Sunday, February 26, 2006
THE COMING OF THE CICHLIDS
Streaming video of my new cichlids. After five weeks, Little Malawi is established. A couple of days ago, I brought home three beautiful Melanochromis maingano, one male and three females. They immediately took to the towering caves, where they like to lurk out of view of the bright clear waters in the foreground. At 3-4 inches, they're the biggest fish I've ever created homes for.
I'm so happy that I followed common advice regarding the cichlid's power and enthusiasm for digging in the sand. If I had not epoxied all the large rocks in the cave tower and settled their bases deeply in the sand, the entire landscape would have fallen within 24 hours of these cichlids' arrival. They are relentless in their attacks on the sandy substrate. This worried me at first. I thought that not even my carefully secured structures would survive, but everything is holding together wonderfully. Some of the smaller round rocks I used in the foreground have disappeared under whole new dunes.
I was lucky enough to capture on video the reason for all this digging activity: spawning.
My tank differs dramatically from the tank in which Justin of Ocean Aquarium cultivated them. My water is significantly harder and more alkaline (acclimating the cichilds with a drip system took over two hours), in keeping with Lake Malawi conditions. My tank also offers much more variety in the landscape, more places for territorial respite. All factors that contribute to a spawning.
You'll notice in the video that the female is basically relocating a 2"-3" parcel of sand -- with her mouth! She creates a deep pocket between rocks. Notice toward the end of the video that while in the hole, she uses the power of her tail to shovel out a large wave of sand, causing small rocks in the foreground to collapse.
A day after I took this video, the male moved into the sand burrow and, I can only assume, spent the several seconds needed to fertilize eggs the digging cichlid had laid. Fascinating stuff! And all visible, front and center, mere feet from where I am typing.
I'm so happy that I followed common advice regarding the cichlid's power and enthusiasm for digging in the sand. If I had not epoxied all the large rocks in the cave tower and settled their bases deeply in the sand, the entire landscape would have fallen within 24 hours of these cichlids' arrival. They are relentless in their attacks on the sandy substrate. This worried me at first. I thought that not even my carefully secured structures would survive, but everything is holding together wonderfully. Some of the smaller round rocks I used in the foreground have disappeared under whole new dunes.
I was lucky enough to capture on video the reason for all this digging activity: spawning.
My tank differs dramatically from the tank in which Justin of Ocean Aquarium cultivated them. My water is significantly harder and more alkaline (acclimating the cichilds with a drip system took over two hours), in keeping with Lake Malawi conditions. My tank also offers much more variety in the landscape, more places for territorial respite. All factors that contribute to a spawning.
You'll notice in the video that the female is basically relocating a 2"-3" parcel of sand -- with her mouth! She creates a deep pocket between rocks. Notice toward the end of the video that while in the hole, she uses the power of her tail to shovel out a large wave of sand, causing small rocks in the foreground to collapse.
A day after I took this video, the male moved into the sand burrow and, I can only assume, spent the several seconds needed to fertilize eggs the digging cichlid had laid. Fascinating stuff! And all visible, front and center, mere feet from where I am typing.
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