Breeding the Anabantids, Cichlids, and Some Others

Anabantid and cichlid fishes take care of their eggs and young. The extent of this care differs with different species and is most fully developed in the cichlids, which provide instances of most fascinating parental solicitude and painstaking supervision of affairs. Linked with this development is a strong tendency to a savage disposition toward other fishes in general or to others of the same species. The former is seen most in the cichlids, and the latter in the anabantids, with the famous Siamese fighter (Betta splendens) as an outstanding example.

The anabantids are bubble nest builders, the male usually producing the nest and guarding the young on his own. The eggs are lighter than water and float in the mass of bubbles until they hatch, and the fry remain in the nest for some time after this. The male is usually fierce at this stage and may kill the female if she remains in the tank. The cichlids are more cooperative, both parents taking care of the eggs and young, which are usually placed in depressions in the sand, on rocks, or on the leaves of plants. The eggs are fanned, mouthed about, and
even moved from place to place, and the young are shepherded around in a flock with watchful, savage parents on guard all the time.

Sex Differences

Most of the two families have well-marked sex differences in the fully adult fish, but some are very difficult to tell, in particular the angel fish (Pterophyllum eimekei; P. scalare). Apart from frequent color differences, the males tend to have longer and more pointed dorsal and anal fins and are more brilliant, even out of the breeding season, when they are magnificent. An anabantid female full of roe is usually very plump, but cichlids show little or nothing.

As he begins to feel ready for breeding, the male anabantid starts to blow bubbles, sticky with secretion, at the surface of the water. It is easy to see how this has evolved from the habit of these labyrinth fishes of breathing air at the surface and why surface nests are an advantage in the foul water their air breathing habits enable them to inhabit. The chosen site is often under a leaf of floating plant, or at the edge of a mass of duckweed or algae. When this is seen, it is time to find a ripe female and prepare for spawning.

The cichlids like to choose their mates and may kill one judged to be unsuitable. It is therefore best to use the group system, in which young fishes are kept together until some pair off and can be separated for breeding. This process is apt to involve casualties, but so is any method with these bloodthirsty fellows. Another method is to introduce pairs to each other and watch. If all goes well, so much the better, but if it does not, be prepared to remove one of the pair before it is injured or even killed. The loser is not always the female.

Suitable Tanks

Since the parents take the place of the aquarist and guard the eggs, there is no need for disinfected or bare tanks, although snails, planaria, and so forth are best avoided. In fact, since the fry of anabantids are small and need the finest microscopic food at the start, they are best supplied with this by the mulm and decaying material in the spawning tank, although it is not actually very difficult to make up the deficiency if a clean tank is used. The cichlids do not need such fine food, since their young are quite large; hence their tank can be clean or dirty, just as you please, for the parents will keep the eggs spotless. If, how-
ever, you wish to hatch out cichlid eggs in the absence of the parents, they must be removed to a very clean tank and particular care taken of them.

Both families should have large tanks for spawning, the anabantids because they are in need of infusorial food in plenty, and the cichlids because they are usually big fishes. For the anabantids, the tank should be well-planted and not too deep, up to 10 inches at most, and preferably tightly covered to protect the surface nest. Most cichlids tear up plants at mating time, so it is a little superfluous to have them present, but it doesn't matter to the fishes. Both like a temperature around 80°F., and many species will not spawn at temperatures much below it. Even if the cichlids are given no plants, there should be a good layer of sand, as this is used in nest-making.

Anabanfid Courtship and Spawning

Not only do the anabantids and cichlids take care of the young, but they are also more demonstrative beforehand. In fact, these are the highest-developed fishes, with several quite endearing traits.

When his nest is ready, spreading a few inches across the water and with a central depth of perhaps half an inch for a big fish, the male looks around for the female. He is often rather ambivalent in his attitude to her and is unfortunately quite likely to attack her instead of mating. Look out for squalls, therefore, but don't remove the female unnecessarily. It is a matter of indifference whether the male is placed in her tank, or she in his, except that it seems a pity to waste his nest if he has made a good one.

