned and warmed water equipped with two powerful air pumps delivering a total of 700 litres of air / hour (see photo below).

Care was taken to avoid the air bubbles coming in contact with  the eggs. Four hours after the transportation of the rock (following Sonia’s recommendation - again) I added a small amount of methylene blue. Since I was a bit worried I tried to make sure that the eggs were fertile but the addition of the methylene blue made it very difficult so I took a photo and then examined it on my monitor. As you can see from the photo, most eggs were fertile so all we had to do was wait.

After the fourth day I was a bit disappointed since no eggs had hatched, something which took place 109-112 hours post spawning (approximately 4,5 days at 27oC). There were about 50 fry on the bottom of the tank but I was afraid that the air flow would scatter them all over the tank surface and I knew from experience that this would greatly reduce the survival rate. The hatched eggs formed a “gray” mass initially (see photo below) but soon they started to be scattered by the water flow created by the air pumps. Thus, we siphoned all the hatched eggs and placed them in a floating breeding net while a water change removed almost half the methylene blue on the same day. The rock was returned to the main tank and placed on the same spot – although it was not possible to recreate the initial position. There was still no filtration in that tank – just the two air pumps running. A filter was matured in another tank and would be transferred to this tank after the fry became free swimming and needed to be fed. Days were passing by and all we could see was that the fry was still alive but nothing more. The first fry to become free swimming appeared after 7 days (!!) and the rest followed within the next 6 hours. What a moment ! The sight of them swimming in the small breeding nest was rewarding (to say the least). The matured filter was immediately transferred to this tank and the first food was offered to them (commercial powder food for egg layers). The fact they rushed to eat gave me hope that they may survive. This is always a tricky time point since sometimes the fish refuse to eat or stop eating after 48 hours. As you can see in the photo below, taken 3 days after they reached the free swimming stage, they had a dark gray colouration – instead of the “banded” appearance of  P. polleni. These lines are being written 5 days after they became free swimming which is 17 days after spawning. They look larger to me and – more important their swimming is more powerful. They are fed 4-5 times daily and we change 30% of the water every other day. There is practically no ammonia, nitrites or nitrates in this tank (measurements taken daily during the first week and once weekly thereafter).

We really hope that the information contained in this report will help more hobbyists to spawn this magnificent species. You can see a step by step photo diary of the development of the fry between hatching and becoming free swimming, in the pages that follow.

Epilogue

This article was originally written in August 2004. Since then, a lot has happened (this Epilogue is written in February 2005). First, we met with Sonia and Dave in Vichy (October 2004) and had a very interesting exchange of ideas on how to raise the fry of Paretroplines. Another very important change is that the original Pe damii pair spends all the time together, always on the search for a good spawning site and they lay eggs once every month. Although they are excellent parents and they defend their eggs ferociously it seems that they can't make it against the (still) much larger catfishes. A second pair (the male being the largest I have) is also preparing to follow them. I am not sure but my guess is that even a 1300 litre tank is too small to allow a third pair to spawn. Removing the stone with the attached eggs is not something that I like to do. It causes an unnecessary stress to all the fish in the tank - especially to the weaker ones. Moreover, cichlids are not stupid and if this happens a couple of times, their natural reaction is to classify this particular spot as "unsafe" and choose another one, which will be impossible to reach. Perhaps, when they get larger, they will be able to take care of their brood in a better way, so, waiting is also an option. On one hand I want to get the eggs out and raise the fry artificially. On the other hand, I want to see my fish happy. There is some sort of contradiction here. Since there are quite a few hobbyists asking for them, I may give it another try sooner or later. Lately, I decided that I will just build another 2 m / 700 l tank and house most of the catfish in it, along with my five P. polleni small spot. This will result in a 1300 litre tank with "just" 10 inhabitants, those beautiful red-faced beauties. I know this is a bit too much for a species tank but my feeling is that this is the right thing to do.

 

Videos

1. Paretroplus damii displaying:

2. Paretroplus damii defending spawning site:

 

 

by George J. Reclos and John Reclos

Waiting for something to happen is not my strong point. However, we (Johnny and I) knew that there was no way (or reason) to force things. All we had to do is to sit back and wait for the process to finish. Or not ? I have spent tens of thousands of hours on the internet and I have never seen any good quality photos of the eggs or the development of the fry after they hatch. So, the camera was there, the extension tubes ready and polished, what else did we need ? Apart from the useful information this may give other hobbyists it was a very nice way to keep us busy. All photos were taken at 24 hour intervals. Time "0" is when we saw most of the eggs hatched and transferred them to their floating net - nest. Since it took about 8 hours for most of the eggs to hatch, the time points are defined as day+8 hours. The eggs are tiny and you need to break the 1:1 magnification ratio to get some decent photos of them - with enough detail. We chose 5 photos from each day - all photos were taken during 5 minutes (we didn't want to mess with the fry more than that).

One day later (24-32 hours after hatching), the yolk sack has diminished in size, the developing eyes are far more visible while there is a black line on the top of their bodies.

After the completion of the second day post hatching (48-56 hours after the eggs hatched) the little creatures show very few external changes as compared to a day before. The most notable ones are the appearance of a silver circle around their developing eyes and a pink formation, barely visible in some of them, which is probably an internal organ (I figured it is a bit to the back to be their gills). Moreover, the black line has intensified.

After the completion of the third day (72-80 hours after the eggs hatched) there is not much to report. I am sure that those of you with a relevant scientific background may notice more differences in the development of the fry - this is part of the reason those photos are online. It should be noted that the fry of Paratilapia sp. Andapa are already free swimming at this age. It would be interesting to notice the difference in the development of the fry between those two species (Pe damii and P. sp. "Andapa"). By this time (almost 7 days after the pair spawned) the P. sp. "Andapa" fry are already free swimming. However, this is partly due to the mass of the yolk sack the fry carry at the time of hatching, which is - obviously - proportional to the egg size. As you can see here, the P. sp. "Andapa" fry carry a much smaller yolk sack at the time they hatch (smaller than the one the Pe damii still have, 3 days after hatching). Furthermore, the "Andapa" fry sack is rapidly reduced in three days, while it takes ages for the sack of Pe damii to do the same.

