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Just noticed my Rainbow pair with hundreds of fry! Never had rainbows before these (three weeks in tank now) and was wondering if anyone has experience with their fry upbringing. I've bred kribensis, convicts and severums in the past if their breeding/rearing habits are similar to those. Your time and help is appreicated.

Yep, my rainbow cichlids have bred several times, they lay on anything solid that can be cleaned, and raise fry in shallow dug pits much like many ypical SA , CA cichlids, and the only problem Ive found with them is that they will eat fry is overly disturbed, aside from that , raising the fry is simple enough, nothing too challenging compared to the others you have bred. I think rainbow cichlid fry will take more algae as youngsters than most baby cichlids, aside from that,m everything is the same, safe firstffods like liquifry and infusoria, , decapsulated brinshrimp cysts, plus the parents gentle nature usually means fry are tolerated a long time, making for a gentle,easy, and thorough upbringing. Have noticed the fry survival isnt great about ph 7.5, but aside from that, nothing to it.

Keep the food microscopic until about week 3-4 when they will start taking the granulated foods, and crushed cichlid pellets, crushed hikari algae wafer etc, and about week 6 the first bloodworm and adult brineshrimp can start going in. They grow quickly if fed properly, much like acaras do.

A useful resource from someone who has collected these fishes in the wild as well as bred them is this page from The Cichlid Room website. Even back in the 1970s, Herotilapia multispinosa was regarded as an excellent first choice of medium Cichlid for the newcomer to the Family, but if you read that article, you'll discover that they do have some interesting little quirks to take account of.

Needless to say, Dr Paul Loiselle has been in the Cichlid game for longer than he cares to admit age wise. He and Juan Miguel Artigas Azas are probably among the foremost Meosamerican Cichlid specialists around, so the information they provide is usually of excellent quality.


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Nice article , though I will diverge in thinking on the survival rates for fry. Much as with my blue acaras, a good deal of my time was spent finding homes for many , many fry. Average survival rates for me were 80-90%, and parental care extended quite happily to nearly three months for both species. Then again I have a policy on cichlids, other fish get rempoved to other aquaria, but the cichlids and fry stay where they are, thusly they get a huge tank, lots of natural fauna for that essential first fortnight when maximum nutrient availability is paramount importance in defining the survival rates later.

The rather small and spartan nature of many breeder setups in conjunction with the water changes that must occur to control nitrate is what really kills the fry off, and under good nutrient availability fry sizes are consistant, with all fry apart from a handful of stragglers keeping within 20% or so of each others average mass. If you can have water volume enough, algae and mosses enough, and enough filtration to avoid water perameter spikes the fry survival rate IMHO could be expected to stay at around 80% plus. Its established breeder practises that kill fry, you have to be setup with maturity and volume, then, and only then, the fry will do very well.

IMHO there is no major genetic perogative for low fry survival, or a real prediliction to cannibalism in this species. Such occurances are entirely the result of the inept raising conditions so traditionaly used by established fishkeepers. Much as with the acaras I also find the fish of over a year in age give faster hatching, superior quality fry, with much less vulnerability to saprolegnia as eggs, often with the fry effectively beating fungi in the growth race to leave the egg before being consumed, often in less than 72 hours.

I think fry food nutritional quality has increased too, as has the quality of cichlid pellets that my pair too will masticate for fry. I'm convinced it makes a world of difference. Whats described to me in that article as typical is actually classic pattern behaviour that results from aquarium undersizing and associated necessary water changes, and lack of an effective microfauna provision, and a lacking feeding regime. Quite a few species of cichlids will show that reaction under such circumstances.

Its also the reason there are some lousy quality angels, severums, discus and acara out there. Factory farming and small tanksizes during breeding and near sterile conditions with OTT water changes suit presicely none of them. Maturity, in both aquarium and fish is the key, as is a setup that handles bioload well enough to not increase nitrate by more than 3-5 ppm per week for the first two weeks. Starting from not more than 5ppm is the clincher.

Think about the pit digging behaviour, its not just about control and corralling of the fry , or never more than one would ever be dug. Its about crop rotation too. When you see acaras for instance masticating and spitting food at the nestsite prior to the birth of fry, its about seeding aufwuchs and infusoria. Even they know it takes a day or two. I'll shoot you some video next time they breed, youll see what I mean, its not coincidental behaviour. The real job of the breeder is to find a way that allows the cichlid to do their thing, and the secret to that is well planned flow, and volume, and correct safe overfiltration to combat condition suitable for saprolegnia without resorting to water changes in that essential first fortnight, or risking malnutrition from an overly clean aquarium.

The world fry are born into matters a great deal. Often the fishkeeper plays catchup after a spawn has taken place, but results are always much better if the event is planned for in advance.

Brilliant - thanks a lot for the advice given by both of you. I wasn't expecting a brood so soon and now that they are here, its fascinating to watch. They are keeping the other fish at bay with little aggression and being in a 60" x 24" x 18" tank, its still plenty of room for them to escort the fry around whilst not hemming the other fish into one place. Have noticed some 'mouth brooding' going on too - parents sucking in fry and spitting out again. Wasn't aware of this in SA cichlids so its another bonus!

Thats washing the fry, acaras do it too, when not simply just recollecting straying fry back to the raising pit, they suck them in check em for health and spit em out. If a fry is a bit dodgy or looks weak after being spat out you might find the parent swallows it. A lot of cichlids will cull unhealthy fry, its not just a one off thing where they kill a whole batch, they will pick te odd one off too if they dont consider it up to scratch. Culling seems to be an ongoing process, especially in the older more mature parent pairs.

They watch each other if one starts doing it excessively too. Humbug kicked bee off the brood for getting excessive once, and he was right too, they were healthy .

Daddy doesnt like it when mummy gets a bit slappy with the kids.

yup mine do that too,they are truley a amazing fish,probly 1 of my favs

They are certainly rivalling cons as my favourite SA thats for sure. I stumbled across them as companions for my group of uaru and have to say I wouldn't swap them for anything now. Thought they had a great temperment for a cichlid but even now that they are guarding fry, they are still keeping it relatively calm (except when my pleco gets too close!)

Bad news - got up this morning to find both Rainbows swimming around tank, minus fry. Searched everywhere and it seems either they have (or something else) has eaten the brood! Any ideas why this might be the case so soon?

Secretive breeder.Even the presence of the keeper can set them off, sometimes worth taping newspaper over the front of the aquarium when you see eggs. Plus if its the first brood it often doesnt go well, consider it a practise run. Probably wont eat them next time round.

Cheers. Had that happen first time I bred kribs but it took longer than a week.... anyway, thanks for the advice