If all goes well, the male may drive the female below the nest, circling her with a display of erect fins, and protuberant gill covers in the case of fighters. The female responds likewise; if she doesn't, she is in for trouble. As they swim below the nest, the male encircles the female in an embrace in which his head meets his tail, and they sink slowly downwards, with the release of a number of eggs. These the male then dives down and catches, puffing them into the bubble nest with his mouth. Further embraces and spawning follow at intervals for perhaps several hours.

An interesting variation of the above is when the female remains in a corner of the tank and the male remains under the nest, and she dashes up at intervals without any encouragement, to indulge in the nuptial embrace. As soon as it is over, she scoots back to her corner until the next time. One is tempted to suppose that this must be an experienced lady who doesn't like being beaten up by her spouse and takes the least chance possible.

When spawning is over, the male takes complete charge and the female should be removed. He continues to blow bubbles and to re- store any falling eggs to the nest, but subsequent behavior varies with species. With most, it is best to remove the male at hatching, which is about 2 days after spawning, for even the best of fathers is likely to start eating the young at the end of the first week. Leave him there until the eggs do hatch, however, as he performs a useful function in keeping them afloat and healthy.

Cichlid Courtship and Spawning

When an established pair of cichlids are seen to be suited to each other, they may be left to their own devices, and sooner or later they will spawn. It is only when trying out new pairs that the aquarist must exercise surveillance and be ready to remove the vanquished. However, at a later stage, if spawning has taken place and anything goes wrong, or if all the young are suddenly removed, the pair are likely to quarrel, as if they suspected each other of the fell deed.

Courtship is more like a wrestling match than anything else. At first, approaches are made with spreading fins and body quivers, but soon the fishes take each other by the mouth and start a regular tussle. They roll over and over, tugging and writhing very vigorously, and woe to the one who tires unduly quickly. For this reason, some attempt at matching sizes when introducing new pairs to each other is not a bad scheme, although there are many very dissimilar-sized pairs who get along quite well.

At length, the contestants start clearing a place for the spawning, and it is given a very thorough going-over for several days. Large stones are favorite spots, but in their absence a patch of glass may be cleaned. Light objects are said to be preferred, and so marble or other light-colored stone is often offered. As spawning approaches, a breeding tube appears in both sexes from the vent. When it first becomes visible, spawning is imminent, and within a day or two the tube lengthens to perhaps 1/3 or 1/2 inch, and spawning takes place.

The female deposits the eggs a few at a time on the prepared surface and is followed by the male who inseminates them. Often they are laid in very regular order, row upon row, until in the course of several hours up to 2,000 are deposited and fertilized. From then on, a constant guard is kept, and the eggs are  requently fanned and inspected. Opinions differ as to whether the primary function of this fanning is aeration or the prevention of disease, by keeping  ungus particles from settling. The former seems most likely, as fanning may in fact cause the deposition of fungus or bacteria which would otherwise not reach the eggs. In any case, the fishes also clean the eggs and eat any that become fungussed.

Towards the end of the incubation period, which lasts 3 to 4 days, the parents dig pits in the sand. Often two or three are dug, but finally it is decided to use one of them, and as the young hatch they are soon moved to it. Both parents  articipate in this, often alternating from spawning area to the sand pit in lightning dashes, one transferring a mouthful of young, the other taking up the  acated position. This transfer system continues until the young are free-swimming, which may be for another 3 or 4 days. Each time they are moved to a new pit, they are mouthed over and spat into their new creche. Since the
object of the move can hardly be to guard them, as the parents could presumably do this without shifting them around,"it is again suggested that the process is one of cleaning. Moving the young from one pit to another is thought to ensure that every one is well mouthed and cleaned. There is no good evidence that this is necessary, and it seems best to admit that we do not know why the frequent moves are made.

While in the pits, the young live on the yolk sac and look like a mass of animated jelly, which gradually resolves into wriggling and hopping entities who finally swim up into the water. They are closely guarded and herded together into a swarm, those straying too far being sucked up and spat back into the multitude. They are quite large and should now be fed small live food. The parents will continue their vigil for weeks, and it is best to let them do so with at least a few of their young. The rest can be removed to a separate tank if desired at quite an early stage, but the sight of the parental care is well worth observing for as long as possible. It is quite fascinating to see the parents eating Daphnia or mosquito larvae of about the same size as their own fry, picking them out from among the young fishes, or even taking a mixed mouthful and spitting out the fry. They make few mistakes, if any, for the swarm of young does not diminish. At night, even when the young are quite big, they all settle down on the floor of the tank, and the parents sit over them like a pair of hens.