After the completion of the fourth day (96-104 hours after hatching; yes, it takes a long time for them to become free swimming) there are some obvious differences. First, the yolk sack is obviously reduced in size during the last day, which is very evident in the bottom photos of the last two days. As you can see, the sack is not pointed at the end but round and shorter. Second, the gill covers are evident and are still disproportional (too large) compared to the head and body of the fry. Third, you can see the little mouths which are already shaped. You can also note the increase in the intensity of the black markings on their bodies as well as the eyes which now look as fully formed. The fry will still try to swim which results in circular moves around the net frame. When they get tired, the water current brings them all together and all you can see is a dark brown "vibrating" mass. This was also the first time that we saw fry resting in the normal (vertical) position instead of lying on their side.

After the completion of the fifth day (120-128 hours after hatching) it was obvious that this diary had come to an end. Some of the fry were already free swimming while most of them were able to take the vertical position and keep it for much longer. As time passed by, more and more fry were able to make long jumps which soon became swimming attempts. It was evident they would soon need food so they had to be removed in the special tanks prepared for this reason, following our discussions with Sonia and Dave in Vichy. The net floating nest was destroyed by Johnny and me to avoid any trapping of the fry between the frame and the net and the net with the fry was removed in a container with water in their new home. As far as we know, they didn't come in contact with air. A limited number of fry were left in the bare bottom tank to test another hypothesis. I really hope you enjoyed this diary as much as we enjoyed creating it.

All photos of this set were taken with a d-SLR Nikon (D70) with a Tamron 90mm f/2.8 macro lens (1:1) on which 75 mm of extension tubes were added, yielding a magnification of almost 2:1. All settings on the camera and the flash unit were set on manual (including focusing). For those interested, they were shot with an f/22 - f32 (for maximum depth of field) and full power flash. Further magnification was not possible in this particular setup since the lens would touch the water. Next time I may use a shallower tray and even greater magnification with a focusing trail.

 

 

 

 

by George J. Reclos, Sonia Guinane, David Tourle and John G. Reclos

Paretroplus damii fry, as with most Paretroplines, are prone to sudden massive deaths which usually occur before the fry reach 2 months (8 weeks) of age. This can be attributed to a number of facts but - to be honest - the reasons are largely unknown. All that is known is that, in contrast to Paratilapia fry which seem to go on without any special problems provided good quality commercial food and excellent hygiene are provided, the fry of the Paretroplines grow quite well for some time and then they suddenly die within 24 -48 hours. Just like that. Without any apparent reason, the whole brood is lost. Since we had this experience with two P. damii broods which we tried to raise in the summer (2004), we decided that we would need to follow a different strategy if we were to have some - even limited - success this time (February 2005). Hatching Artemia salina was one way to go but we are against live food for a good number of reasons, so, before trying this last resort, we would try something else. If you are wondering what the reasons against live food are, we will list some of them. First, this is a live food which will not survive in freshwater, so, unless you remove it after every meal, you will foul your water. Second, it needs you to run a number of cultures all the time - which means that, unless you have just 20 fry to grow in a 10 litre tank, you will become too tired in the end and the hygiene of your raising tanks will drop, massive fry death being the result once more. This reason should be examined in relation to the number of tanks we run which is more than 20 and all of them need some daily care. Third, all live food tend to accumulate any pollutants they find in the medium they are grown in, which is not necessarily good for the tiny fry which will - in the end - accumulate them at even higher degrees. Microworms or vinegar eelworms are also promising alternatives since they will survive in fresh water much longer, but we decided to leave this option for the next time (if we failed this one). Last, but not least, I am convinced that Artemia salina is not the food those fry eat in their natural habitat therefore, since we can't give them what they really eat, there is no reason to give them a live substitute. Commercial food, on the other hand, has the advantage of a standard quality and number of ingredients which, if many suitable foods are used in combination, should guarantee that the fry will get almost every element they need. During a discussion with Thanassis Moschou (a dear friend keeping some Mad cichlids, too) I told him that I *know* we can raise them, for sure. We can cultivate (or get hold of) rotifers, infusoria, ten different kinds of worms, A. salina, everything. Some nice friends of Thanassis, even offered us live nematodes cultures. However, the point is to find a relatively easy way which will allow every serious hobbyist to breed this species and then raise the fry, without turning his home into a mess. We believed that there should be a way.

During our meeting in Vichy, Sonia, Dave, Johnny and I had reached the same conclusion independently. It seemed that what was needed was a matured tank with plenty of bogwood and plants on (and in) which many freshwater infusoria would live already. The term infusoria is a collective name for many microorganisms and can include certain algae, bacteria, protozoans, desmids, rotifers, paramecium and a host of other small organisms. Without strong light the phytoplankton content of the tank will be minimal, but the rest will be there. Thus, apart from the addition of commercial feeding, the fry would have the opportunity to search for food all day long (much like in nature) forage the plants (or algae) and eat the food they would probably find in nature, too. Since Artemia salina is not really found in the rivers and lakes of Madagascar, we assumed that this approach made more sense. After many successive spawnings of our P. damii, we decided to remove one brood and try to raise it following this general plan. The fry seemed to be about 100, which meant that a fully matured 100 litre tank would be enough for a start. While raising them in it, we would prepare a second tank to transfer half of them (if we ever reached that point of course). What does "preparing" means? Well, we must tell you our little secret. We love algae. Not only the beautiful green one but - most of all - the dense brown one which, if present in a tank will cover everything and form a really dense coat which - we assumed - would become a nice home for millions of micro-organisms. When we say "covered" by algae we mean "completely covered" as you can see in the photo below (you can click on it to get a higher resolution image). Even the sides of the tank were fully covered by this friendly algae and actually this was the place mostly preferred by the fry. You can also see the thousands of Malaysian trumpet snails which - at a very early stage in their development - could be also a food source (probably at a later stage). Many visitors to our small fishroom, look at this algae and ask me why don't we  get rid of it. Up to now, I just smiled and told them that I like it - a matter of personal taste, as I said. Now, they know ... The main advantage of this type of algae is the tremendous amount of surface it provides for infusoria to grow. Even a densely planted tank can only give you a tiny fraction of the surface provided by this algae. The Paratilapia sp. Andapa were the ones which showed us the way. While raising them we could see the tiny fry always nibble on the algae even though there had been hours since the last time food was added in their tank. Now, it was time to see if the P. damii would "walk" on the same path. In the meantime, Sonia and Dave had used the "matured tank" method with some Ptychochromis fry and they told me that it worked very well, resulting in 15 survivors. This was much better than the results they had obtained when the fry were raised in bare bottom tanks. As Sonia said, they "definitely think that a mature tank with decor is preferable to a tank with a bare bottom."  Ptychos had done it, Paratilapias, too, now it was time for some Paretroplines to go through this process.

