Steatocranus irvinei

[sas]

I picked up a pair of Steatocranus irvinei, from a fellow fish person from here,
about 3 weeks ago and they have already spawned for us.
This pair have been excavating for about 2 weeks to the point that I'm afraid
the driftwood is going to topple.
This cichlid is really dear to my heart since I grew up in the area where they come from.
I just love when you can make these kinds of connections in our hobbies.
Anyone else out there keeping these guys?
I'll try and get some pics of the eggs, but pretty sure it'll be impossible since
she laid them on the inside top of a clay pot. Silly thing.

[sas]

Finally got around to getting some pics of these guys, but only of the wrigglers.
You can see them on the bottom of the pot and mom with the blue lips
guarding them at the lower right of the pot.


http://i974.photobucket.com/albums/ae223/holmside/100_1597.jpg

So far this pair are great parents.

[brotherluv]

Congratulations!!  Hopefully they grow to be as good of parents as theirs are! 

[sas]

Thanks . We had company over last night and they were
horrified when mom decided to grab a few fry and deposit
them back in the pot. They swore up and down that they
were being eaten .
The male does some guarding as well but I haven't seen
him mouth any of the fry.

[sas]

So the little Mrs. has been busily cleaning the ceiling of her clay pot.
Her breeding tube is extended to the max and dad is hovering
around her nervously.
It'll be interesting to see how large this spawn will be, she looks really full of eggs.
Time to dim the lights and put some music on I think .

[Nerine]

Good luck

[sas]

Thanks .
Well they were successful and looks to be about the same
number of eggs as last time. Mom is taking her job very seriously and
dad is prowling the perimeter attacking the glass if we get too close.

There must be something in the air because our Aulonocara nyassae"tangerine"
have also spawned.

[freshfishies]

Congrats Sue!
What a unique cichlid they are! (I googled them..had no idea what they were :p )
Shall I email you a bap form?   hehe
Jasmine

[sas]

Thanks Jasmine, they are neat fish a little drab but
make up for it in their attitudes.
Well about 3 days after the eggs were layed they
detached from the inside of the clay pot and were loose
in the pot. A short time later they became wrigglers.
As far as bap did I not do these guys already?
If not sure send one out.

[freshfishies]

Shoot! I'm not sure! I'll look into that for you