fishbites Posted February 3, 2011 Report Share Posted February 3, 2011 I thought that African cichlids always dug a crater and used is as a shelter to spawn in... till tonight.... I have a nicely coloured up male hongii that has enticed a female to spawn about 3 inches below the tank surface on top of a large anubias leaf! maybe it was because it was sheltered enough so the other fish wouldn't bother them but there's enough java moss and driftwood for them to get to hide and do their thing.... Has anyone else seen Africans doing something like this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah Posted February 4, 2011 Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 Well congrats on the spawn.. this is quite unusual though. I guess the plants were just bushy enough to spawn on.. couldn't be bothered to dig? :confused: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hood Posted February 4, 2011 Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 I have actually found quite often my mbuna like hongi's have dug down through the sand to reach the glass then once there they would do the dance in the crater.... I always wandered whether the smooth surface of the glass played a part too??? do you think possibly the leaf is a smooth enough surface to entice them to spawn on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbites Posted February 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 (edited) Well the leaf is at about a 10o down angle and has a shallow V shape across it where the lobes rise from the central rib.... its only about 2½ inches long and about 1½ across.... tucked in under another leaf that's just under the surface - just enough room for the fish to fit between..... the leaf surface is about 10" above the tank floor - has 2-3mm river gravel on the tank bottom (about 5-8mm thick) with a good sized portion of java moss and that's all - plenty of space round the base of the driftwood the anubias is anchored to but maybe he's just too damned lazy to dig! The leaf surface is shaped enough so that any eggs laid would fall into the V at the centre so maybe that was their thinking (or plain good luck) but the female ended up with quite a mouth full of eggs and then went back for more..... A mature female maingano was also hiding out in the anubias just behind where they were spawning so they really didn't care about anything else except this little leafy love nest!!! Edited February 4, 2011 by fishbites Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts