# Gymnogeophagus Balzanii tank...



## [email protected] (Aug 27, 2009)

Dear friends, Thanks to all the support you have provided me.1 week ago I have ultimately picked up my first group of Balzaniis..1 m : 3 f in a 3 feet 55 gal tank.They are accompanied by 8 lemon tetras.Here's a few pics of the tank and the mal..The females are too shy still for me to click with my crappy mobile camera.Poor guy am I!No money left to buy a camera to capture the beauty of teh balzaniis.Amazingly the male is a little too yellow with red just coming in the upper fins.He's just 1.5 inch and the females are less than an inch.They are fed Tetra bits,frozen bloodworms , frozen artemia, green peas and soon will get NLS.

I wonder if I can have any other dwarf cichlids out there with them or not.Please suggest.Badly want a pair of Laetacara or Bolivian rams.

The tank when Balzaniis were not there : -










Male : -


----------



## MonteSS (Dec 8, 2008)

Lookin good :thumb:

....Bill


----------



## [email protected] (Aug 27, 2009)

Guys great news. Yesterday I have added lots of peat in the filter and theres alittle bit of tanning.Today only just now found the smallest Balzanii female laying eggs on one of the stones.She's very aggressive now.Don't know if they will hatch or not.But atleast the female has laid eggs.She's so small now.Not even an inch.Pretty surprised.

Heres a few pics of the eggs....


----------



## a7oneal (Dec 30, 2004)

Well done!

I like the tank, and the fish are obviously doing well.


----------



## MonteSS (Dec 8, 2008)

Very nice. I cant believe they spawned at that small a size.

Good luck....Bill


----------



## [email protected] (Aug 27, 2009)

Just a small update..the female has already taken up the eggs in her mouth.Should I risk separating the female from the rest.This may stress her making her swallow the eggs...please suggest......


----------



## HiImSean (Apr 5, 2007)

congrats on the spawn. maybe i'll add some peat to help my gymnos to spawn.


----------



## [email protected] (Aug 27, 2009)

Well thanks guys.A little update...the female has taken up the eggs in her mouth on last Sunday morning at around 6:00 pm and is now happily mouthbrooding....

Female getting ready to pick up eggs......










Mouthbrooding female ...bad picture quality...please forgive me....










Only sad thing is that she watches the others to eat tetrabits and frozen artemia helplessly...Feeling sad for her ...


----------



## aspen (Jun 15, 2004)

ime lemon tetras won't allow her to keep any fry. they will just swarm in and take what they want when the fry are swarming. maybe move her with her eggs or fry in her mouth or get a plan together and wait till the next spawn- ie set up an appropriate tank for her and have some filter media ready. if she spawned once, she'll likely spawn again.

good luck.

rick


----------



## DeadFishFloating (Oct 9, 2007)

I just sold my Lemon tetras for this very reason. It's like watching a school of sharks attack a large ball of sardines.


----------



## MonteSS (Dec 8, 2008)

Ya, once the feeding frenzy starts they go nuts.

....Bill


----------



## [email protected] (Aug 27, 2009)

May be this weekend I shall also sell off the lemon tetras.But can you advice me some tankmates in place of them that would behave better.....


----------



## DeadFishFloating (Oct 9, 2007)

Hey *[email protected]*,

If you want to breed your cichlids, and raise the fry to sell, your best off going with no tankmates.

This is where I have struggled for a couple of years now. I like having small community tanks based around a pair or trio of cichlids. But I would like to breed my cichlids and sell the juveniles. Make my hobby self sustaining, well close to it anyway.

I've come to the conclusion that, apart from hatchetfish, almost any other tetra or dither species will present a threat to fry. And with hatchetfish you need very secure lids, with minimal gaps for hatchets to jump out of.

Good luck.


----------



## [email protected] (Aug 27, 2009)

Sad news...had been out of town due to the sudden demise of my uncle..  ..didn't look after them for 5 days . Asked my friends just to feed them.Came back today morning..even then the female was carrying.But today night found that the fries didn't make it upto free swimming .The eggs weren't fertile... Now the female is eating like a pig .Had been starving for 10 days.Anyways will surely try next time.Will be updating the thread from time to time.


----------



## gage (Feb 7, 2007)

don't be discouraged, they were very young to spawn and I'm surprised they even tred at this size, I am sure they will do it again.


----------



## [email protected] (Aug 27, 2009)

Well I have again the biggest of the females mouthbrooding for the last days..Hope I get some free swimming fries this time..Got some questions : -

1.How long will the mummy mouthbrood the fries ? 
2.How long does it take for the balzaniis to show up some colours...mine are 2.5 inch male and females 1 to 1.5 inch..????


----------