Once the eggs were removed, we knew we had 10 days to get this tank ready. We have two such tanks running since summer, with one fish each, just to keep the bioload of the tank high and allow the algae and the microorganisms to feed. Immediately after placing the eggs in a bare bottom tank we started the addition of Liquifry No 1, which claims to be an excellent feeding aid for growing infusoria, in the matured, fully aquascaped and covered with "ugly" algae tank. The inhabitant of the tank was a C. nigrofasciatus at that time, which would be removed once the fry became free swimming. Liquifry was added three times daily at almost regular intervals while the eggs hatched and then the fry were consuming their yolk sacs. Briefly, the rock on which the eggs were attached by their parents was placed in the space between the two air diffusers so, although there was a very high water / air flow close to the eggs, air bubbles did not come in contact with them. When the eggs started to hatch, the rock was placed in a plastic container so that the fry which were detaching from it would fall in the container instead of spreading around the tank. This allowed us to collect more than 90% of the viable fry without stressing them by siphoning (that's a good idea for all egg layers, if you remove the eggs with their support). At the end, when all the eggs had hatched, all we had to do was to return the rock to the parent's tank and just "pour" the fry in the floating nest. During this process, we took extra care to ensure that the fry would not be exposed to the air but this resulted in more difficult manoeuvers, which resulted in 10 of them falling in the bare bottom tank.

Since one of the aims of the whole procedure was to evaluate the optimum conditions which would guarantee the maximum survival rate, those fry were left in the bare bottom tank even after they became free swimming. This way, we would have a measure for comparison. The rest, were transferred in the matured, algae covered tank when most of them were free swimming, using the same procedure (plastic container under the floating nest and transfer to their new home). The net of the floating nest seemed a bit of a problem since it concentrated easily and the risk of fry being trapped in it was great. Thus, we decided to destroy it and open it with a pair of scissors while it was still in the plastic container. The net was then reversed in the new tank and the fry were released.

Twenty four hours later, we were shocked since the matured tank was empty and there were no fry in it apart from a couple of them swimming (jumping) close to the air diffuser. The fry left in the bare bottom tank seemed to be fine so we could not find any reason for this massive loss. Water chemistry was tested extensively (pH, temperature, conductivity, salinity, ammonia, nitrites and nitrates) and was found identical to the tank they came from. Since the fry in the original tank were still alive we assumed that although not visible they were - somehow - alive and fed them normally, four times per day as we did with the ones in the bare bottom tank. Hoping for the best, we even made our programmed water changes even though there was no activity in the tank (yes, it did feel a bit stupid!). Although there was plenty of algae in the tank, we decided that a 20% daily water change would create the "feeling" of a larger water volume and perhaps promote the growth of the fry. Johnny and I decided not to add a filter in these tanks since we did not want to create an extra water flow, while at the same time we did not want to risk the fry being trapped in the foam pre-filter. We just relied on the air pumps for water movement. After the first week, I nicknamed myself "Mr. Eheim" and I started asking Johnny when did he feel the right time would be to put the matured filters in those tanks and relieve me from the water changes. Unfortunately, the answer was always "later, they are still too weak". I do not know about them, but I definitely felt weaker every day. 

The water was collected in canisters (see photo below), a chlorine remover was added and were then closed to be used 24 hours later, after they had reached the ambient temperature of the fishroom (which is about 26oC). As you can see, we did not take any chances, but the question was still where the fry were. After another 24 hours, we happily saw some of them moving in the tank, something that called for a celebration. It is true that their colour matched the colour of the algae perfectly well, so when they stood still there was no way to tell where they were. Three days later we saw many more swimming in their tank - hopefully all of them. Anyway, one of the major reasons for this process was to learn something so we did not have high expectations - even a fair survival rate would be enough. After all, if this worked, even partially, we could definitely improve it next time. While writing these lines, the P. damii parents are preparing to spawn again (at a different place - those fish learn very quickly), but, until we reach some final conclusions about the efficiency of this method, no more eggs will be removed from the main tank (see also the epilogue).

Water was taken out of the tank with a wide hose with its end hermetically closed by an Eheim sponge pre-filter. This prevented the fry from entering the hose, while at the same time the duration of the whole process was minimized. Naturally, we stopped the process any time a fry was swimming close to the filter pad. The addition of the water in the tank was done through a stainless steel cooking sieve to minimize the force of the incoming water and avoid injuring the fry. In this way, it takes approximately 20 minutes to change the water in both tanks and refill the canisters for next day. The fry seemed to like water changes although this was probably due to the fact that food particles were re-suspended giving them an extra feeding opportunity.

Apart from the infusoria and whatever else lived in their tanks, we used a combination of commercial preparations meant for raising fry. In particular we used Baby Star #2, Protogen, Liquifry No 1, Tetra Baby food and our own "baby" powder (see photos below for the commercial preparations). Baby Star #2 is a food containing particles sized between 50 and 100 microns, which stay suspended in the water column for a long time and are a substitute for infusoria. When the fry get somewhat larger (which takes ages) we will change it with Baby Star #5 which has a particle size of 100-300 micros (millionths of meter). Protogen is a dried culture which, when added in water, is supposed to give life to live infusoria. Liquifry No 1 (for egglayers) is a preparation which can be taken as a food by the fry, but will also feed the infusoria. Tetra Baby I am sure you all know about it. Our own powder is a very fine one (much finer than the Tetra product) and consists of at least 12 different commercial foods which were all powdered in the mixer. It should be noted that the people at FRI told Thanassis that, in all probability, the main causing factor for the massive deaths was the diet or to be more precise, the fact that the food offered to the fry did not supply them with all the elements they needed and / or caused serious problems in their digestion and - as a consequence - this could result in a blockage or destruction of their intestines. This made a lot of sense. If we also take into account that Madagascar is an isolated island, the assumption that this fry may have special dietary needs which they developed in that specific biotope may not be far from truth. Nevertheless, we lived in Greece (or UK for Sonia and Dave) - so we had to find another way to overcome this problem.

The fry were now fed 6 times daily. In the morning (before leaving for work, while the lights were still off), at 2am, 5am, 8am (immediately after the water change), 9:30am and finally 11 am. Lights went off at 12:00. Baby Star was given at every feeding. Protogen once daily, Liquifry twice daily, Tetra baby once daily and our powder once daily. The morning feeding consisted of Baby Star only. On top of that, vitamins and trace elements were also added in the tank every day – do not ask me if they did any good, I simply do not know. The whole process has the disadvantage that we took care of so many things at the same time that it is nearly impossible to tell which of those actions / additives was actually beneficial to the fry and which was not. Unfortunately, since we did not have enough small tanks to divide the fry into and raise them in parallel we cannot discriminate between useless and useful - only harmful can be detected under these circumstances. On the other hand, if we view this process as a draft experiment, once you have a combination that works, you can easily "strip it down" at a later stage and become more specific. Therefore, this process, if one wants to replicate it, should be used as an "integrated recipe".