Pterophyllum scalare and P. ei?nekei, the angel fishes, lay their eggs on large plant leaves, preferably giant Sagittaria or Echinodorus. Alternatively, they will accept upright slate or opaque glass bars or rods, or even the aquarium glass itself. They do not dig pits but spray the young from one leaf to another until they are free-swimming, at which time the parents guard them as usual. The parents are par- ticularly likely to eat their spawn, so it is commercial practice to re- move the leaf or rod on which the spawn have been deposited to a
clean tank with a gentle trickle or aeration to replace the parents' fanning. It is frequently alleged that the angel fishes will spawn, or that their youn will thrive,  nly in acid water. Although this is certainly untrue, it seems to be much easier to spawn them in most soft-water istricts, where the water is usually also neutral to acid, but they will spawn plentifully at pH 7.2 or even higher, perhaps as long as the water is soft. However, this does not seem to have received critical attention. Sex in the angel is very difficult to tell; even other angels do not seem to find it too easy, as two females will pair off and lay sterile eggsSome cichlids have moved a stage further in the care of their young and retain the eggs and fry in the mouth for several weeks. During this time, the parent that guards the young starves. In Haplochromis multicolor (Egyptian mouthbreeder) it is the male. The devoted parent gets very thin, and since he or she has a large head to begin with, assumes a very emaciated appearance.

The young swim out and feed, but rush back at any alarm, and learn to fend for themselves only when they get too large for all of them to get back in again.

The dwarf cichlids, incompletely classified scientifically, are gentler than their larger cousins and do not attack other fishes or tear up plants when breeding. The female seems to take charge of the eggs and young and even drives the male off, but without harming him.

Other Species

Various other aquarium fishes can be bred, some very sporadically and others with more regularity. They form a miscellaneous group about which little is known.

The Cory dor as of various species (South American armored catfishes) breed fairly well in captivity, particularly C. aeneus and C. paleatus, or perhaps it is only that these have been most tried out. They lay eggs on plants, or on the glass, and do not harm either them or the young. The eggs hatch in 3 or 4 days, and the young like to isappear into a thick bed of humus or mulm. In C. paleatus, courtship is brief, with the male swimming over the female. Finally, with he male underneath, they take up a crossed position and the female swims up with 4 eggs clasped in her ventral fins. These she deposits on a leaf, and the process is repeated. It is not yet clear where the eggs are fertilized; some observers allege that the female takes sperm into her mouth and sprays it over the eggs, but others deny this. In Caeneus, it is also said that the male  preads sperm on the glass, and that the female follows and lays her eggs. In Cory dor as the best stimulus to spawning is said to be a gradual overnight cooling from 85°F. down to 65°F.or even60°F.

Loaches of various species have also been known to breed in the aquarium, but never to order. Acanthophthalmus kuhlii (Malay loach) is thought by some to be a livebearer, but this seems very unlikely.

Some of the nandids are easy to breed. Badis badis spawns rather like the cichlids and guards the young for a time, and so do Polyentrus schomburgkii and Monocirrhus poly acanthus (leaf fish). Polycentropsis abbreviata, on the other hand, builds a bubble nest. The male guards the young as in the anabantids. Other nest-builders nclude the sunfishes (Centrarchidae). The male of Elassoma evergladei (pygmy sunflsh) builds a nest at the bottom of the tank and guards the eggs, as does the male of various sticklebacks (Gasterosteidae). The male bumble bee fish (Brachygobius xanthozonus) also guards the young but does not build a nest.

For all these fishes it is merely necessary to have them in a tank together, except perhaps the Corydoras, with which orthodox spawning techniques may be used. Naturally, if you wish to breed them, you will provide plenty of shelter, place only the desired species in the tank, and feed them plenty of live food.
The medaka, or rice fish (Oryzias latipes), provides the final variation that we shall mention, in that although pairing takes place as usual in the egg scatterers, the eggs stick to the female's vent in a cluster, later to be brushed off at random onto plants. This is one of the few fishes which, although it does not take care of its young, also does not eat them. The white cloud mountain minnow (Tanichthys albonubes) is also fairly safe with its parents.

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