Not saltwater fish, but...finally got eggs!!

3D Reefin' · Jul 9, 2020

Hello R2R Members,

I'm not on any other forums but this one and since this is an aquarium forum, I'd thought I'd share these pictures. I was finally able to get the female to hold and get good eggs from my Blue Zaire Frontosa. Stripped the female tonight and got the eggs in a tumbler. For those who don't know Fronsotsa are African cichlids from Lake Tanganika and are mouthbrooders.

I'm pretty stocked and can't wait to see these little wigglers grow.

3D Reefin'

Daniel@R2R · Jul 10, 2020

That's great! Congrats!!

3D Reefin' · Jul 10, 2020

Daniel@R2R said:
That's great! Congrats!!

Thanks, she has had held eggs 2 times before, but swallowed them. 3rd try was the charm for her.

fishguy242 · Jul 10, 2020

cool,keep us updated

piranhaman00 · Jul 10, 2020

Beautiful fish! Good luck!

3D Reefin' · Jul 12, 2020

3 day update:
Lost one egg, I had a feeling that it was not going to make it, was not developing as fast as the others, but the rest are getting bigger!

3D Reefin' · Jul 17, 2020

Here is an update pic.

piranhaman00 · Jul 17, 2020

Awesome!

Ruskin · Jul 17, 2020

Do they survive off the egg for a bit or are you having to feed already? That looks awesome. I wish there was room for more tanks. cichlids are awesome, I've been wanting to do a shell dweller tank for a while.

3D Reefin' · Jul 17, 2020

Ruskin said:
Do they survive off the egg for a bit or are you having to feed already? That looks awesome. I wish there was room for more tanks. cichlids are awesome, I've been wanting to do a shell dweller tank for a while.

This is is the first time I get fry from my Frontosa, but I assume that they are like other mouthbrooding cichlids, the fry won't take food till they completely absorb the egg. I usually wait an extra day after they absorb the egg to offer food.

I am a big fan of cichlids from Lake Tanganyika, I have been thinking of getting shell dwellers too. Just got some Petricola and I have a group of F1 Gold Head Compressicep that are starting to color up. They grow slow, but are going to be stunning when they fully mature, can't wait to get fry from them.

Picasso Clown · Jul 17, 2020

Wow those look crazy cool!! I didn’t know they developed like that. I assumed they stayed inside the egg, hatched, then finished up absorbing the yolk

Fishyfish22 · Jul 17, 2020

Wow, that's awesome! You know, per R2R law you're required to name each and every one of them

3D Reefin' · Jul 17, 2020

I have been planning a 10' Tanganyika tank for the Frontosa and the Golden Head Comps. Something similar to these two tanks.

@Ruskin The bottom tank is a Shell Dweller tank. I think its a 125 gallon, they did an amazing job with the lighting.

***Pictures are not mine, I don't know who took them or the tank owners, all credit goes to them.

3D Reefin' · Jul 17, 2020

Fishyfish22 said:
Wow, that's awesome! You know, per R2R law you're required to name each and every one of them

I thought naming fish was bad luck?

Ruskin · Jul 17, 2020

3D Reefin' said:
I have been planning a 10' Tanganyika tank for the Frontosa and the Golden Head Comps. Something similar to these two tanks.

@Ruskin The bottom tank is a Shell Dweller tank. I think its a 125 gallon, they did an amazing job with the lighting.

***Pictures are not mine, I don't know who took them or the tank owners, all credit goes to them.

That's awesome. I assume the bottom one is the shaded/opaque background where the back rock is cork or something similar and is behind the background? I've wanted to try something like that too. Make sure you keep this updated, its super interesting!