It was not possible for us to know what was the survival rate in the algae covered tank. It looked as if there were some initial losses but the number of the fry had stabilized after day 25 (post spawning). In the bare bottom tank it was easier to see what happened. Out of 10 fry which started their lives in it, 5 were already lost during the first 18 days and another 2 were lost by the 21st day. At that point we decided to get some algae from our outdoors cultures and add it in the tank. This culture runs for many years in 2 x 20 litre containers and some fertilizer is added every two months. In contrast to the brown algae we have in our tanks, this is a bright green one and rather beautiful as an addition, although this is not what we wanted it for. Despite the temperature difference the algae adapted immediately and started growing really fast.

One thing became certain up to this point: the fry in the matured tank had a much higher survival rate since, although we could not count them, we definitely had fewer than 70% losses. Moreover, a great number of them reached day 20, which was the disaster day in both our previous efforts. Although their bodies were largely transparent, a wide black band was visible in the back half of their body, just in front of their tails. A direct size comparison between the fry in the two tanks was not possible, but it seemed that the fry in the matured tank were also gaining size quicker and were almost constantly seen swimming and grazing at the algae threads at the sides of the tank. What looked promising by day 30 (one month after the eggs were laid) is that, at least, the fry survived longer and seemed to be in a better shape overall. This may or may not be a good omen of course, but hope was still there. It should be noted that by day 30 only one fry had survived in the bare bottom tank (90% losses), so it is evident that at least one beneficial factor was identified: the use of a matured, fully aquascaped tank with lots of algae. Finally, by day 32, the last survivor in the bare bottom tank passed away, while the number of fry in the aquascaped tank seemed constant. Even if all came to an end at this point, still we had acquired a lot of new knowledge which would be very important next time.

As you can see in the photo above, the light levels in the tanks varied greatly depending on the kind of aquascape - or the lack of it. All tanks are the same and the lighting is also identical since the tubes run over all three of them. The 120 cm (4') fluorescent tubes used were one full spectrum for aquarium use and normal household tube with Arkadia reflectors attached to both. Thus, in the leftmost tank, which is fully aquascaped with our beloved bogwood / algae combination, everything seems to be in the dark. In the middle tank, there is no aquascape at all and you can see how much light is absorbed by the first tank. The rightmost tank is the one used to hatch the eggs and housed the 10 fry which escaped the transfer to the floating nest. The only things in that tank were a stone covered with brown algae and two pieces of green algae from our outside culture. As you can see, although the tank is almost empty, still a considerable amount of light is absorbed. In every tank there is one fish to keep the filters bioactive. In the right tank there is no filter - yet. The general idea behind this approach is that in nature, those fry would never come into the open (where the strong light would make them visible), but prefer to stay in the shadows till large enough to take the risk. Our initial plan called for a reduced lighting of the raising tank but this was not necessary as you can see. Natural elements took care of this in a much better way.

On day 30 we started to change gradually from Baby Star #2 to #5. Shaking the bottle before feeding is always essential with this kind of food, but this was not enough with #5 since - unlike #2 - the preparation has a much higher viscosity and will not disperse well in the water getting to the bottom really fast. While we were examining this problem we noticed that if diluted a bit before use, its dispersion was much better so we introduced one more step - to the many we had already established. Thus, the food was placed in a plastic 5 ml syringe barrel (the common plastic one you can find in your drugstore) with the needle and piston removed (you have to put your finger to the needle end). About 3.5 ml of food was added in the barrel and then the piston was added loosely. The syringe was inverted, till the food dropped on the piston and then the air was removed. Using aquarium water we diluted the food to 6 ml, agitated it to get an even distribution of the particles and then added 3 ml of this preparation in the aquarium. Perfect dispersion and eagerly taken by the fry. This allowed for two feedings so we had to prepare three syringes per day. Later we moved to 10 ml syringe barrels which allowed us to feed the tank with two of them. As Johnny said, the fishroom looked more and more like an ICU unit. Notes everywhere, syringes for the vitamins and food, pipes and canisters with aged water added to the scene. The ICU resemblance was obvious, however the important thing is that the fry were still there, swimming, larger (yes, by that time it was easy to tell that) and more active than ever. The transition from one food size to the other was made gradually over a 5 day period, each day a greater part of their food was of the larger particle size in increments of 20%. Since we suspected that the cause for early massive deaths could also be due to intestinal / digestive problems, we felt that a sudden change of food could well trigger this. Number of feedings was kept constant and all the other food types were still added. By day 35 post spawning, the fry were still there and the transition to the new particle size was almost complete. Still, we were offering them 10% of the smaller particle size, for those of them who could not eat the larger one.

This is a photo of the feeding syringes. Ideally, they should both be filled to the 3 ml mark, but we have not been that accurate. When storing them for the next meal, keep them in a vertical position, needle facing the ceiling. Otherwise, a crust may form at the opening which will make feeding very difficult. When refilling them, it is extremely important to touch the opening and the piston with clean hands.

On the 36th day, we got the impression that the survivors in the remaining tank were less than the previous day. Since the nature of the aquascape does not allow us to make an accurate estimation, because when the fry swim close to the algae or sit still it is impossible to see them, we just kept on our usual routine and (to be on the safe side) took some photos of the fry (in case this was the last time we were to see them). You can click on the lower photo to see the high resolution picture, although the black band at the back of the body is clearly visible in the two small ones. Another black band is on the top of their heads (not visible with naked eye). The fish have already shown differences in growth rate and we can see some large ones (possibly exceeding 1 cm) while others are about 7 mm (TL of course). The water turned whitish today (most probably due to a bacterial bloom following a larger quantity of uneaten food) and we counteracted by increasing the volume of the daily water changes to 25%. If this situation persists, we will increase the volume of the water changes to 50% daily. In addition, we added a second air pump with a long ceramic air diffuser to increase aeration, surface water movement and food dispersion. A total of 700 litres of air were pumped in this 100 litre tank per hour.  This is one of the most difficult situations in fishkeeping because when you turn back you see that your arsenal is now empty. You have already tried what you had in it and you are just unable to do something more. It is up to them now, they have to fight in order to survive. As Sonia said, you can only regard them as "safe" when they become older than 8 weeks - which seemed a lot of time at this point. [ Those are the notes we took during the process. While reviewing this article / report, Johnny came to me with the remark that this black ring at the middle of the body is commonly found on all the fry of the Paretroplus species, as shown on page 122 of the English edition of "The Endemic Cichlids of Madagascar" - for more information, look at the end of this article ]

