Breeding in General
 Breeding
in an aquarium is considered by most to be the ultimate goal in fish keeping. If
your fish are breeding, then you must be doing something correctly. For most
species of fish, the proper environment must be provided for the pair to produce
offspring. A combination of the correct foods, temperatures, and water chemistry
are essential. On this page I'll attempt to provide you with what I have learned
in respect to breeding the parrot cichlid.
Can Parrot Cichlids Produce Offspring?
Until recently, it has been though that Parrot Cichlids could not breed
because the male was sterile. The pair go through the normal courtship but the
eggs would never hatch. There has been rumors lately, that the fish farms are
now introducing males that ARE able to fertilize the eggs. They are doing this
by injecting them with a hormone that makes them fertile.
If you are the owner of a Bubblegum or Jellybean parrot I would refer to the
breeding habits of convicts also. Although they will breed in a similar manner
to the true parrot cichlids, they are half convict so a little investigation on
your part is in order. There has been many reported cases of these types raising
fry. These are easy fish to breed if the right conditions are present. Since
this page is dedicated mostly to the true parrot cichlid, I am not going to go
into any further detail on the jellybeans and the bubble gums.
Sexing
As with some other species, it's difficult to tell the difference between
males and the females unless they are about to spawn. Because there is so many
variations in the types of parrots, it's almost impossible to distinguish the
sexes by finnage or coloration.
When I first got my parrots, I thought I could sex them by the anal and dorsal
fins being pointed on males and rounded on the females. I have found this to be
untrue. I assumed that our largest fish was a male, since the female he had
paired up with had rounded fins and he had pointed. However, the male has since
left this female and paired up with a new one and they have dug a hole and are
guarding it. The female he's with now has pointed, not rounded anal and dorsal
fins. Rounded fins can indicate a female, but pointed fins do not necessarily
indicate male. Confusing huh? I thought so.
One way to identify the male is when he pairs up and is ready to breed, he will
get pinkish coloration on his throat and behind his gill cover. This the best
indication of male I have found thus far. In general, males are also larger than
females. Identifying the females is almost impossible until her egg tube is
showing during pre-spawn.
Propagating Spawning in the Aquarium
Conditions must be right in the aquarium for you parrot cichlids to spawn, and even then, it's not guaranteed that after the female lays eggs they will hatch. I've heard of several ways to encourage Spawning. They are as follows:
Raise the temperature in the tank 2-3º (do not exceed 84º)
Do a 10-15% water change using R/O or distilled water
Feed Live brine shrimp a couple times a week
PH for spawning should be no higher than 7.2. Optimally you should shoot for a 6.6-6.8 PH. Anything higher than 7.2 the birth rate will be low to nonexistent, because the covering on the egg will become to "tough" due to excess calcium in the water and the sperm will not be able to penetrate the egg to fertilize it. At an excessively low PH, the acidic water will damage the sperm and suffer the same fertilization problems. PH should me monitored closely and never changed more than .2 in a 24 hour period or you risk stressing your fish.
Spawning Characteristics
It is pretty easy to recognize spawning behavior. Two fish will pair up and
spend allot of time together. You will notice the male doing what I call
"The Sex Dance". He will move up to the female, turn his body sideways
and shimmy his body making rapid tail and fin movements. This behavior can go on
for days. Eventually they will build some sort of nest, usually a pit in the
substrate under a rock or driftwood. They will then defend the area from other
fish in the tank. In my case, the male seems to do most of the digging while the
female defends the area. I'm thinking roles will reverse once the female lays
eggs. I'll keep you posted.
UPDATE: My female laid eggs and the
roles did indeed reverse. The female is guarding the eggs in the cave and
doesn't come out unless she wants to eat. The male has been guarding the area
around their cave. (Which he thinks is 3/4 of the 65 gallon tank.) He will
occasionally join the female in the cave, but she will nudge him out after a few
minutes.
Parrot Cichlids are substrate-spawners, meaning that they lay their eggs
on the ground or on a hard surface like the leaf of a plant or on driftwood.
Eggs that are not fertilized will turn white with fungus. It's the job of the
parents to eat the fungused eggs so it does not spread to the fertilized eggs.
It's a common occurrence for all the eggs to be eaten because most males are
sterile and the eggs are never fertilized.
