Xenotilapia ochrogenys “Ndole Bay” is a sand dwelling cichlid from Lake Tanganyika in the Rift Valley of eastern Africa. It is considered one of the “Dream Cichlids” along with Enatiopus melanogenys, Enatiopus sp. “Kilesa Yellow Throat”, and Xenotilapia ochrogenys (refer to Ad Konings Tanganyikan Cichlids). Males are brightly colored with bronze, blue, silver, and brown markings.
I obtained my fish from Wet Thumb Aquatics in the fall of 2000. I initially bought seven fish. I wish I could have bought more. I ran into some aquarium management problems (overfeeding) and lost two quickly, but the others thrived once I had my routine set.
The young adults were housed initially in a ten-gallon tank. Several months later they were moved to a 40-gallon tank with Green Furcifer and Cyprichromis “Blue Flash” juveniles. This group got along nicely. Eventually, this group was moved to a 75-gallon tank along with some Frontosa and Synodontis multipunctatus juveniles. A pair of Gold Ocellatus was added a short while later. This may seem crowded but most of the fish were juveniles or young fish.
It was in this setup that they spawned. I believe I have three males and two are females. The males will build a sand nest consisting of little turrets arranged in a circle. My dominant male was relentless in his pursuit of the females and his chasing of the other males. The dominant male was usually out in view while the others hid. One day I noticed a female holding. She was hanging out by the female Gold Ocellatus shell. It seemed that the female Ocellatus would keep all the other fish away. She seemed oblivious to the holding Ochrogenys or maybe see knew that she was not a threat with a mouth full of fry.
I let her hold for several weeks (three?) and thought I’d move her to a ten gallon tank to allow her to spit the fry at her leisure. As soon as she got netted she spit all the fry out. Some were in the net. Some were swimming in the tank. I carefully placed her in one container and the netted fry in another container. I then went after the fry in the tank. I was able to find two. You could only see them when they moved. I searched the tank for a half an hour and then periodically the rest of the day but found no more. Altogether I was able to get seven fry.
The fry were placed in a 10-gallon tank and did quite well on live baby brine shrimp, micro worms, and assorted fry powder. After a couple of weeks they graduated to flake. They were about .5” when spit, so the transition was fairly easy.
I have not yet had another spawn. I have seen them holding however. It seems that the male’s harassment precludes a long holding period. I have tried various combinations of males, females, dither fish, tanks, etc., but I am still hoping for the next batch.
