My Experience Breeding Australoheros sp. "Red Ceibal" by Jules Birnbaum
T
hese fish are housed is a 55 gallon tank that is next to the TV in my den. I can watch sports (baseball, football, hockey, basketball, golf), news, and my fish tank. The red ceibal is a 5-inch cichlid from Central America. I acquired mine from fellow GCAS member Ed Vukich at one of our auctions. There were six one-inch juveniles, and I managed not to kill four―three females and one male. The red ceibal comes from Uruguay in South America, and is named for the area of Arroyo Ceibal, A breeding pair can have very intense color when spawning. They are omnivores, and don’t need any special pH. Ceibals are characterized as substrate spawners, so some gravel and a breeding cave is in order. A male can reach seven inches, so it would be advisable to provide a pair with at least 30 gallons. If you want them to breed, perform regular weekly water changes and keep the temperature at 78 to 80 degrees F. Although live food helps condition them, it is not a necessity to get them to spawn. I also feed my pair white meat chicken, and fish from our dinner table. The red ceibal was written about in the July, 2009 issue of Tropical Fish Hobbyist. The tank is planted, and houses one male red ceibal about 5 inches in length and three females, each about three inches. Their tankmates are two corys, two loaches, and a nine-year old gold severum that I measured at ten inches long. He is so old that he does not upset the plants or his tankmates. He stays in one corner of the tank, and I hand feed him. I do 50% water changes once a week, and recently added several large Anubius species plants and a group of Java ferns, as these fish don’t bother live plants. There are 12
two Emperor model 280 filters, with a sponge pre-filter on the intake pipes so the fry are not sucked into the filters. I placed a small clay pot and medium sized flowerpot next to each other at one end of the tank, giving the impression of his-and-hers caves. I knew something was up with one female and the male when they started hanging out together and the basic colors of tan and black wavy design grew more intense, which happens when cichlids are in breeding mode. Another characteristic is the excavation of sand, both as a barrier and to make a nest. The female and then the male both favored the smaller pot, and began going in and out. There were some arguments between the pair, as is usual with these fish. The male chased the cory away, and the loaches also seemed to get the message. Every once in a while the severum swam over to the ceibals’ side of the tank, but these much smaller fish develop tremendous courage when breeding, and the male drove him away. The eggs were laid in the small pot, either in the rear or on the inside roof―it was hard to tell for sure. Most of the care was handled by the female (sound familiar?) with the male moving sand around outside while keeping the snails and the cory away. Since these fish are such great parents, I kept a small night-light on so care could continue at night. Some catfish are nocturnal, so the light helped the parents keep them away from the eggs. Many cichlids are like feral cats I’ve seen, moving their young to new locations for safety. One day I saw the female ceibal hovering over
July 2012
Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S (NY)