breeding surinamensis?

[phagus]

hi there all,
i have 4 geophagus surinamensis ( blackthroat larvophile), 3 males and 1 female.
anyway they have bred :lol: and the male is holding the eggs or fry.
does anyone know how long he will brood the eggs/fry in his mouth?
i would like to know when to milk the fry out of his mouth , because i really dont think they will have much of a chance with the other geos.
i have a tank with ram fry that i could put these fry into.
in general does or has anyone bred these stunning fish?
thanks every1 :wink:

[Rex Karr]

Welcome Phagus!

I would love to help, but I really don't have any experiance with these types of cichlids. Hopefuly someone else can help.

Rex

[phagus]

if anyones interested, i netted the brooding geophagus male this morning and when i transferred him to the 2 foot tank he spat the fry out in the net, but when i put him and the fry in the smaller tank he went around and picked them all up and is now still holding them.
all seems to be going well so far , although i haven't seen him release them yet, i can easily tell he is still holding them, (still not eating, nor will he open his mouth).
im hoping when he feels comfortable enough in the small tank he will release them and take them back up all the time.
id really like to see that.
so far he is showing excellent care for his young.
at the moment i have blue ram eggs on a terracotta pot and surinamensis fry so i'm pretty stoked, especially considering the geo's are only 3-4 inches long. :P :lol: :P
phagus. <"((()))< <"(())< <"()<
:D

[Chet]

That's very cool! Glad to hear he's being such a good parent. Could you post some pics of your fish. If he does start spitting them and taking them back up, I would love to see a pic of that also.

[phagus]

i'll try to get some pics soon, i dont have a scanner, or a camera for that matter.
phagus. :(

[recycling goddess]

males or females hold the babies. when the babies do leave their mouth, if danger comes, they dart back in. so they are considered 'partial mouth brooders'

they are extremely good parents. :D