G. steindachneri

[Reiner]

Has anyone else observed

there male holding eggs to full term and then holding the fry until they are big enough to be

released?
My male has been holding eggs for 2 weeks but still sifts through the sand all day

long. He has not eaten though for the past 2 weeks and I have observed him today that he let out

the fry and scooped them back up once I got to close to the tank. The female in the tank has held

eggs previously but this time it was just the male as far as I have observed. Everything I read

about them said that the female usually holds the eggs. Si is my male just unusual or has this

happened before.

The Tank is 80 gallon semi planted with sand substrate. The tank mates

are m / f steindachneri, female convict, female firemouth, leopard leaf fish and a bristlenose

pleco.

[fishmaven]

<!--quoteo

(post=3392:date=Dec 25 2006, 05:50 PM:name=Reiner)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Reiner

@ Dec 25 2006, 05:50 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=3392"><{POST_SNAPBACK}

></a></div><div class='quotemain'>...The Tank is 80 gallon semi planted with sand

substrate. The tank mates are m / f steindachneri, female convict, female firemouth, leopard leaf

fish and a bristlenose pleco.</div>
So far your thread has been

read multiple times with no response. Just guessing, no one so far considers themselves an expert

on this particular incident. I'm not either, but if I were still running a store and you were

my customer this would be my response.

I chopped the post to leave the only thing that

stands out to me. The inclusion of a f convict, a f firemouth and a leaf fish disturbs me. I

can't determine if you mean there's an additional pair of steindachneri also. Maybe the

male is the stronger of the pair and has assumed the role of protector from the various tankmates.

If this pair has bred in this tank under the same situation, growth of the substrate spawners and

the predator may have caused the change in behavior. Again, this is just a WAG, but it's based

on my experience. I've added fish like a f convict or f firemouth to a pair of fish where the

larger of the two was picking on the smaller as a target fish. As the target fish grew I had to

replace it due to aggression.

I do have a bound set of _The Sifter_ . (A

geophagus/aequidens study group pub from '93-'94) I'll look through it when I get a

chance. In the meantime, I'm sure now that I've ventured a guess someone else will chime

in. Dan

*** I moved this to the breeding section and changed the description thinking

you'd get a better response from members here. Unless someone is checking for NEW posts

sometimes things get lost in general areas.***

[Reiner]

Sorry I was not clear on the

whole tank mate situation. There is 1 pair of steindachneri and then the convict, firemouth and

leaf fish. They have been together for about a year now and the female has held 3 or 4 times before

but now this time the male was doing all the work.

[fishmaven]

<!--quoteo

(post=3399:date=Dec 27 2006, 09:59 AM:name=Reiner)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Reiner

@ Dec 27 2006, 09:59 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=3399"><{POST_SNAPBACK}

></a></div><div class='quotemain'>... There is 1 pair of steindachneri and then the

convict, firemouth and leaf fish.</div>

Unless I come up

with something from checking the pubs I'd have to stay with my first impression. Dan

[Reiner]

I posted it on

Mojo's site as well and somebody replied that he has kept the species many times and it has

happened to him once as well. So I guess it happens but probably not that often. I'll try to

find out what the tank mates were in his tank if any.

[Reiner]

ok, he answered and said

that the one time that has happened in his tank the pair were all by themselves without any

tankmates.

[fisher]

<!--quoteo(post=3409:date=Dec

28 2006, 10:51 AM:name=Reiner)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Reiner @ Dec 28 2006,

10:51 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> (index.php?act=findpost&pid=3409)</div><div

class='quotemain'>ok, he answered and said that the one time that has happened in

his tank the pair were all by themselves without any tankmates.</div><!--QuoteEEnd-

->I am no expert in the field as such but i may believe that fish like to colonise and destroy

other battlers for the same resources in which the pair may need to live happily and i believe that

is where the male comes into play and stands over all other fish to protect his new colony, which

eventually, if possible to rear more than enough fry to kill off the rest of its tank mates to

enable a survival percentage giving them domanance in the aquarium. Some cichlids do colonise and

wipe out others because of lack of resourses.