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| ARTICLE INFORMATION: Author: Beta Mahatvaraj Title: Breeding Neolamprologus brichardi Summary: Beta's experiences in breeding this fish, with original photos. Contact for editing purposes: e-mail: Beta, at: flare79@yahoo.com Date first published: September 2004 Publication: indianaquariumhobbyist.com Reprinted from Aquarticles: January 2005: Ryedale Reporter, Ryedale Aquarists Society, England |
ARTICLE USE: Internet publication (club or non-profit web site): 1. Credit author, original publication, and Aquarticles. 2. Link to http://www.aquarticles.com and original website if applicable. 3. Advise Aquarticles Printed publication: Mail two printed copies to: Beta Mahatvaraj, c/o Hon. Secretary, Aquarists Society of Karnataka, Government Aquarium, Cubbon Park, Bangalore-560 001 India. And one copy to: Aquarticles.com 4342 Capilano Road, North Vancouver. British Columbia. V7R-4J7 Canada. |
Breeding Neolamprologus brichardi by Beta Mahatvaraj I started keeping fishes at a pretty young age but I never realised that I would become serious about it till I kept my first cichlid (other than angels), about 10 years back. My first cichlid as most of you would guess was the convict cichlid (The shopkeeper called it 'sickled fighter' probably meant cichlid fighter???) Since then I have been well and truly hooked on cichlids. Surprisingly Firemouths were the first cichlids that bred with me. I saw my first African cichlids (Maylandia lombardoi and Melanochromis auratus) at my friend's house who was an expert aquarist and had the biggest cichlids I have ever seen, even to date. The first question I asked when I saw them was "Are these marine fishes?" This started my African cichlids craze and I slowly began to collect some of my prized African 'chiclets' as they called them in the shops. Cichlids were not popular at that time because of their reputation for being aggressive. As I started doing rounds of the LFS around Chennai looking for them, I used to get strange looks when I mentioned cichlids!!! Southern India Aquarist were a good source for getting 'out of the ordinary fishes' and that's where I saw my first Tanganyikan cichlid, Neolamprologus brichardi, the 'Lyretail Cichlid'. The guy working there called it "blue eye pitchandi"!! I brought four of them home.
I had no knowledge of Tanganyikan cichlids at that time. I used a setup similar to what I used to breed my Kribensis in, a 75 litre tank with Vallisneria and couple of small earthen pots. Within two months I had two pairs and around 50 babies in all!! They behaved a little differently than the other cichlids that I had bred before. The babies didn't seem to form any groups; they just wandered around the tank and the parents seemed to ignore them most of the time. Another strange behaviour is that the older brichardi juveniles actually take care of the younger ones and I have never seen any signs of cannibalism. Soon a female of one the pairs was killed by its mate. Some time later I started getting interested in Central American cichlids so I gave away my brichardis to a friend. It's probably a year back that I decided to start collecting Tanganyikan cichlids again, and of course my first choice was the brichardis, but they seemed to have completely disappeared from the hobby. After a long search I finally managed to get my hands on six of them. Within a month I had a pair and I moved them to a 2x1x1.25 tank filled with slate stones and a couple of pots. Soon enough I had brichardi fry. Right now I have another batch of fry happily living along with their older siblings.
There are a few pointers you could follow, if you are planning to breed them: Firstly, get at least six juveniles and grow them up to get pairs. They are not really community fishes in my opinion, they are aggressive and will also take over the whole tank once they start breeding. Buying just two of them would usually end in one of the fish getting killed. Provide them at least a 100 litre species tank with lots of cover as they are pretty rough with each other and the females might also need a place to hide from over eager suitors. There are no specific sex differences though usually males are larger and have longer streaming caudal fins. Signs of pairing can be noticed when two fishes take up a territory and defend them against intruders. Feeding live feed helps to bring the pair to breeding condition. Provide spawning mediums such as pots to lay their eggs. Once the pair has laid eggs they can be pretty secretive and rarely come out of the pots. Feed the fry with Artemia or microworms after they become free swimming, they can be weaned to powdered flakes in a couple of weeks too. There is an albino form of the brichardi which doesn't look too impressive in my opinion. There is also a wild variant called as the 'Daffodil' which is quite attractive but not very common. As a final note I can also assure that planted tank lovers can safely accommodate them in their planted tanks too. I have never seen them dig or uproot plant roots if they are provided a cave. So enjoy keeping what was once known as 'The Princess of Burundi'. See also:
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