# Breeding African Cichlids naturally in "the shallows". Tank question.



## Sargasso (Apr 21, 2010)

I read an interesting article this week about breeding African cichlids in a PDF copy of Cichlid Yearbook. The author had customized a tank similar the microsoft paint special that I drew up here.










Basically, he said that in nature mouthbrooding African cichlid females typically raise their newly hatched fry in shallow water to avoid predation from other fish. With this feature, his mbuna that were holding eggs would retreat to "the shallows", and successfully protect their fry from the the other fish who were not interested in venturing into that area because the risk of being swooped on by a bird or land animal wouldn't justify the reward of eating a few fry.

I'd like to try something like this out, but I'm wondering if an elevated platform would have the same effect with a bit less work. I guess that it wouldn't be too hard to drill a bulkhead or two leading to a clear chamber, but I think that the nursury chamber looks clunky.

What do you folks think?

PS: If anyone's interested in a copy of the article, I can email a PDF of this Cichlid Yearbook. Just PM me with your email.


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## ~Lynae (Apr 21, 2010)

Very interesting...! 
Sounds like a good thing to try out, if you've got the skills and tank to do it!


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## Smiladon (Apr 23, 2010)

I really dont know if that will work. You could give it a shot, but I think taking the mother out of the tank and giving her a separate tank works. You could also try breeding nets (if you can find a big one). These alternatives are much simpler compared to the above "theory".


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

I think you can also do the same by building up a stack of rocks to form caves in the back so that there are "shallows" in the back of the tank. But the shelf idea certainly should work if they figure it out.


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## kbuntu (Apr 21, 2010)

Paulo aka Shelfish (believe it his nickname) has a setup like this for a long time and apparently it works great. Yes, the fry are in the shallow part.


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