Would you happen to know Afr. Cic. breeding habits? I think my bumblebee
cichlid is preparing to fry.
 Spec. Questions;
  1. Isolation?
  2. Special diet(I currently feed Tetra/Terrafauna cichlid pellets and
       freeze dried tubifex worms)?
  3. Do they nest?
  4 Should I add plants for hiding places?
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Ben Browning
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FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 229 AQUARIUMS     Ref: E4US1299 Date: 04/25/97
From: MICHAEL PERRY                                         Time: 11:21pm
\/To: BEN BROWNING                                        (Read 2 times)
Subj: R: African cichlids

>Would you happen to know Afr. Cic. breeding habits? I think my bumblebee
>cichlid is preparing to fry.
> Spec. Questions;
>  1. Isolation?
>  2. Special diet(I currently feed Tetra/Terrafauna cichlid pellets and
>       freeze dried tubifex worms)?
>  3. Do they nest?
>  4 Should I add plants for hiding places?
>Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
   Ben
        I have had at least 10 different species of African cichlids
        spawn in my tanks. You need a lot of rocks, a good filter
        system, and frequent water changes. The filter, and water
        changes are because they do the best when crowded in. I feed
        them flake food, and frozen brine shrimp three times a day. The
        ph is 7.4-7.6, and slightly hard. Temperature seems to be ox
        from 72-78 as long as it stays pretty much stable. You don't
        need any plants. That's about all that I can think of that's
        needed.

        The dominant males will pick out a place in the rocks that he
        will use for a nest. He will try to attract a female to it to
        breed. He will expand his fins, and swim next to her to
        attract her. They finnaly stop near the bottom right next to
        each other. She lays her eggs by his anal fin, and then grabs
        them in her mouth. When they are done, she will find a place out
        of the way, and safe. She will hold the eggs in her mouth, and
        later the hatched fry for about a total of 28 days. During this
        time, she may release them for a while, but they stay close, and
        will go back into her mouth whenever she signals them. Many
        times a good portion will survive if they are just left in the
        tank with all of the rocks to hide in. When I was selling the
        spawns, I would catch the females with the mouthfulls, and put
        them in their own tank until she would release the young for
        good. Then I would put her back in the large tank, and raise the
        young alone. Catching the female in a 125 gal tank full of rocks
        is the most difficult part.

        I hope that this helps, and I hope that my reply wasn't too
        long.
                          MIKE...........
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FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 229 AQUARIUMS     Ref: E4U00001 Date: 04/24/97
From: RON MAGED                                             Time: 10:32pm
\/To: CHERYL SIMONYE                                      (Read 2 times)
Subj: Re: water temperature

CS> -> are calling from, but in Phoenix it gets pretty hot in my tank
CS> -> as well.  It's been 82-84 degrees the last few days.. without
CS> -> the heater or the light on!  I am worried I'll melt my fish..
CS> BR> That isn't too healthy for the fish.  THe part that I would be 
orried
CS> BR> about is the inconsistency in the temperature.  With fish being
CS> BR> cold blooded animals, the changes in temperature isn't too good.  To
CS> BR> answer your question, if they are tropical freshwater, then the water
CS> BR> will start to harm them at 89 degrees (somewhere around that)  They
CS> BR> will survive in 82-84, but the stress will shorten their lives.  Keep
CS> BR> the tank away from windows and sunlight, and, if you haven't already,
CS> BR> switch to flouresent tubes.  Gotta jet
CS>    Thanks for your advice!  I rarely have the light on.. not sure
CS>    what kind of bulb is in there now.. and it is near a window, but
CS>    I keep the blinds closed to keep the sunlight out of the tank.
CS>    And STILL it is 84 degrees in there!  The heater is off!  I
CS>    can't understand why it is so warm in there.  Yesterday I tried
CS>    floating bags of ice, and they both melted within a half hour or
CS>    so..  I bet that is why I just lost another fish!
Cheryl, you know I have a 55gal tank and it's well stocked. In Phoenix,
the average Ph in the water is 8.0 and that is what most fish stores
keep them at. I only use Stress Coat and sea salt in my tank and do a
30% water change bi-monthly. Most of my fish have survived 5 years and
really never had the problems you had had. As a matter of fact, my
downstairs neighbor had just bought a tank a few months ago and asked my
advise, and his tank is up and running and no fish loss to boot. As far
as water temperature, my tank is at 78-81 degrees most of the time,
being that Phoenix is known for their 100+ temperatures around this time
of year, air conditioned rooms are what keep the tempature down to the
proper levels. Good luck..you also have my home number for any
questions. :)
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