On the 38th day, after two large water changes (50% daily), the water is clear again and the fry seem to be there (at least most of them). They seem to feed promptly, the feedings have been kept constant in number (6 daily) and we decided it was time to add a filter to that tank. The whole length of the inlet pipe was surrounded with foam so the filter could not aspirate fry in it, while the water flow was kept very low (about 200 litres / hour). Water changes would still be carried out (30% daily) to promote growth and to make sure that not even nitrates were allowed to accumulate. This happens to be one of our own rules. Whenever you are out of options (or you do not know what to do, which was definitely the case here) the best you can do is to make sure that the water parameters are perfect. It has been postulated (and proven repeatedly in our tanks) that this factor alone will protect the fish (and the fry to a greater extend) better than all the other precautions together. Thus, till the survivors reach the age of 2.5 months this routine will be followed. When it comes to water conditions, we feel that we owe you an explanation. Our idea of the perfect water is somewhat different than what most hobbyists have in their minds. In our mind, the perfect water is the one with the ideal KH, GH, pH, oxygen content etc, which contains no ammonia, nitrites or nitrates. It should be free of heavy metals and any other pollutant you can think of. What most people look for is the "crystal clear" water, without any debris, the sand perfectly flat and the leaves of their plants (if present) to be intact while there are no snails in the tank. Some of them even go to extremes to achieve this using diatom filters, UV lamps and oversized skimmers (in their marine tanks). I have dived many times in the sea and some lakes and this situation does not exist in nature. The bottom (sand or rock) is always covered with debris, algae of all kinds, broken shells etc. A crystal clear water and a shining tank is not "natural" - in our opinion. I love to see the wooden debris produced by my wood eating Panaque nigrolineatus in my tanks, I am amused when all this is stirred up whenever the Pe. damii shift the sand for any remaining pellets and I leave it there. I have to change the filter floss every week because of that, but we can see the feeding technique of the fish as it heads for its food. How it shifts the debris, then lowers and then attacks the sand. I love the bogwood covered with algae - now I love it even more ! Somehow we get the feeling of the real thing. 

We have heard about a lot of hobbyists who increase the temperature to 27oC in order to increase the metabolism of the fry and get a higher growth rate, but this is rather controversial and risky. First, this will result in decreased oxygen levels in the water and second, an increased metabolism may well accelerate metabolic or digestion - related disorders. Furthermore, we have repeatedly noticed that fish can withstand much higher nitrate levels in their water if there is strong aeration in their tank. Increased oxygen levels are not beneficial to the fish only, but to the so called "useful" bacteria, which need oxygen in order to feed (fix ammonia and nitrites). Thus, we kept the water temperature at 25oC throughout this process while water aeration was kept at its maximum. For the same reasons, the light period was fixed at 12 hours daily while there was complete darkness during the rest of the day. It is true that many ideas kept on coming to our minds about (possibly) improving the situation for the fry. Another rule is .. if you do not know what to do, do nothing. Take my word for it, this works perfectly well most of the time. An aquarium is a closed system with living organisms and as such it is always (or should be regarded as being always) at a rather fragile balanced state. Additions, removals and changes may just destroy this delicate balance and then a havoc is there, with you desperately running to counteract, but to what? You can see the symptoms, but the causing factor may be impossible to identify. In the end, we were interested in maximum survival and not maximum growth and we were not sure that those two coincide, so we picked the most important task and stayed focused on it.

By day 40, it was evident that the little "redfaces" had learned that my appearance in front of their tank meant food. They would raise to the surface and wait for the food particles to be dispersed in the water - within seconds. The black markings were far more evident now and the difference in size even more profound. The largest one was named "Fatty" and - naturally - will stay with us for the rest of his life. Yes, indeed, we decided that we will keep a small colony of "redfaces" in our tanks. It is obvious that we are now a bit more optimistic since there seems to be no more losses during the last 5 days - which is great news. We would not dare to make this kind of dreams a week ago, but it seemed they have found their way.

By day 42, it seems that their number has decreased again - an assumption based on the fact that we can now see fewer of them getting ready for food. Of course, what we can see is the first 20 cm of the tank so they may well be in the 60 cm behind that point. As said before, there is nothing we can do except feeding them, changing their water on a daily basis and watching for the water parameters.

By day 45 we decided to make an almost complete water change since the water had become "milky" again. The fry did not seem to mind at all and resumed feeding once the water change was over. They have gained some size, although their growth rate is ridiculously slow by any standards. We have had a brood of Neolamprologus brichardi, which were born about 1 week after the Paretroplus damii and are already larger than the redfaces even though they do not get 6 feedings per day (just 3) and they get one 30% water change per week (in contrast to 30% daily for the redfaces). This observation is also true for grown ups. With a reported final size of 35-40 cm (presumably the larger cichlid in Madagascar - with the exception of Paretroplus maromandia which is in a league of its own), our 20 month old adults measure a mere 18 cm (TL) for the largest specimen, while the average size is about 15 cm. In contrast, fish acquired at about the same time and age have grown considerably larger. This includes other large Paretroplines like Paretroplus maculatus (largest specimen measures more than 22 cm TL), Paretroplus menarambo (18 cm), the much smaller Paretroplus nourissati (largest specimen measuring 18 cm TL), other Madagascan cichlids (Paratilapia sp. “Andapa” at about 22 cm) and Central American cichlids like Cichlasoma pearsei (largest specimen about 24 cm TL). We assume that this is rewarded by an increased longevity although we cannot support this argument. Perhaps Sonia Guinane could come up with some references on this issue, which she gladly did: “At the 1998 ACA Convention in St Louis, Dave and I will always remember some extremely appropriate words delivered by Dr. Paul Loiselle during his extremely informative presentation on Madagascan Cichlids and in particular the Paretroplus species. He stated that these fishes “grow slowly, breed seldom and live forever”, which helps to explain why their conservation status in nature is so dire. They just cannot compete with the introduced alien species in Madagascar and this is a situation which is continually worsening.” As Sonia, Dave and Dr. Loiselle surely know, their breeding habits in the confinements of an aquarium make the situation even worse. Whenever they decide not to eat their eggs (which is not as rare as it sounds) they produce fry which are really hard to raise, most often than not suddenly dying after a couple of weeks. This "sudden massive death" may occur as late as two months after spawning, which causes a great frustration to hobbyists who thought their fry had skipped the danger. Patrick de Rham, during his recent visit in Greece, told us (while looking at the redface babies you can see in the photos) that the fry of the Paretroplines, if allowed to stay and be raised by their parents at an early stage, when removed from them later on, they just panic and they swim around not knowing what to do. As Patrick said "they become completely disorientated and they don't know where to go. They will swim up in one side of the tank, they swim across the tank then down on the back side and then again to the first side. They will do it again and again. They will even stop feeding which is the worst part. Unless you put them in the middle of a cloud of Artemia salina or anything like that, they will simply starve to death. That is why Jean-Claude would take the fry and put them in really small tanks in which, obviously the problem was smaller. Of course, since you remove the eggs directly, you don't have this kind of problem". On the positive side, he also mentioned that once he had a pair of Paretroplus kieneri which took care of its brood until the age of 1 month and, despite the presence of other monster cichlids in the same tank they managed to save a small part of their brood. Finally, Patrick managed to remove 6-7 of them of which 5 are still alive.

