Do africans have breeding seasons?

[jnorris]

I have been told by a few LFS people that Africans are more likely to spawn in the Spring and Fall. Is this true in the aquarium? Or is it just it just in the wild?

If fish are anything like plants you could induce breeding by changing lighting cycles or is there more to it than that.

I hear people having fish breed constantly. It sounds like potential BS...

hummmm...

[Woot]

It seems to be somewhat random in my tanks, its mid winter here and I just had a Lab. Hongi spit some fry, Red Zebra spit like a week before that. I have a M. Johanni, M. Callinos, and a Acei that are holding at the moment... I don't do anything special that I know of other then water changes. Its the first time that I have had a Johanni or Callinos hold though, so I'm happy to get a few of those fry. The Yellow labs and Red Zebra seem to breed more often then the others.

[merlyn2221]

I looked through every book I have on Cichlids (and they are numerous of late, since the subject is a new one to me) and they all say pretty much the same thing... spawning usually occurs, in the wild (Lake Malawi and Tanginyka) during spring.

Sorry...not very helpful. Books also said that if conditions (i.e. water quality, temp. around 80 deg., etc.) are right they will spawn frequently. I read it somewhere else too (if I could only remember where...I think in a fish mag.) that if you raise the temp in the tank by around 3 degrees, it will aid spawning.

Or maybe the "mates" are ill suited for one another. :wink:

[StructureGuy]

Yea, I have also heard that many rift lake cichlids spawn during the rainy season. I think that this is why water changes often induce spawning in our tanks. The introduction of fresh water simulates the rainy season to some extent. But other than that, I haven't noticed any seasonal spawning tendency in my tanks. Especially since the african rift lakes are on the opposite side of the equator and their spring happens during our fall.

Kevin

[jnorris]

Makes sense....I wonder if lighting has anything to do with it also. I would think it has to a little.