Parental care then consists of guarding the eggs, fanning them to provide
oxygenated water, then caring for the hatchlings (called wrigglers) which
eventually become free swimming fry. Parrot cichlids are often devoted parents
and the length of parental care may extend for weeks or even months. They are
biparental, meaning both parents take care of the fry, though their exact roles
may vary. In some South American species, there is a mixture of substrate
spawning and mouth brooding. We call these delayed mouth brooders: they lay the
eggs on the substrate, guard them for a while, and then pick up the young and
mouth brood them. This is exactly what Parrot Cichlids do.
Caring for the Fry
Once the fry have hatched, you should leave them with the parents. If
possible, removing the tank mates will reduce stress on the parents and allow
more of the fry to develop. The fry will feed on their attached yolk sacks for
about two days, then you will needs to provide them newly hatched brine shrimp.
These can be purchased at most fish stores. After you notice the parents are no
longer tending to the fry, you should remove the fry from the tank and put them
in a 10 gallon aquarium to finish raising them. If you do not remove the fry,
most of them will get eaten when parents are ready to spawn again.
Hatching the Eggs and Raising the Fry Yourself
This article was posted by Christine on the message forum, it was so
informative I felt I had to include it on this page.
Thanks Christine!
An easy an safe way to transfer eggs is with a regular turkey baster. So now
you won't have to worry about where they lay them:) For the entire process I
have three different sized droppers. One baster, one med size (a childrens
medicine dropper) and one that is very small and narrow (drug store find) to
where only one or two eggs can pass through at a time. After the fist 24 hours
any unfertilized eggs will turn white which are very noticeable. You'll want to
remove these immediately to prevent the fungus from spreading. This is where the
med sized dropper helps. After the first 24-36 hours you'll notice some tissues
surrounding a few of the eggs. This is what keeps the eggs stuck together and to
the surface of an object. You'll want to remove this or the eggs will clump
together making it hard for them to survive hatching, and bad egg removal. I
used the turkey baster sucked the clumped eggs out and gently released the in a
small clear cup. Then I would carefully clean them under a bright light using
the small dropper and very sharp narrow tweezers to grab the tissue. Since I
have never seen parrot fry I don't know what size their yolk sac is. At first
the fry might look like a little worm with a yellow bubble on their stomach. The
yellow bubble will be their primary food source for the first 3-5 days. You will
see it shrink as it's being used.
If there isn't one you will have to start feeding right away. You will need to
feed them freshly hatched brine shrimp for as long as possible. At the very
least two weeks. The worst part is the brine shrimp lose all of their nutrients
after 6 hours. So you will need to buy a hatchery or set up several aerated
jars. The temp will determine how fast they hatch. 80degrees=25-30 hours,
75degrees=36hrs+ San Francisco bay brand seems to have the smallest eggs. Which
may be best considering the parrots mouths. I sucked the free swimming shrimp
out with the turkey baster and sprayed it over a net with a black nylon stocking
over it, then rinsed it with tank water to remove the salt. I've been told the
fry may be reluctant to eat if the salt isn't rinsed off. After two weeks you
can try feeding Nutrafin fry food. I had excellent results using this.
Ok, once your fry are all free swimming in the jar after about a week they can
be released into the grow out tank. I've found the longer you wait the better,
even two weeks is fine. If you release them too soon the won't be strong enough
to withstand the bigger tank, or get enough food and many will die.
Water changes are very important. This will insure your fish are developing
correctly. Change 25-50% of the water in the jar every day. It's recommended
25-50% of the tank water also. I think this might be a little harsh for the grow
out tank, I feel changes should be regulated to the amount of fry and how much
your feeding. Some may disagree but I've found too many large water changes
cause undue stress and a higher losses. Always siphon out any left over food
immediately with an air hose. Literally use your hand and wipe the inside of
glass clean to rid any bacteria accumulating on the sides. (you'll feel slimy
build up) There should be nothing in the tank but an air stone and sponge
filter. I've always kept the tank at 80 degrees to keep their metabolism running
high for faster growth rates. You should place an extra sponge in your main tank
and set up a fry tank now to avoid any cycling problems. A friend told me his
parrots will lay eggs every two weeks if the eggs are removed and five or more
weeks if they a left with the parents. He has successfully been raising fry from
true parrots for three years. His fry were chubby and pink and their size and
shape varied.
Thank You to Brent for allowing us to use this info from his page. For
more info on the Parrot Please see Brents page at The
Parrot cichlid page
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