Home
>
Pet
>
Unusual Breeding Behaviour in Wild Caught Archocentrus Sajica

Unusual Breeding Behaviour in Wild Caught Archocentrus Sajica

I would like to write a few words about my experiences breeding wild caught Archocentrus sajica and a surprise that these fish gave me - a surprise that shows the fascinating and diverse behaviour of these animals.

I got a pair of wild-caught sajicas from a friend who had collected them on a trip. Since I had kept this species before (in fact it was the third cichlid I ever bred), I didn't expect any surprises. Well, I was wrong.

For want of better accommodations I put the 6 cm/ 2? inches long cichlids into a 540 litre/145 gallon aquarium that was already overly crowded. In the aquarium already swam four 20 cm/8 inch Texas cichlids, a pair of N. festae (25 and 20 cm/ 10 and 8 inches), a pair of N. managuense (about the same size as the N. festae) and four Natal cichlids, Mossanbicus mossanbicus, (20 cm/ 8 inches). The tank was also inhabited by two convict cichlids (about 4 cm/ 1? inches) that had originally been put there as feeders, and finally loads of Ancistrus that just wouldn't stop breeding. All of the species were breeding regularly in the aquarium. As I said, the aquarium was already very crowded. I knew I was taking a chance putting the small sajicas in with these predators, but I didn't have any choice.

To my great relief the sajicas found themselves loving their company and were left alone by their larger predatory cousins. The aquarium was decorated with two very large roots that reached all the way to the surface of the aquarium and which created three natural territories for the fish in the aquarium. There were small gaps under the roots that the ancistrus utilised for breeding. The larger cichlids couldn't get into these spaces. These large roots made the water in the tank very dark and made it look like a black-water river aquarium. However the water was harder and the pH level higher than what you might expect to find in a black-water river.

When the sajicas had been in this aquarium for a week, on a diet consisting mainly of Hikari pellets and shrimps, they spawned for the first time. Anyone that has kept A. sajica wouldn't be surprised about this, the surprise would be if they didn't breed during the first month. However the surprise was how they bred. My experience is that sajicas are dedicated parents that watch furiously over eggs and fry. But under these conditions this pair chose a different approach. The female laid her eggs on a root halfway to the surface. Her eggs had a much darker tone then A. sajica eggs usually have, and matched the colour of the root almost perfectly. This was something the parents seemed to be aware of, since they didn't care about protecting their young. They both swam all over the aquarium just as before the egg laying, and it wasn't unusual that the two fishes furthest from the eggs in the entire aquarium were the sajicas. Occasionally they did chase away some ancistrus. You would think that this strange parental behaviour would mean the end of the eggs in an aquarium where several fishes could eat all eggs in one gulp. But this was not the case and almost all the eggs survived and hatched, at which time the parents moved them (spat them) under a root where not even they could get in. They then continued acting as if nothing had happened. When the fry were free-swimming the parents took their young out for expeditions about 1-2 hours each day. The rest of the time they left them under the root, where they apparently found food because they grew nicely.

The parents continued to take them on these little expeditions for about a month, after which the fry had grown to approximately 1.5 cm / ? inch. The impressive thing is that almost all of the fry had survived to this age. After the parents had stopped caring for their fry, the young quickly became bolder and started swimming around, which led to all but two of the fry being eaten one week later. (There had been 50-60 fry before that). These two however did manage to grow up in this aquarium.

The wild caught A. sajica couple spawned many times in this aquarium, once every 2-3 months, and they always had great success using this method. At one point I moved them to another aquarium about half as big as the other and with clear water. They shared this tank with a number of other cichlids, mostly fry from the larger aquarium. In this aquarium they spawned in the way one is used to seeing A. sajica spawn, i.e. standing guard over their eggs and fry. A little later the couple was moved back to the 540 L /145 gallon aquarium and they then started to "hide" their eggs and fry again.