Back to our report now, we decided it was time to stop the Baby Star #5 and move on to commercial dry food (Tetra baby food) as with all the other fry. The Baby Star feedings were reduced to just 20% of the whole food added in their tanks and we would further reduce that in 5% steps during the next 4 days. It was nice to see that the fry did not seem to mind a lot about this change, although we did not feel very comfortable with it.

By day 50, the food consisted of Tetra baby food almost exclusively. One of the six feedings included 20% of Baby Star #5 just to add some variety to their diet. We have been performing 50% daily water changes during the last five days and the water is - at last - crystal clear. We still do not know what caused the bacterial bloom, but the smell is now gone so this is an academic issue for the time being. During the "milky" water days we were tempted to use a "water clearing" agent (which works in similar cases), but we decided to stick to the rules and rely on heavy water changes instead. A vitamin supplement is added every other day since the volume of water changed has been increased considerably. The fry do not stay at the front glass all the time, but patrol the whole tank. It is always funny to see them rushing from the back of the tank to the front in order to eat. It may be just 80 cm from back to front, but for them it is a whole trip - and for us a very rewarding sight. Needless to say, although they do grow, the rate is disappointing low.

Of course, it is 50 days after spawning now so, guess what? It is time for the parents to spawn again. However, this time they were not the only pair which had this idea. Another pair did the same thing, at the same time and almost at the same spot. As you can see in the photo below, both pairs decided to spawn on the opposite sites of a large lava rock (approximately 30 x 40 x 30 cm - or the size of a small tank). The pair on the left (the usual spawners) just used the small stone at the base of the lava rock while the other pair laid the eggs on the stone just behind it. It was really amusing to see both pairs rising slowly, showing every kind of aggressive move to the other pair and then sink slowly again pretending there is nothing on the other side of the lava rock. Since we are still half-way though the fry-raising process, no eggs were removed. The eggs hatched after 4 days while we could see the jumping fry for 2 more days. After that, the two broods were lost and the parents resumed normal activity, which makes artificial raising - even with success rates of less than 40% - a very good alternative. A possible solution could be to isolate the parents with the eggs but we feel that once you remove them from the main tank their re-introduction in it may be not an easy task. Paretroplus damii are not extremely aggressive, but they show some intra-specific aggression and - when needed - they can be really nasty to each other. During the guarding period, almost every other Pe damii had some missing scales and scars on its body. Furthermore, we are not convinced that, once alone and after the stress of netting, they will take care of their eggs. Most probably they will just eat them in which case, the female may be harassed by the male. We also noticed that a great part of their eggs got fungus and were subsequently eaten by the parents - something that did not happen during artificial hatching. The addition of methylene blue allowed a remarkably high percentage of the eggs to hatch (almost 98%). If we may add a remark here, breeding the Paretroplines is not more difficult or complicated than breeding a medium / large Central American cichlid. In fact, the similarities in the process are remarkable. The tough part is saving the eggs, hatching them and then raising the fry.

As time passed by, we had to face two things. One was the joy of seeing these tiny redfaces swimming in the tank, seemingly healthy. We know that many of you understand this kind of joy and satisfaction. The other thing was the fact that this was a really tiresome process and - frankly - unless you are truly determined or have very few tanks to take care of, it is not recommended. This goes a bit further than being a "hobbyist". We should call it "dedication" and we firmly believe that this word closely resembles this situation. Feeding them three or four different kind of foods six to seven times per day, adding vitamins, changing their water every day - all these things demand you to be focused on what you do. Unless you really love them and want to give them a chance of survival, while at the same time solving many problems and - presumably - become a better hobbyist, it may be better to skip the whole process and just sit back and enjoy them. As if this was not enough, the cost is also disproportionately high - an issue which may be of interest to many. All those foods do not come cheap and you need a lot of them, since the fry are too small and you litreally have to saturate your tank with food to make sure that every little fish will get some. Just to give you an example, it takes at least two bottles of Baby Star from each number to reach day 45. This costs around 80 Euro (100 $) and is only a small part of their diet. We had to buy the Tetra baby food by the dozens and now we consume one can every four days. The huge water changes demand vitamins to be added on a regular basis while even water is an issue. During the first 50 days we roughly estimated that we have already used more than 2.000 litres of water for water changes - a huge amount of water, especially if you take into account that the net water volume of their tank is a mere 90 litres. Time is also spent in great quantities. On average you will have to spend at least one hour on a daily basis on this tank alone - on top of any maintenance you need to do for the rest of your tanks. Another important issue is that they must be fed during the whole day. Keeping them starving for 6 hours and then "squeezing" 6 meals in the rest of the day did not seem too "natural" to us. In nature they search for food the whole day and - even though it is not found in the quantities they were getting it in our tank - this should be their normal feeding regimen. After all, the "digestion" problem was always in the back of our minds. In this respect, unless you are jobless, it is almost impossible to keep up with it. Automatic feeders are sort of a solution, but a) they cannot be used for liquid food (not even the plant fertilizer version, since the food needs to be agitated really well before feeding in order to re-suspend the tiny particles) and b) the tiny dry food tends to get everywhere in the feeder, blocking it easily. I was lucky to have the help of my son who fed them twice before I got home every day, but is this your case, too? In the end, you will have some fish which are priceless (to you and all Madagascan cichlid enthusiasts who have the right tank to house them) but - what an oxymoron - not a money making fish. Too large... and they have to be taken in packs of six, like beers, which makes even relatively large tanks (500 litres) small! This report is supposed to give you the real picture of this process and not only the technical details, thus, this is also an issue to be considered. Naturally, we will not let those pessimistic thoughts affect our efforts, so let us go on ...

By the 52nd day, they seem and act more like little fish and less like "fish dots". It is impossible to estimate if all of them are still there but it is evident that at least a large part of them is. During the last couple of days they do not form one large school, but they have divided in three "teams" each one occupying (and feeding) in one third of the tank. Only when their feeding is considerably delayed we see all of them gathered at the front glass, but even then, they will retreat to their own third to eat once the tank is full of suspended food particles. There are three fry sizes right now (there may be more, but these are evident) a huge size with only one member (almost double in body mass compared to the next group, sized about 15 mm), a group of large size fry which are about 1 cm and a group of smaller ones, which are about 7 mm. Do not ask us if this includes the tail or not ! All their fins are well developed and they are able to swim against the strong water flow caused by the inlet of the pipe we use for their daily water changes. The two black bands are visible on all of them and it seems that this is the characteristic which distinguishes them from the other Madagascan cichlid fry (in the same way the Tilapia spot is the characteristic of the Paratilapia). We do not know if cannibalism is to be expected (very common among Malawi haps), so we try to have them well fed at all times. We are getting close to the first "safe" time point of  8 weeks - as reported by Sonia - and it would be a lie to tell you that we are not a bit more optimistic now.

We have just passed the 56th day, which is equivalent to 8 weeks (it is, isn't it?), and we are all smiling here. They are growing well (at least we can see them using less effort, even though they are still mastering the camouflage technique) and they eat well, too. Despite the fact that they are theoretically in less danger now, the maintenance schedule will not change a bit. The regular 50% daily water changes are a must, vitamins are added every other day and we still feed them 5-6 times daily. Their food consists of approximately 95% Tetra baby food and 5% Baby Star IV. We have noticed that when there is no more food they spend their time foraging in and under the algae cover - probably feeding on something. We have stopped adding the Liquifry and Protogen some weeks ago, so they probably feed on infusoria naturally growing in the tank (Could it be small snails? There is a huge population in there). What we do know is that their bellies are always full. We are still worried by the fact that the variety of food offered to them is now reduced to just two, but on the other hand we are afraid of adding anything new. If you are unsure, just do nothing. When they reach the 70 day mark we will start feeding them once per day a mix of frozen shrimp and mussels (processed in the blender). With this kind of food, it is wise to keep the "better safe than sorry" motto of Francesco in your mind since any uneaten food may foul the water rapidly.

We are now on day 61 - two months have passed, but they seem like two years to us. The fry looks more like "little fish" now (you can click on the photo below to see the high resolution image of the two month old fry) and they even have some colour (the largest specimen is like a scale down model of the adult fish). They have become one group again and they behave like a team. They will come to the front glass whenever they see someone approaching their tank and they will even reach for the surface of the water to get the food sooner - they will not wait till it soaks and sinks. This is something they have been doing for the last couple of days and show a bit of "confidence". The usual feeding schedule is followed, accompanied by the same 50% water changes daily. Sonia was right. The difference in their behaviour is evident during the last week while even their growth is evident. It would be interesting to take some actual measurements and see the growth curve because it seems to us that it would not be a linear one. The small growth at the beginning changed radically around day 45 and changed again two weeks later. Still too small and fragile, but at least they are there, swimming and bringing a smile on our faces. Never before have we be so happy seeing fry swimming in a tank. Perhaps this can be compared with the feeling we had the first time we saw fry, it was a Sciaenochromis fryeri.. many years ago. Of course, compared to raising the redfaces, this was a piece of cake. Everything was done in "automatic" mode while here we used the "manual with hurdles" version of it.

On the 66th day after the eggs were laid, the situation resembles closely the "normal" fry raising procedure we have been used to. The behaviour of the little redfaces is similar to any other fish of the same age and - if we did not know what we have been through - we would be tempted to treat them as such. However, we have heard of some "horror stories" telling how the fry were lost at an even older age, so we will keep on providing the same kind of care until they become 3 months old (90 days). At that point we will resume a less intensive maintenance schedule (perhaps one 50% water change every other day), as well as less feedings per day (4 instead of 6). For the time being we just carry on the usual maintenance while we enjoy them more and more. We feel that when the time comes for some of them to leave our tanks we will be proud, happy and a bit sad. Never before have we been so "bonded" to our fry.

On the 70th day we decided to prolong the current feeding regimen and delay the introduction of the shrimp / mussel cocktail for one more week. We will make a trial in a couple of days to make sure that they like the cocktail and - most important - that the particles can fit their tiny mouths. At the beginning we will change only one feeding and we will proceed according to their reactions. We still wonder if they are able to feed on the tiny snails that are born in their tank. We have seen the number of snails increasing by the day so there must be an awful lot of tiny ones. Normally they should be feeding on them, too, although we have never witnessed this. We hope that we will soon get a chance to verify our hypothesis.

On day 75th it is evident that the growth rate has increased. The difference is quite obvious and the fry seem to have only one thing in mind - when the next feeding is. We go on with the 50% daily water changes and this seems to pay off. The largest redface is now 3 cm long (TL of course) and the group of large fry consists of fish ranging in size between 1.7 and 2 cm. Finally, the group of small fry ranges from 1 - 1.2 cm. A 50% increase in size in just 20 days is something to celebrate about - especially with this kind of fry. We are pretty close to the 11th week mark, but it seems the worst is over now. A black dot (more like a blotch) is now visible at the end of the dorsal fin of the largest specimen although this is not clearly visible on the smaller fish.

