Today In The Fishroom~11/16/10 Managuense Macro
Gönderim Zamanı: 16 Kasım 2010 14:02
Here's the female...day four and she is standing watch over the fry.
For the most part from this angle they don't look much different than
yesterday...except that more are vibrating their tails.
From below they are looking more like little fish. The dark line of what must be their internal organs developing is more apparent. This picture was taken in a larger cluster.
On the perimeter you can see that the fish are actually "getting some air". The fry's wild flailing is no longer while flat on the glass...but are actually tail up and giving their body a test drive toward the bottom of the tank.
Even closer you can see the small indentation in their eye...which is apparently further developing. What I don't know is if the black spot is the entire eye or if it's the socket and indentation is the actual eye.
If you look closely you see some of the tiny mouths starting to grow.
Hopefully I will be able to get them as they start to lift off and swim.
Day five for the fry. At this point they are starting to look like little fish. You can clearly see the eyes, the tiny yolk sacs are starting to get smaller. From an action standpoint, the fish are starting to move around the bottom of the tank...and forming tiny little clusters of fry like above.
One thing I noticed is that there are small piles of what I can only imagine it waste among all of the fry. Possibly they are starting to excrete the waste? It's not from the parents...and there's a lot of it.
And a quick look at things to come...the parents. Interesting that something so simple and small can become something this big and beautiful
Poppa!
Two shots of the F0 managuense from Honduras. One of the most interesting aspects of breeding CA cichlids is, of course, care of their fry. Once the fry are hatched they are moved to another location and guarded by both male and female. In general the female remains at the location and the male is on perimeter patrol. The female is careful to place a small amount of gravel at the lip of the pot. My assumption is that it makes a barrier that helps keep the wigglers in place. You can see this makeshift barrier in the photo below.
Once the fry are free swimming the male and female work in unison to keep them safe and together. I've noted that right around this time the female will become more aggressive...even toward her mate. In the past I used to remove all of the fry to a grow out tank...or simply to feed to other fish. With the aggression levels high, I believe taking out all of the fry is a mistake...for two reasons. First is that the aggression could cause one or the other mate to "flip out" an cause damage to the other...one of the main reasons I keep a divider up. The divider has an escape route for the female in case the male goes crazy...and I can close the "door" in the divider if she's the nutcase.
Second is that I think by leaving a small amount of fry in the tank it helps strengthen the pair bond and successful future spawns. If you think about it, this more closely represents what happens in the wild...with pair of large cichlids loosing fry to natural predation. Here's the male swimming with some of the fry (their first real swimming excursion).
From below they are looking more like little fish. The dark line of what must be their internal organs developing is more apparent. This picture was taken in a larger cluster.
On the perimeter you can see that the fish are actually "getting some air". The fry's wild flailing is no longer while flat on the glass...but are actually tail up and giving their body a test drive toward the bottom of the tank.
Even closer you can see the small indentation in their eye...which is apparently further developing. What I don't know is if the black spot is the entire eye or if it's the socket and indentation is the actual eye.
If you look closely you see some of the tiny mouths starting to grow.
Hopefully I will be able to get them as they start to lift off and swim.
Day five for the fry. At this point they are starting to look like little fish. You can clearly see the eyes, the tiny yolk sacs are starting to get smaller. From an action standpoint, the fish are starting to move around the bottom of the tank...and forming tiny little clusters of fry like above.
One thing I noticed is that there are small piles of what I can only imagine it waste among all of the fry. Possibly they are starting to excrete the waste? It's not from the parents...and there's a lot of it.
And a quick look at things to come...the parents. Interesting that something so simple and small can become something this big and beautiful
Poppa!
Two shots of the F0 managuense from Honduras. One of the most interesting aspects of breeding CA cichlids is, of course, care of their fry. Once the fry are hatched they are moved to another location and guarded by both male and female. In general the female remains at the location and the male is on perimeter patrol. The female is careful to place a small amount of gravel at the lip of the pot. My assumption is that it makes a barrier that helps keep the wigglers in place. You can see this makeshift barrier in the photo below.
Once the fry are free swimming the male and female work in unison to keep them safe and together. I've noted that right around this time the female will become more aggressive...even toward her mate. In the past I used to remove all of the fry to a grow out tank...or simply to feed to other fish. With the aggression levels high, I believe taking out all of the fry is a mistake...for two reasons. First is that the aggression could cause one or the other mate to "flip out" an cause damage to the other...one of the main reasons I keep a divider up. The divider has an escape route for the female in case the male goes crazy...and I can close the "door" in the divider if she's the nutcase.
Second is that I think by leaving a small amount of fry in the tank it helps strengthen the pair bond and successful future spawns. If you think about it, this more closely represents what happens in the wild...with pair of large cichlids loosing fry to natural predation. Here's the male swimming with some of the fry (their first real swimming excursion).
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Gönderim Zamanı: 16 Kasım 2010 21:09
Thank you, one of my very favorite species. These photos are incredible. Can we use them in the fish profiles ?
Amazônia 2010-11-16 21:53:11
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Gönderim Zamanı: 17 Kasım 2010 00:04
İts amazing, thank you Mo.. Excellent macro photos
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Gönderim Zamanı: 17 Kasım 2010 00:27
Very nice pictures, documentary flavor macro files, and a pair of gorgeous pups mr.devlin.
Regards
Regards
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Gönderim Zamanı: 17 Kasım 2010 04:33
I'm glad that you all like the pictures. This is one of my favorite species of Central American cichlids. I only wish I could send some to all of my friends in Turkey.;)
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Gönderim Zamanı: 17 Kasım 2010 20:01
Shipping from US to Turkey is too difficult. Its so nice you think about us. Never mind, but if you send im writing my adress)
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Gönderim Zamanı: 19 Kasım 2010 20:00
Great photos mo.My favourite American Cichlid is Jaguar.
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Gönderim Zamanı: 19 Kasım 2010 22:59
Very happy to have you master the beautiful images.
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