Mating Behavior

[Paul B]

I have always said that if your fish are exhibiting mating behavior they are in the best of health. There are as many varied mating behaviors as there are fish. My fireclowns just get next to each other and shake while smacking each other with their tails, my bluestripped pipefish kind of swim parallel to each other and occasionally wrap around each other. Bangai cardinals just stay next to each other as do seahorses and the male of these gobies drag the female around in their mouth. This male has been holding (gingerly) the female by the area just before the tail for an hour. She is playing hard to get and is probably not ready to lay eggs. This pair has been laying eggs for a few years now.

Here is the female tending an earlier spawning

 

[Inconservatory]

Wow, congratulations! What do you intend to do with the fry once the parents spawn? Maybe you could give us some pointers on creating these optimal conditions.

 

[Paul B]

That is easy, you need to feed the fish some oily food like live blackworms or Salmon eggs. If you do this every day, in about two weeks they should be in breeding condition, of course you can't mate a gobi with a moorish Idol so they need a mate.

By the way, I made a mistake with that picture. That is two males. The female was laying eggs in the back of the tank and that male was carrying the other male away. It took a while to notice that.