Neolamprologus brichardi offspring / Does Synodontis petricola show cuckoo behavior?
The Neolamprologus brichardi in my Lake Tanganyika tank (200 liters/44 US gal.) have reproduced. The parents have shared the fry among them, and each of them guards a little shoal. Do I have to feed something special? What do the fry eat? Can they also eat normal flakes? Can I leave everything unchanged, or will the fry be eaten otherwise? The tank is stocked with: 3 Synodontis petricola, 2 Lamprologus signatus, 3 Neolamprologus brichardi and, since today, many baby fish ... Should I take the catfish out or not? The cichlid parents defend their caves rather strongly. I hope that some of the babies survive, I then want to sell most of them and keep a few. How many N. brichardi can I keep in a tank of this size at the maximum? I want to leave the fish stock unchanged otherwise, possibly I would like to add a pair of another shell dwelling cichlid species and/or some S. petricola later on. I would like to know whether the latter ones show cuckoo breeding behavior or not? I actually foung both answers. If they show cuckoo breeding behavior I would also like to add a pair of mouthbreeders, which smaller mouthbreeders were suitable, or are any suitable at all?
Hello,
Concerning "feeding fry":
The fry can soon get the "entirely normal" food - small particles are of course easier to eat. sera Vipagran Baby is particularly well suited.
Concerning "fish stock":
Just leave the catfish in the tank - even if it sounds hard: a certain reduction of fry numbers is not too bad. N. brichardi is unbelievably productive, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to find aquarists who take the fry, because the species is not that sought-after anymore.
Concerning "number of N. brichardi":
You can keep one to two adult pairs in the tank, plus the fry that they still tolerate.
Concerning"cuckoo behavior":
Synodontis petricola does not show cuckoo behavior; they are most likely confused with S. grandiops (formerly S. multipunctatus, still mostly sold under this name) in according reports.
Best regards
sera GmbH
Dr. Bodo Schnell