Cichlid mating season?

[bmxboy119]

I went the entire 2003 year w/o any pregnancys..... Then about 3 weeks ago both of my female electric blue haps. got pregnant then a week ago my yellow lab. was holding. Any scientific meaning of this or was it by luck. O yea and how long should I keep my yellow lab. in the tank?

[aharris]

It may just be that conditions in your tank were finally right for them to hold. They have to have the right water quality and enough food to build up a maintain themselves and young during holding, and that's without even mentioning the nutrient investment in making eggs in the first place.

For many fish, the requirements will be similar. In my tank for example, all of my Cyprichromis females are now holding after a dry spell of about three months.

There is also a certain amount of pheromones that fish give off during the "act." These pheromones might have triggered your other females to get in the family way. I do know that the going theory on spawning some synnos (especially cuckoo species like S. multipunctatus) is that they are triggered to spawn by the spawning activity and pheromones of other fish in the tank.