My pulchers bred... Need help

[Manafel]

I looked at my 210 gallon just now for feeding, and noticed that one of my neolamprologus pulchers was looking a little beat up. Upon closer inspection, they seem to have bred. I'm not holding my breath on the fry surviving as they are in the tank with 10 frontosa, but is it normal for the female to look more beat up? I have heard of some species letting the fry eat the slime coat of the parents, is that what's going on?

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[wesleydnunder]

I kept a breeding colony of n. Pulchers for several years. I never noticed injuries from spawning behavior. It's possible that the injured fish has been defending eggs/fry from the larger fish and that's what caused the damage. These fish have a very interesting breeding strategy. As the fry grow into juveniles, they stay with the parents and help defend the next batch of fry. Eventually you can wind up with several generations living communally.

Mark

 

[Manafel]

I kept a breeding colony of n. Pulchers for several years. I never noticed injuries from spawning behavior. It's possible that the injured fish has been defending eggs/fry from the larger fish and that's what caused the damage. These fish have a very interesting breeding strategy. As the fry grow into juveniles, they stay with the parents and help defend the next batch of fry. Eventually you can wind up with several generations living communally.

Mark

Hi Mark,

I think I found out what the injuries are from. in the picture you can see a small part of a piece of slate that is laying flat on the sand. the parents dug under that piece of slate, and I think the female is scraping herself on it every time she goes in and out. I will need to make sure that I keep the water clean so she stays healthy. How many fry do you think will survive in the 210 with 10 4-8" frontosa? right now the mom seems to be doing a good job of fending the fronts off from the area, but they chose to breed in the highest trafficked area in the whole tank.

Thank you,

Kayla

 

[wesleydnunder]

No way to estimate how many of a given brood will survive in a tank full of predators. The parents are typically pretty vigilant and the fry are smart little guys so you may be surprised how many make it.

Mark