royal gramma making nest

[tomndeb]

i have a new tank, 180 reef, 4 jaw fish ,4 gramma, set up 3 months. one gramma has torn up some halameda algae and made a nest .have they ever reproduced in captivity? what is next? do they lay egg mass or mouth breed? or do the new hatch go to top and into sump?

 

[FuEl]

Hi tomndeb, never seen grammas breed before but since they build a nest they should be benthic spawners. Hatched larvae will be positively phototactic and you can prevent them from overflowing into your sump by providing a light source at one of the bottom corners of your tank at night when you expect the hatch.

 

[tomndeb]

i guess the male is making the nest will i be able to see the eggs

 

[stykthyn]

how do you sex the grammas? I want a harem, but I have no idea how to tell them apart

 

[Peter Schmiedel]

The male builts nest form algea pices and protects the nest untile they hatch. They dont show any true and fool proof sexual difference but i alwys could tell the gender by observing their behavior and by the belly size of the femals if she is short before lying eggs. In ym case the femal was bigger.

 

[ediaz]

I bred them before

My former boss wrote this about melacarait is basically the same, it may help:

http://www.aquaria.info/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=87

Ed