could my Trachelyopterus galeatus be spawning ?
Posted: 11 Feb 2009, 21:51
I have had Trachelyopterus galeatus for 4 months now they were a sexed pair from pier aquatics .
In this time they have grown allot and I would say they are full grown with the female at around 8.5 -9 inches and the male at more like 6.5-7 inches.
They have become very tame and competitive for food the female even takes it from the surface .
I have been feeding a very varied diet and they seem to eat anything and be out scavenging the moment any food is in the tank .
Last night they had some fresh prawns for the first time (but not much) other than that nothing has changed .
Today they are both staying in a low cave and have not come out for food or anything else ,they have evicted the two rope fish who liked this hiding place and they do seem to have been thrashing against each other in there a bit.
I have not seen any evidence of eggs yet but can't think of any other reason for this strange behavior .
The diet up till now has been chopped earth worms 3-4 times a week ,spectrum community ,Hikari cichlid gold/staple,JMC catfish pellets,freeze dried river shrimp,pleco wafers and blood worm once a week.
I was given a sample of the new pleco logs by tetra (I think, they are not boxed )look like guinea pig pooh on Monday so they have tried this too.
Up until last week they had a steady supply of jewel cichlid eggs every two weeks but I gave the jewels away ,these cats are the only thing I have ever found that could stop the jewels eggs from hatching.
Any opinions welcome .
In this time they have grown allot and I would say they are full grown with the female at around 8.5 -9 inches and the male at more like 6.5-7 inches.
They have become very tame and competitive for food the female even takes it from the surface .
I have been feeding a very varied diet and they seem to eat anything and be out scavenging the moment any food is in the tank .
Last night they had some fresh prawns for the first time (but not much) other than that nothing has changed .
Today they are both staying in a low cave and have not come out for food or anything else ,they have evicted the two rope fish who liked this hiding place and they do seem to have been thrashing against each other in there a bit.
I have not seen any evidence of eggs yet but can't think of any other reason for this strange behavior .
The diet up till now has been chopped earth worms 3-4 times a week ,spectrum community ,Hikari cichlid gold/staple,JMC catfish pellets,freeze dried river shrimp,pleco wafers and blood worm once a week.
I was given a sample of the new pleco logs by tetra (I think, they are not boxed )look like guinea pig pooh on Monday so they have tried this too.
Up until last week they had a steady supply of jewel cichlid eggs every two weeks but I gave the jewels away ,these cats are the only thing I have ever found that could stop the jewels eggs from hatching.
Any opinions welcome .