wild Heros....
 

received this pair from nick last weekend..

took them awhile to settle down in the small tank, so now able to take some decent pics:

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...Picture437.jpg

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...Picture438.jpg

no squabbles so far, maybe still adapting.. but eating well on BW and pellets... hoping for them to spawn, but not much activity going on yet.. :(

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...Picture443.jpg

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...Picture444.jpg

u are making me jealous:(:D

you've got a nice group of big maculatus, who should be envouis?? :mad::D

saw some at C328 auntie shop..
but not sure of the pricing..
it right behind where she housed all the louhan tanks..

cheers and happy cichliding...

Those at auntie place are going for $68 a pc. All female though.

Nice sharp pictures Root! I like the 2nd pic best.

wow, what a hero, nice

Beautiful couple, bro!
Give them some time to adapt & I'm sure they wont disappoint you. :)

Hi Ian

Good water and an abundance of food usually does the trick for me.

They gets all fired up when I feed the a combination of live adult brine shrimp and tubifex worm. It’s 'aphrodisiacs' to them.

new batch?? thought of getting a few more and comm them!! price wise bargain a little more can get at $55 or less...

thanks bro... keep some lor..

thanks!

let's hope so... but even if breed i prob dun have space to raise the fries...:(

you spoil them! :mad::D

nice pair u haf!!:D

Not for now.
Reserve tank space for pikes.. hehe

thanks bro...

so far other than Ben's, have you managed to get more??

anyway, took new shots of the pair in their new home, i think they're much more stable in the bigger space:

http://www.arofanatics.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=327077

Maybe I should get the female from C328 and the male from QH? These guys grow out to be 12/3 inches right? Should be very showy at those sizes:)

Bro Root,
Yes. I reserved the pike that is at NKS.
Can't id yet though. Any idea? Its at the L46 row..

I am patiently waiting for a pair of C. atabapo as well. hehe.

Bro...that piece is a female johanna. Nice fish, I packed 1 of the marmorata below. :)

Thanks for the id Gigas..
Now I know.. :)

not so soon bro.. have just set up a 'atabapo' tank... :D

see if can trigger them to spawn in this new setup... :)

look nice....big mouth

just an update.. the pair took the eggs into brooding at less than 48 hours, so i guess the eggs have not hatched then..

an observation.. i remember when i first discovered the eggs are no longer on the wood, the female was brooding the eggs.. but when i wanted to take some pics last night, the male was holding!! is this expected? :confused:

here's the brooding male:

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...Picture516.jpg

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...Picture521.jpg

Hi Ian

According to my limited knowledge thru reading. :D
These are true hero’s and they delayed are mouth brooders

This is really interesting, I guess they need to eat in between.

hi nic, yes, indeed they are.. i'm not surprised they're mouth brooders, just puzzled with 2 things:

1) they picked up the eggs very early, much earlier then what i've experienced before with other delayed brooders, like the RHT for example, which i remember they'll pick them just before hatching.. maybe it's just this pair.. :o

2) i'm 99% sure the female 1st picked the eggs.. but i'm 100% sure the male is holding them now.. i've only known betta macrostomas to pass eggs from mouth to mouth (also to my limited knowledge thru reading).. you may be right, they could be taking turns to brood so they could eat, i hope they surprise me tonight... :D

free swimming fries...
 

today is the day the wrigglers are free swimming, so it's time to strip them out from the parents' mouth...

apparently, only the male was holding, female is plain lazy.. :D

can see the first few fries coming out:

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...cture598-1.jpg

more fries:

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...cture599-1.jpg

after few minutes of 'squeezing':

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...cture604-1.jpg

here're the fries!!!!!!

can count how many?? :p i could count 130+... :eek: all in the male's mouth...

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...Picture609.jpg

:cool: This picture is really nice.

The fry are so cute! Let me know when the fry are ready for sale.;)

congrats!
nice pics.
some questions:

1)How big are the parents?
2)How long after they start brooding that you started "squeezing"?

Very nice pair.....hope they will bred very readily soon...

look like something?? :D

will do.. IF i can raise them to a good size...

parents are about 5-6" TL... in Singapore weather, normally the wrigglers will be free swimming on the 4th to 5th day after hatching...

bro, u very funny leh.. already bred... :( :D

here's the latest pic of the pair... happily feeding after so many days of hardship...

hopefully they will rest till the current batch is of good size before spawning again..

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...cture620-1.jpg

Thanks for the info.

May I suggest that you allow the parents to bring up their next batch of fry themselves. It would be very interesting to witness their brooding/fry-raising process. I had previously seen a photo of an Eartheater releasing fry from its mouth. That picture is really beautiful. Would love to see pictures of a Heros doing this too...

:D

The Panoramic shot of your tank is very nice! That pike looks jealous.

sure, as you may understand, as a hobbyist, we tend to play 'safe' and strip these fellas, in case they eat up their fries for some reason.. and especially so for 1st spawn, and that these parents were sold/purchased as 'wild'...

for 2nd spawn, i'm not sure how well these fellas could hold out against the pair of pikes they're now housed with... let's see then!! :)

if only i had more tanks, i would surely let them take care of their next spawn... :(

I understand. The excitement of having new fry and raising them. Breeding them is another part of the joy of keeping cichlids. But as I cant afford to house them, I can only suggest. Anyway, really thanks for taking my suggestion into consideration. :D please update us with more photos if you decided to do it. :D:D

Nice pair and Nice photo shot. bro

Hehe for me it’s the other way round, usually if it is the first spawn, I leave to the parents.

Unless the parents do not do the job, then I may intervene.

But looks like you don’t have a choice with the pikes lurking nearby.

Once again, great pictures and setup.

Can you do an exclusive profile on these wild atabapos singpaore style? :o

May I know how you could tell the difference between the male and the female for these heros ?

Thank you

Look closely at the gill plates just below the mouth area, male will have some spots.

See the spots on the male's chin (fish on the left)
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...Picture438.jpg

Thank you nick. Very great help indeed.