Luwino Reef Zebra Chilumba

First topic message reminder :

So here's my dilemma...

I had 9 very nice Luwino Reef Zebra Chilumba. I took the sub-dominant male and a female with a crooked spine out of the main tank and left the dominant male and 6 females in a 75 gallon tank by themselves to get down. It's been two months and I have had no luck. I feed cichlid pellets, frozen bloodworms, and frozen spirullina brine shrimp. The pH is about 7.6 and the water is naturally hard here. I keep up with the water changes and the fish seem to be happy. I can't seem to understand why they don't want to breed for me.

Any suggestions?

I had some info for you just a week AGO, i hope you understand why the AGO, remember when I adviced you last week not to make more than one change at a time in your case last week it was a temp issue, when I meat give them time I meant at least 3 weeks ok I did not adviced you to wait at least 3 wks but, Yes 3 weeks you have to be patient in this hobbie, unless you would want to come and work for me repairing Air conditioners and when you don't get it in 5 hours I start harpping you why its not done yet, I was being nice I can solve the issue in 30 minutes, but see, and I dont mean any desrespect, fish are fish and all we can do is give them the right or what we think are the best parameters for their requirements, like fern said stop looking at them and just feed them every day and I have faith they will do their thing, remember I was the first one in line for fry, I have faith in you and your fish, your gona get there dont worry about when, just let it happen and enjoy the ride, its only going to happen once for the first time dont miss it.

Yeah. I know I must be patient. I have only bred Red Jewels and Yellow Labs as far as Africans go. Both of those bred without much convincing. They also bred at a young age.

I do believe that you were correct with the driftwood affecting the pH. Last night I removed one of the pieces of driftwood, the one that was leaching the most. I also added 1 cave and rearranged the rest. I did not change their diet or the water temp. It is still 78-80 degrees. I will give this set-up a month or so before I change it. I may add some tank mates to keep help keep the aggression down. I ordered some Ruby Green Haps today and they will be here Wednesday!

Thank you all for the help. Eventually I WILL have fry. I have never owned a fish that didn't breed for me when I wanted it to. Let's see if I can have the magic touch with these ones!

Semperparatus, (always ready), I have owned fish that have never bred for me and that's ok, my friend we are trying to imitate nature, (OUR GOD CREATED IT), all we can do is give them the best we can. You are an asset to this team, great job.

"I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, But God made it grow."

At least you haven't been waiting 2 years like I have been with my zebra plecos Now they are stubborn!

That would be VERY frustrating...

Remember folks this is a fish forum and not to get to Religious or political. We accept all fish lovers.

So ya when you get frustrated with your group just remember how long I have been trying with my plecos

Patience is the name of the game.

Yes. I agree no political or religious problems here. Just simply stating that we are trying to replicate nature.

BTW, Fern, any tips on caring for Ruby's I should know about? Also, in the summer I'm going to snag some of your batches to keep my lines fresh. Where did you get your Ruby's?

I have 3 lines in my tank, one originates from Hawaii back in 06 I believe.... from sschult. One line is from KMX and one big girl I have had for a few years back when I had a nice line that went homicidal.....So its a very nice mix of good bloodlines!

Good spirulina based diet, they love zucchini and yellow squash. NLS Thera a is another food I give them. Aim for like 75% veggi and 25% meat in their diet. They breed well if they are happy. They are fairly docile, all chase and no bite!
They are fine with just the basic minimal rock setup. They do fine with most of the hardier plants as well....... Anything else?

Nope. Got them today. Sounds fairly simple...

Ya they are and the colors of a happy dom male are very very rewarding!!!

These ones are very small. When I got the box, they were almost frozen because they stayed on the FedEx truck all day long instead of being inside. The water they were in had to be 50 degrees or colder. Long story short, I had to spend about two hours nursing them back to health. 9 out of 10 lived. They are really happy now swimming around and eating everything I put in the tank!

Watch them very very closely for ich.

I know. I've kept a close eye on them. I'm going to do another 10-20% water change tomorrow to help keep the water crystal clear. They perked right up overnight. There is only one that I am worried about. He may go in a holding tank until his nipped tail grows back a little. They are in with my Cories and BN plecos, so they don't have much to fear! lol

Toss a wad of java moss in there for any one that is getting picked on to hide in.

He has already taken refuge in some of the Amazon Swords and Anubias that I have in there. lol Good call.

He sounds like a smart one!

Yup! It's the biggest fish, but is the one that took the cold temps the hardest other than the one that passed away.

Here's a crazy idea on these Zebra Chilumba...

What if I remove the dominant male and leave the sub-dominant with all of the females for a few days?

You may not be able to put him back would be the issue with that.

GOT A HOLDING FEMALE!!! Only one, but I got one!

NOW DON'T CHANGE ANYTHING!
Congrats!

Am in line for some fry when available, LOL