Out of curiosity I also tried keeping them in an aquarium with clear water and a large pair of N. managuense as company, and the sajica couple spawned standing guard over their eggs and fry. It seemed like they simply chose another strategy in darker waters. I have kept other pairs of breeding A. sajica in the 540 litre/ 145 gallon aquarium since then, but none of them have shown this behaviour. I'm hoping that others get to experience this unique behaviour that just goes to show that cichlids never stop being surprising.

About The Author

Article by William Berg writer for Aquatic Community with more then 20 years of aquarium experience. Find more of Williams articles about other breeding freshwater fish or maybe a completely different pet like breeding freshwater fish

Article may be reproduce as long as it is not edited and this resource box is included "as is with live links" on the bottom of the page. (Java links and PHP links are not allowed, I.e. SE friendly links only)

local house cleaners Park Ridge ..

In The News:

Kurt Knutsson's guide covers social media privacy protection through location settings, account privacy controls and two-factor authentication to prevent scams and data breaches.

Revolutionary retinal implant restores central vision in 80% of patients with advanced macular degeneration, offering hope where treatments once only slowed blindness.

Learn how to use passkeys on Windows and Mac computers without cameras or fingerprint readers. Discover secure authentication methods that replace passwords.

Tesla's FSD v14.1.2 update reintroduces Mad Max mode, enabling higher speeds and more frequent lane changes than the standard Hurry profile setting.

A phishing email scam targeting American Express customers shows how cybercriminals use fake urgent messages to steal personal and financial information.

Facebook's new Meta AI feature analyzes your camera roll photos to create polished collages automatically, but requires cloud processing and raises privacy concerns.

A New Jersey teenager filed a major lawsuit against AI/Robotics Venture Strategy 3 Ltd. over ClothOff, an AI tool that created fake nude images from her social media photos.

Microsoft reports Storm-2657 cybercriminals sent phishing emails to 6,000 addresses at 25 universities to steal payroll credentials and redirect funds.

Astronomers have discovered asteroid 2025 SC79, a skyscraper-sized space rock orbiting the sun in just 128 days. the second-fastest known.

The Fox News AI Newsletter delivers the latest developments form the world of artificial intelligence, including the technology's challenges and opportunities.

A cyberattack on SimonMed Imaging exposed personal information of 1.2 million patients, including medical records, financial details and identity papers.

Spotify's managed accounts for kids under 13 now available in at least seven countries, allowing parents to filter and block explicit content and songs.

Friendly text conversations about BBQs and social events can lead to WEEX gold trading scams that target older adults with fake investment opportunities.

California company Skyeports creates self-healing glass spheres from Moon regolith that generate solar power and support plant growth for sustainable lunar living.

Cleafy researchers discover fake VPN streaming app Mobdro Pro that installs Klopatra banking Trojan, giving attackers full control over Android devices.

Police departments across the U.S. and Canada are adopting virtual reality training to better prepare officers for high-pressure, real-world situations.

House Bill 469 would prevent AI systems from owning property, serving as executives, or gaining legal personhood in Ohio under Representative Thaddeus Claggett's proposal.

Public voter records expose retirees' personal details to election scammers who create targeted cons using names, addresses, and voting history data.

Instead of fearing what comes next with artificial intelligence, think outside the box. Here are high-earning AI jobs that don't require a computer science degree.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says polite words like "please" and "thank you" cost millions annually, while direct prompts may improve ChatGPT accuracy by several points.

Chattee Chat and GiMe Chat exposed intimate conversations and photos, revealing users spent up to $18,000 on AI companions before the breach.

New Instagram parental controls allow families to manage teen screen time and content limits through the Family Center with stricter safety settings.

Third-party security breach at Discord exposes sensitive user information including government IDs, highlighting cybersecurity risks from external service providers.

Survey of 1,000 students shows teens using AI for personal relationships while two-thirds of parents remain unaware of their children's AI usage.

Cybersecurity experts warn about a ShadowLeak vulnerability that weaponized ChatGPT's Deep Research agent to steal personal data from Gmail accounts through hidden commands.

Unusual Breeding Behaviour in Wild Caught Archocentrus Sajica

Pet