New Rainbow Cichlids

[davet]

Here are a couple pictures of the pair of Rainbow Cichlids I got from JD at the swap. This is my first attempt at posting pics!

Dave

[vladsbtch]

They are awesome!!! I love mine, I guess since I have a spare 20 gallon tank I will keep two of them. JD pointed out that one of the little ones could be female. So I will put them together and see what happens. The others Chris at the critter said he would take. So since I have no takers here I will take them there.
Keep us informed when you get a spawn.

[bjones]

Those are nice! I'm gonna have to talk my husband into "just one more tank" Lol!

[vladsbtch]

I don't talk my hubby into one more tank anymore. I buy it and then hide it in storage. The down side was he went to storage to get his motorcycle and discovered my tanks. Boy was he mad for a minute. I Am redoing some of the tanks to make room for more. You can never have too many and craigslist is evil. LOL

[jgentry]

Looks like they settled in nicely. Those few little scuffs on there sides will heal up quickly. They are a great little fish, plus that male is going to be stunner in about a year. Just wait, you will be shocked at what he looks like as an adult compared to now. You will have fry before you know it. That pair already spawned twice in my growout tank.Glad you are enjoying them. I'll have lots of other little cichlids available this summer. Lots of babies growing out right now.

It was really nice meeting you and your wife and welcome back to the hobby.

[davet]

Thanks JD. I was wondering about the scuffs on the sides.

[jgentry]

They were in a 125g and I had a little trouble catching them. They got a little scuffed up from being chased about the tank . They will be fully healed up in a week or so. They are tough little fish.

[davet]

OK, here they are, home a week and they are spawning. JD, I may need some help with this!

[jgentry]

Congrats on the spawn!! Those were a really well bonded pair so I knew it wouldn not take long. If you want to raise some of the the babies you will need a 10g tank or something to grow them out in. They will protect them for 2 weeks or so after they are swimming. After that they might eat them or they might leave them alone. With nothing else in the tank I would just leave them alone and see what happens. If they eat them this time and you want some of the babies then on the next spawn just net a good sized group out and grow them up in a small tank.

Glad they are doing so well for you!!

[davet]

Thanks JD. I may just leave them in the 55 since there are no other occupants and I don't have any other tanks at the moment. My concern is the intake for the canister filter. I have a small media bag I can put over it or would wrapping a sponge around it be better?

[jgentry]

Wrap the intake with a sponge or piece of pantyhose. If you have some filter floss you can use that and a rubberband to attach it. You just have to clean what ever you cover it with pretty often so it doesn't cut your flow way back.