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I have a wild pair of Cynotilapia sp. black mbamba Lupingu.
I've had these two for about 2 - 2.5 years, and they have only spawned once. It took about a year to get them to spawn the first time, and now they have finally spawned again. :thumb:
I don't remember what encouraged them to spawn before, but I know what I did this time to get them in the mood. Four days ago, I did a 75% waterchange (I clean the gravel each waterchange), and Clout'd the tank, and stopped feeding the tank. *I Clout'd the tank as a precaution - I've got some fish leaving my tank and wanted to make sure I wasn't passing anything on to the next guy. I haven't had any sickness/disease/signs of bloat for quite a long time - so there was nothing wrong with the tank to speak of.*
The following day didn't do anything to the tank, and didn't feed the tank. Two days ago I noticed the female had fattened up - did some rearranging of the tank and did another water change, and still hadn't fed the tank. Yesterday, the female was still fattened up in the morning and in the afternoon/early evening she was holding.
This female held full term before and I'm hoping she will hold full term again. Unfortunately I really don't have a fry tank setup - but I have some 10's and a 20 I could toss up should really want to keep the fry (I think I want the fry).
I'm starting to wonder if the latest storms have had an effect as well on the fishes' mood. The only other spawn, at this time, is from my Lab. chisumulae, and I've waited for them to spawn for 6 - 8 months. :wink:
Has anyone else waited this long for a spawn from an mbuna?

I've had these two for about 2 - 2.5 years, and they have only spawned once. It took about a year to get them to spawn the first time, and now they have finally spawned again. :thumb:
I don't remember what encouraged them to spawn before, but I know what I did this time to get them in the mood. Four days ago, I did a 75% waterchange (I clean the gravel each waterchange), and Clout'd the tank, and stopped feeding the tank. *I Clout'd the tank as a precaution - I've got some fish leaving my tank and wanted to make sure I wasn't passing anything on to the next guy. I haven't had any sickness/disease/signs of bloat for quite a long time - so there was nothing wrong with the tank to speak of.*
The following day didn't do anything to the tank, and didn't feed the tank. Two days ago I noticed the female had fattened up - did some rearranging of the tank and did another water change, and still hadn't fed the tank. Yesterday, the female was still fattened up in the morning and in the afternoon/early evening she was holding.
This female held full term before and I'm hoping she will hold full term again. Unfortunately I really don't have a fry tank setup - but I have some 10's and a 20 I could toss up should really want to keep the fry (I think I want the fry).
I'm starting to wonder if the latest storms have had an effect as well on the fishes' mood. The only other spawn, at this time, is from my Lab. chisumulae, and I've waited for them to spawn for 6 - 8 months. :wink:
Has anyone else waited this long for a spawn from an mbuna?