As of 05/06/2000 I have had 21 different species successfully breed and rear there young.

Fish that are currently breeding:
Lake Victoria:
Haplochromis Ruby green
Lake Tanganyika:
Tropheus Moorii "Kipili"

The first thing that I have to say is "WATER QUALITY". Keep your tanks clean and your temp and pH constant and you will have no problems.  I don't have the right temp or pH for some of my fish (according to some people) but by keeping the temp and pH constant my fish are breeding. A good temp I have found is from 78 to 82 and pH of 8.0 to 8.5  This is one of the coolest things I have ever seen.  Males will get more intense color to them and sometimes the females will also, depending on the species.  The male will shake (like he has a fever) in front of the female and tries to lure her to a spawning site. This could take the male up to a week to get the female ready to mate.  The spawning site is a flat surface like a rock or drift wood or he could dig a pit down to the glass. When the female is ready she will follow the male to the spawning site.  The pair will swim head to fin over the spawning site.( a kinds fish 69 lol) The female will lay some eggs and the male will fertilize them and the female will pick them up and hold them in her mouth.  When the female is done she will find a place to hide so she can rest and get away from the male.  He of course is never done mating.  During the brooding period, from 2 to 4 weeks depending on the species, the female will not eat.  It is very important that the female has enough places to hide or remove her and put her in a small tank alone. (I use either a 5 or 10 gallon tank)  Moving a mouth brooding female:  This is easy but you must be careful.  First I get the small tank ready by filling it with water from the tank the female is in. (this will remove any chance of shock) Next I catch the female (I move my females after 10 days of brooding by using a fine mesh net so if she spits out her eggs or fry I don't loose them) During the transfer from one tank to the next the female should never leave water.  Once you catch her lower some kind of container in to the water and put the netted fish into it. (leave the fish in the net) Next, lower the bowl and netted fish into the new tank. Make sure the new tank has a good hiding place in it so the female will feel safe.  Release the female and you are done.  Once the female has released her brood leave her in the tank for a few day and really feed her well, then replace her back into the main tank. If you leave the female in the main tank to release her fry you will find she will protect them by letting them back into her mouth when danger comes around.  She is only able to do this as long as the fry fit.  After that they are on there own and the female along with any other fish in the tank will eat the fry. Nature came up with mouth brooding to protect the species.  There are fewer fry per batch than that of spawners but the fry are bigger from the start so they have a better survival rate. 

This is not hard to do and if done right does not harm the female at all.  What I do is after 14 days of brooding I catch the female .(in the manner mentioned above) and instead of putting her in a tank I put her in a plastic bucket about half full of water.  Now there are many ways to do this but I will only tell you what I do.  Making sure your hands are very wet put the female in the palm of your hand and hold her gently (remember she must not be removed from the water)  OK, now I use a plastic paper clip (small) and gently open her mouth with it.  The fry will swim out, when they do kind of move your hand back and forth a little so the fry will not get back in moms mouth.  If you are having trouble getting any fry to come out two things are happening.  One she is not ready to strip yet, put her in a small tank for a few days and try then.  Second:  She may only have a few fry and you might try gently rubbing her jaw a little that sometime makes the fry come out.  Either way this should not ever tank more than like 5 min.  If it is than stop and either leave the female in the bucket (put a lid on it) for about 30 min and try again if still nothing than put her in a tank and try in a few days.  If I strip fry the female goes back in the main tank.  The only reason that I strip fry is because it is easier on my females so they don't go so long with out food.

Fish that are currently breeding:
Lake Tanganyika:
Julidochromis Marlieri "Mugara"
Julidochromis Ornatus "Mbete"
Julidochromis Transcriptus "Zambian - Gombi"
Lamprologus Caudopunctatus "Redfin" (shell spawner)
Neolamprologus Brevis "Katabe"
Neolamprologus Kungweensis (shell dweller)
Neolamprologus Leleupi "Dutch Orange"

Fish I am trying to get to breed:
Lake Tanganyika:
Altolamprologus Calvus Nangu (received on 05/12/2000)
Altolamprologus Gold Head "Mutondwe Island" (received on 05/12/2000)
Chalinochromis Brichardi (received more on 05/12/2000)
Chalinochromis N'dobhoi (received on 05/12/2000)
Julidochromis Regani "Kipili" (new pair in breeding tank)
Lamprologus Fasciatus (received on 05/12/2000)
Neolamprologus Christyi (got them on 05/12/2000)
Varibilichromis or Neolamprologus Moorii (in breeding tank)

Soft music and floating candles are a nice touch, it might get your fish in the mood.  Spawning Cichlids are very territorial when mating.  Your first clue that a pair is going to mate is they will pick a spot in the tank and dig a hole, so it is very important to have lots of rocks so they can make a cave.  Some fish will use a flower pot or other items you can put in the tank for them to use.  After the cave is ready they will defend that area of the tank so watch your other fish, you might have to remove some so you don't loose them.  You will notice the pair fighting, this is normal, they want to make sure that the other is tough enough to guard the territory.  Then they will spawn in the cave, some will spawn on the roof of the cave others on the side or bottom depends on the fish.  After about 10 days (for most cichlids) the fry will hatch and may venture out of the cave.  Now the parent fish get really aggressive, the territory will start to enlarged as the fry get bigger, so again watch your other fish.  Most fry that come from a spawn will grow slower than those from a mouth brooder.  Here again I have most of my breeding pairs in 20 gallon long tanks so I save all the fry and so my other fish don't get beat up.  If you have never seen a breeding pair with there fry it is something to see.  The gravel looks alive, it's like a bunch of fleas on the bottom of your tank. Parent fish stay above the fry and watch for any other fish that might try to eat a fry or two.  I have found with the spawners that I have, that up to 3 batches of fry can be left with the parent fish.  After that the older fry will need to be removed as they parent fish will start to look at them as a threat to there territory and start to attack them.  What I do is after the 3rd batch is about 2 weeks old, I remove all the fry and clean the tank.  This way I only have to disturb the parent fish every few months.  Spawners use shear numbers to insure that at least a few fry make it to adult size and breed.

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