On the 90th day, this report must come to an end. The fish are growing very well, they have a huge appetite and they do gain some size. The largest fish is now 4 cm long (TL) and the rest have grown in proportion. Feeding is reduced to 4 times daily and water changes (50%) are performed twice per week. They didn't show any interest in frozen shrimps or mussels and are now fed with Dr. Bassleer's food (the smallest pellet size of course). They will rush to the front glass when they see anybody holding a food can except when it is around bedtime. At this time, we can see them all gathered at the back of the tank, very close to the substrate, ready to sleep. In a couple of months we will start delivering them to their final owners while some of them will stay with us. From now on, the water changes will be reduced to two 35% water changes / week while feeding will remain the same for the next month. In the meantime (three months), we have observed seven (yes, seven) more spawning attempts in the main tank. The fry - in all cases - hatched normally but we never saw them reaching the free swimming stage in that tank. Most probably they were eaten by their tank mates. We removed some of the fry from one of those broods and we keep them in another "algal" tank to see if they can make it using a far less intensive maintenance schedule. Three days later, another pair laid eggs so we removed part of this brood, too, and placed them in the same tank. If they make it, we will report the new parameters as an amendment in this article, later on. Our preliminary observations support the view that they will finally make it - with less effort this time. The older fry are already 25 days old and there have been no significant losses up to now. If you are wondering how do they fry of the first brood look like now, you can click on the thumbnails below to see the high resolution pictures. The fish shown in the photos are 96 days old. The fish shown in the last photo (bottom, right) belong to the new broods, are 25 days old and are shown eating infusoria from the algae, which covers the whole tank.

Just one day before this report goes on-line we are pleased to inform you that the "light" version of this method seems to work a treat. Another batch of about 30 fry are now 35 days old and the casualties are kept to a minimum - losses are even lower now but this could be attributed to a variety of reasons. The main reason seems to be that both broods were allowed to hatch in the main tank with their parents and the fry was removed at this stage (in contrast, the original report refers to fry derived from eggs which were artificially hatched). The simplified version is characterized by fewer and smaller water changes (35% every other day), and just 5 feedings daily. The aquascape is the same (algae everywhere) while Liquifry 1 was added only for two days, before the hatched fry were introduced in the tank (remember: the tank was up and running for two years with other inhabitants). Liquifry was not added any more but we kept on adding Protogen on a daily basis. The fry are clearly eating from the algae tuffs even when there is no food added in the tank for several hours. They are fed exclusively with Tetra baby and Baby Star #2 (which will be changed to #5 when they become 45 days old) - something supporting our view that live foods and the trouble of keeping cultures is not really needed for their well being. This is good news for all of us since it makes raising them even easier.

After all this time, effort and labour, we asked ourselves "Why?". Yes, it may be a bit of a surprise to most of you, but you have to take into account that it is Greece we are living in. In this country (but I guess the same problem is also seen elsewhere - perhaps to a lesser degree) the number of tanks able to house the minimum number of P. damii (let's say six of them, which calls for something around 700+ litres of net volume) can be easily counted by the fingers. Even if we assume that there are 200 or even 300 such tanks in the country (a number which is absolutely stratospheric) still most of them are occupied by other species or - still worse - are marine or planted / community tanks. So, where are all those cuties going to end? Most probably in much smaller tanks with owners hoping that most of them are females or that they will not reach their final size (35-40 cm) soon. This is not a rhetoric question. With already 300 Paratilapia sp. "Andapa" (another beautiful but large species) in the Greek market for well over four months now, waiting to find a new - suitable home - those redheads may have a dire future. In this context, apart from some which will be donated to some good friends, we will try to find a way to send most of them to people who really want them (not just to show off - which is the current "trend" here) in Europe (most probably in the AFC 2005 meeting in Vichy) or the States (we hope that our friend, Henintsoa, will come up with a solution or Dina will build a larger tank). I will also keep some more for myself. In the end, spawning them is a nice thing and gave us a real pleasure along with some unforgettable moments and a lot of excitement. The difficulty in raising the fry, made us far more knowledgeable and taught us many ways to overcome "feeding" problems. However, removing the eggs when our adult P. damii pairs spawn again (which they do at regular intervals), especially if we take into account that next time the number of fry may be considerably larger, is not something we are going to pursue, unless there is a way to guarantee a demand for them and / or proper care by their new owners. We have preliminary evidence that this method works equally well with Paretroplus menarambo fry.

We hope this article will shed some light to the raising of Paretroplus fry and allow more hobbyists to be successful. We will be really happy to report any such success of fellow hobbyists in this page. It would be of particular interest to be informed of any modifications which would make this method easier for others - so we kindly ask for your feedback.

While this article was being written, we had the opportunity to meet Anne and Patrick de Rham in Athens during their short vacations. Unfortunately, we could only spend two days with them (they also visited Santorini and Crete - more on this in another report) but those two "meetings" confirmed that they are two very nice persons, an excellent company and really good friends. Needless to say, we asked Patrick to bring some copies of his excellent book on Madagascan cichlids and sign them for a few selected Greek hobbyists - and one copy with a special dedication to Francesco. Dearest Anne and Patrick, thanks a lot for being such nice persons - we already look forward to our next meeting.. (what about that boat in Fiji islands?)

Update / Conclusion: Since the second batch of Paretroplus damii fry have reached the age of 3,5 months, we can draw some conclusions concerning the efficacy of the method proposed as well as the need for the "high maintenance" protocol. We have already given away some of the juveniles from the first batch which allowed us to count them. There were 100 fry in total (first batch). Ten of them remained in the initial, bare bottom tank which resulted in total loss (0% success rate). The rest were raised following the high maintenance protocol (as described earlier). Out of 90 fry, we have already donated 21 and we have another 32 in our tanks, while 2 more were lost due to aggression (forcing us to split them in three tanks). In total, 55 fish out of 90 made it till the age of 4 months (61%). In contrast, in the low maintenance group, only 11 out of 30 fish made it to almost the same age (36%). Furthermore, the difference in size at the same age is more than obvious. The fish of the low maintenance group look as if they are one month younger as compared to the fish of the other group when they were at the same age. All in all, it is really a personal question asking for a personal answer. On one hand you have a double survival rate while on the other hand you have at least four times more work to do. What you choose depends on how determined you are and how many inquiries for fry you have!

 

Bibliography

Jean-Claude Nourissat & Patrick de Rham,  The Endemic Cichlids of Madagascar, Editions AFC, 2004.

Dr. P.V.Loiselle, The Cichlid Aquarium, Tetra Press, 1994, pp. 187-201

S. Guinane, "The Madagascan cichlid genus Paretroplus", Cichlid News, 2000.

Jean-Claude Nourissat (translated by Mary Mailey), "New surprises from Madagascar", Cichlid News, pp. 6-14

 

The book "The Endemic Cichlids of Madagascar" by Patrick de Rham and Jean - Claude Nourissat is now available in English. Click here to find out how to order and here to read the back cover page of the English edition.

 

Photos and videos by George J. Reclos.

 

Enter Paretroplus damii gallery.

Read Paretroplus damii profile.

 

 

 

< Prev		Next >