By Nyon Steede, BFAS
While at the 2000 ACA Convention, I purchased four three-spot “trimac”
cichlids. I told the seller that I wanted two males and two females. I was told
that these cichlids were easy to sex due to size and was given two 1_ inch “males”
and two _ inch “females.” I enquired about some of the basic information
that I felt was pertinent to keeping fish I have never kept before. Some of
the information that was offered was that these fish will reach 12 inches, will
spawn at about 3 to 4 inches and will eat anything.
When I returned home, I put what I was told was a male and a female into a 20
long, the other male into a 10 gallon to raise as a possible show fish and the
other female into my fathers 75 gallon due to lack of tank space. After months
of 50% water changes and feeding a varied diet (Can O’ Worms, Can O’
Crickets, Cichlid pallets and flake) they reached the required spawning size.
I put some slate into the tank to give the fish a surface to spawn on. One day
I returned home to find about 200 to 300 eggs on the slate. Anyone that has
spawned a new fish can imagine how excited I was as I eagerly anticipated the
eggs to hatch. When the eggs turned white and fungus appeared, I realized that
I committed the breeders cardinal sin of counting my fry before they hatched.
After the same thing happened a second time I consulted one of a fish hobbyist
best resource, the Baenschs’ Aquarium Atlas’s. I found what I was
looking for in the second edition (pg.882). I discovered that the “trimac”
was easy to sex at a young age like the seller said, but the method he used
was not a all accurate. The way to differentiate between the sexes is to look
at the dorsal fin. On the front dorsal of the female the first few rays are
black which does not appear on the male. I immediately went to my 20-gallon
tank to look at the dorsal of the two fish and discovered that I had two females.
I checked the fish that I had in the 10 gallon and it had the black rays on
the front of the dorsal, another female. I had only one chance for a male, the
“trimac” that I put in my fathers 75. The next day I went to assess
the sexual identity of the last unsexed fish and to my relief it was a male.
So I exchanged one of the females for the male.
I finally had a male and female together in the 20 long and was ready for the
breeding to begin. It indicated in the Aquarium Atlas that these fish are one
of the most aggressive cichlids toward each other. As a result, if you wish
to obtain a breeding pair it is best to get a young group (1 inch) of about
six to eight and let them pair off themselves. Well, I was already at a disadvantage
due to the size of my fish (4 _ inches) that I was trying to get breed. They
had not formed the pair bond and were being forced to pair up. I guess it was
like the old arranged marriages; they were unfamiliar with each other and not
compatible. Of course being the male he was he wanted to spawn anyway and the
female was not interested. Needless to say it resulted in a case of domestic
violence, with the male beating the crap out of the female. I put a divider
in the tank with an inch gap from the bottom in the hope that they would spawn
under the divider and to let the female heal from the brutal attack.
After the female healed from the physical and emotional scars, she laid some
eggs. In the true nature of a female she laid them at the farthest spot from
the divider (this could possibly be viewed as pay back to torture the male)
and the eggs were never fertilized.
I spoke to a guess speaker that visited the club (Judy Daniel) that breeds Discus
to get some advise to resolve my breeding problems. She suggested that I put
them in a bigger tank and to let the male choose the female that he wants to
spawn with. I went back to my fathers’ house and got the female that I
had exchanged the male with. The next day I went about setting up my 45 to house
the male and two females. I outfitted the 45 with fine gravel and a variety
of breeding material (slate, decorative wood, PVC and flower pots) that provided
numerous hiding places for the females. After a few weeks it was apparent which
female the male chose, as the other female was being bashed and was hiding a
lot. I took the beaten female and put in my fathers 75. The other female was
swimming around and holding her own. Finally I had a suitably pair.
I left for the 2001 ACA a day later hoping that the pair would be fine until
I return. I returned on a Monday (with fish) to find the pair in good shape.
On the Wednesday after our fish club meeting I returned home to witness the
female in full spawning dress of thick, black vertical bars, dark fins, and
sporting a dark red throat section in the middle of laying eggs and saw the
male fertilizing them. The male retained his normal color. Approximately 300
eggs were laid (considered to be moderate to the 1000 eggs they can lay) on
the slate that is attached to the bottom of the decorative wood. After the female
finished laying the eggs, the male became even more aggressive due to his protective
instinct. “Both parents intensively care for and guide the young,”
according to Aquarium Atlas (2), Günther, 1866. I think that because there
were no other fish in the tank for the male to fend off, he turned his aggression
on the female.
I brought a target fish (a tinfoil barb) to redirect the male’s aggression
from the female. This did not work, as the male protected the fry from the target
fish and the female. Since the male was so aggressive in his protection, the
female was unable to eat and had to be removed. Upon removal of the female,
the male took on the spawning dress of the female. After three days the eggs
hatched and the fry was free swimming in another four. I removed the target
fish not wanting to loose any fry. The male did an excellent job in rearing
the fry, which were feed newly hatched brine shrimp three times a day.
Nothing special was done in regard to water conditions. The water was straight
from the tap with no additives and the water temperature was in the low 80’s.
I am to the point that I do not even use carbon. I found that it is not necessary
if you do regular weekly water changes. The water chemistry to breed these fish
is secondary to water quality and varied food. I have found the trimaculatus
to be a very hardy fish and are easy to spawn when you give them the right situations
and acquire fish of the correct sex.
I had between 150 and 200 fry and the male did an excellent job as a single
parent. At night I left the tank light on so that the male can see the fry.
I was worried that if the male could not see the fry that he would eat them
by mistake. I darkened the tank by placing foil paper under the light fixture.
If you have a nightlight, you can place it next to the tank instead of leaving
the tank light on. I took the male out after the fourth day of free swimming
just to be on the safe side. With your first spawn, you do not want to leave
anything to chance.
Spawning a new fish is just as exciting as the first fish I ever spawned. If
you are trying to spawn a particular fish and are having no luck, persistence
and trying different things (sometimes that may be contrary to what the books
say) might be answer. Dr. Wayne S. Leibel said in his 2001 ACA lecture on Breeding
“Impossible” South American Cichlids, “When everything that
you have tried (according to the books) fails, don’t be afraid to experiment.
Experiment with different water temperature, chemistry and even water levels.
Some people use a bare tank to breed in due to easy cleaning, but sometimes
you need to have some junk (PVC, pots, driftwood and gravel) in the tank.