Blue Dolphin Cichlid Breeding Guide

Breeding the blue dolphin cichlid (Cyrtocara moorii): a polygamous maternal mouthbrooder; harem setup, sand spawning, a 3-week holding period and rearing released fry.

Overview

The blue dolphin cichlid, Cyrtocara moorii, is a polygamous maternal mouthbrooder from Lake Malawi. The female incubates the eggs and fry in her mouth for up to three weeks before releasing free-swimming young. It does not reach reproductive readiness until it is around five inches long.

Sexing

The species is difficult to sex, as both sexes exhibit a nuchal hump and essentially identical coloration. Males grow larger, reaching at least about 25 cm against around 20 cm for females, but this size difference may take several years to become apparent.

Conditioning

Keep the fish in the hard, alkaline water of Lake Malawi (reported pH 7.5-8.8 and 10-25 degrees H hardness) at around 25-29 degrees C, and condition the group on a good diet so that females come into spawning condition.

Breeding Setup

A recommended group is one male with three to six females in a large, open, sandy-bottomed tank, since the species naturally favours sandy areas. Provide flat rock surfaces and open sand where the female can spawn.

Spawning Behavior & Trigger

The female lays eggs either on a flat rock surface or in a depression she digs in the substrate, then takes them into her mouth. A spawning produces roughly 20-90 eggs. While carrying, she shows a distended mouth and darker brooding colouration and does not eat.

Egg & Fry Care

After holding for up to three weeks, the female releases free-swimming fry that are large enough to accept brine shrimp nauplii and crushed flake food from the day they are released. The fry grow very slowly.

Common Challenges

The difficulty of sexing and the years needed for size differences to show make pairing harder; keeping a harem of one male with several females improves the chances of a successful spawn. The female fasts throughout the long holding period, and the slow growth of the fry requires patience.