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jerrytheplater
12-09-2008, 11:25 PM
I noticed my N. leleupi spawned in my office tank this past Saturday. First time for them. The parents are from a spawn I decided to raise about a year ago-I think. I forget exactly how old the parents are.

I see a definite size difference between the adults. The fish guarding the spawn is half the size of the other defending the area. It has a torn anal fin. Any guess which is the male and which is the female? The smaller one is at the cave.

I saw another small one in a lip lock battle with a larger one on the other side of the tank Saturday morning too. I think I may soon be having another spawn.

I don't plan to raise any of these young at this time. I still have a large amount of the adults to sell but haven't taken the time to go to my LFS to sell them.

My 4 Synodontis lucipinnis http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/species.php?species_id=103 in this tank are being chased by the leleupi. They are about 1 to 1 1/2 years old. I bought them as tank raised young about 3/4" (~2 cm) long for $15.00 each. I was going to change the tank to a 65 gallon today, but I won't be able to now.

There are 6 adult leleupi's in this 38 gallon tank. I have been waiting for them to pair off. The parents of these new spawners were in a 38 along with two other adults. I decided to remove the two odd adults one day. After I did, the pair soon became only one, as one of the fish killed the other. I put the two I removed into a 37 gallon tank and one of them killed the other too. I guess I should have left them alone. The other adults in there must have acted as dither fish.

I have some pictures of the "grandparents". I guess one of the kids got on his nerves.

http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w277/jerrytheplater/CannibalFish.jpg


This was taken Jan 13, 2008. I think it is from a batch after the ones that just spawned.

http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w277/jerrytheplater/Momguardingfry.jpg
Spud
12-10-2008, 12:01 AM
G'day Jerry mate ! Nice spawn of Leleupi, I've seen this pic somewhere before lol. :a-okhand:
jerrytheplater
12-10-2008, 12:06 AM
Hey Spud. I'm recycling my posts. Good to see you.

Why don't you say something about the fish site you told me about down under. I forget what it is called.
Spud
12-10-2008, 12:17 AM
Hey Jerry, you wouldn't be referring to Plecomadness cause you know I'm there. So I can only asume that you mean www.scalesandfins.com My user name on there is 'Slack" as when I applied for Spud they rejected it, maybe it was already taken.
fischfan13
12-10-2008, 12:27 AM
Another site for me to join!
CJC
12-10-2008, 07:46 AM
My Lupi have spawned many times, in my case, it is alwas the female that stays in or right at the cave. The male guards the area. If I put my hand in the tank, forget about it, the male attacks my hand with full force.
AlishanAS
12-10-2008, 07:48 AM
Jerry - bring the extra fish to our Spring auction!
jerrytheplater
12-10-2008, 07:48 AM
My Lupi have spawned many times, in my case, it is alwas the female that stays in or right at the cave. The male guards the area. If I put my hand in the tank, forget about it, the male attacks my hand with full force.


Did you notice a large size difference between the sexes?
CJC
12-10-2008, 10:51 AM
Yes, the male is close to twice the size of the female.
jerrytheplater
12-10-2008, 08:42 PM
I must have a second pair in this tank. I see the smaller female pressed up against a cave of sorts at the side of a rock, with the larger male hovering over.

The other two must be males as they are larger and the same size as the males of the other pairs.

If the size difference is really the indicator of the sex, I can really make a lot of pairs of fish. I haven't even looked in the 40 breeder closely recently. I might have them spawning in there too.

Some of the original fry from Saturday are still alive. I am not doing anything special for them. They have to fend for themselves. I have an Alto. compressiceps in there, hoping it would eat the fry. It is small, about 2" long.
CJC
12-11-2008, 12:52 PM
My Lupi's are in a 40 breeder and I just let them do there thing, I guess the male and female get a live snack now and than but there a hundreds in there. The 40 is hooked into my sump system which runs several tanks. I looked in the 180 and found quite a few Lupi fry in there. It's amazing how they made it thru the sump system. At least the Moba's get a good appitizer once in a while.
YoungAquaticPhotos
12-11-2008, 09:50 PM
Nice spawn Jerry! Great shot in the first pic!
jerrytheplater
12-12-2008, 05:21 PM
Nice spawn Jerry! Great shot in the first pic!

Actually Ed, my oldest son Peter got that shot. He was in the right place at the right time.
LuvMiCichlids
12-24-2008, 08:55 PM
Wow. I would to get some fry from you. I have a male and a female dont know what happen to the other female :(. But she has her spot in a shell. She will get it ready the male will help her and then when shes ready she stays in there. She had 2 sets of fry the first only 3 lived, and gave them away to my brother-inlaw and the second set died cause the cat jumped on top of the lid.. Oh was i so mad. They dont have frys alot like some of the other cichlids.