Spawning

Spawning Julidochromis :

The Cave	Selecting a Pair
Depositing the Eggs	Raising the Fry

The Cave
All of the Julidochromis Species are cave spawners. In a display tank, one would go to some trouble to have numerous rocks that would by default create numerous caves for the inhabitants to inspect and feel comfortable. In a fishroom, rocks are not really appropriate. They are heavy and consume space (water volume) and make catching of the fish somewhat difficult. The alternative is the clay pot - the aquarists artificial cave..

An ordinary clay plant pot is suitable. There are many sizes available and something in the 150mm seems best. The fish need a suitable hole to enter the pot when it is in an upturned position. Holes can be drilled in the clay pot with relative ease by using a burring bit, drill and water. Use of mains power with this combination is lethal, so a hand drill or drill brace is best. By using a drill brace a good pressure can be applied to the bit/pot surface where the hole is to be drilled. With a little care, a near perfect hole will result. Remove any sharp edges to protect the fish from accidental mishaps. The result is the perfect cave. It is light weight, transportable, easily cleaned, has little effect with the water volume, does not affect the water quality and the fish adopt them eagerly.

I drill another hole in the bottom of the pot. It gives the fish an alternate entry and exit point. If you observe your Julies, you will note that both holes are used.

All my breeding tanks have one clay pot about the centre of the tank. The hole in the side is positioned so that I can see inside the pot when viewing from the front of the tank.

Selecting a Pair
The easiest way is to let nature make the bond between a pair. By placing approximately six (6) juveniles in a 50 litre tank with one pot, nature will take its course. Provided you are not unlucky and have all of the one sex, bonding will happen as the fish mature. The pair will soon take over the pot and begin defending it against the other fish in the tank. At this point the other fish are in danger of persistent attacks from the mated pair. If not addressed, this will result in the death of the rest of the inhabitants of the tank. As soon as you notice fish in the corners of the tank, it is a sign that the pair is defending their territory. You should remove all of the other inhabitants at this stage.

Attempting to introduce two mature fish is fraught with danger and, in my experience, never works. Very soon after the introduction trouble breaks out and fighting results in one fish being severely injured.

Depositing the Eggs
I have never observed the actual act of laying the eggs. These fish are secretive and the first that an aquarist knows that there are fry is to see them free swimming outside the pot. The female will normally lay the eggs on the top or side of the pot. Both fish can be observed cleaning the area prior to laying the eggs. An idea that a change is to take place can be given by some pairs being in the pot more often, or taking on the guarding of their offspring with a certain gusto.

Raising the Fry
If you are sure that the parents have bred, or you have seen free swimming fry in the tank, you should have suitable food available. All species will take newly hatched Brine Shrimp, Artemia, right from the start as a first food.

I feed brine shrimp Artemia (see Feeding) to all my Julidochromis - parents, juveniles and fry. This has one direct advantage in that it does not matter when the fry are hatched, the correct food is immediately available.

You do not have to remove the fry from the parents. Juveniles will look after successive spawns. There does not seem to be a limit to this. In one tank can be many generations of fry. But, just when everything seems perfect, something goes horrible wrong. The parents seem able to recognise that when the size of their fry gets above a certain length. At this point the parents see these fish as a threat and will attack. It is difficult to put a figure on the length of the fry at this point. I remove my fry when they get to around 30mm, and place them in species specific growing tanks. Given good food and regular water changes, growth, while not spectacular, is quite acceptable.