What's new
TerraForums Venus Flytrap, Nepenthes, Drosera and more talk

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Updates on the ivory montys

  • Thread starter Nflytrap
  • Start date
Just for an update. The males now all have little swords with pigment on them now. No color in the dorsal yet. Wonder when they will get that?


The final count is 2 females.
 
Took a few pics today! The male is awesome! I feel kinda bad taking the pics as it makes it harder to watch the incredible display! The spotted dorsal fin is pretty high now! Gotta love the spots!

moty.jpg

"Hey! Don't run away yet! I'm not finished..."


dorsal.jpg

"Hah! Gotcha! Can't run away like that!"

shwoff.jpg

"As you can see, I'm the best guy in this tank.......Hey! Where are you going!"

mmm.jpg

One of the young males. He reminds me of a nezzie swordtail with that little sword. Hard to imagine he will someday be as big as the male in the tank!

mfemale.jpg

One of the 2 females.
 
HI Nflytrap,

Great photos! They are developing well. The little female looks great. I bet its a pretty tank.

You know my large nezzie males (3") get a 2-3 inch sword that is solid orange and slightly makes a gently sloping curve up. Big nezzies are quite a sight -- spotted and unspotted. They behave more like friendly platies than the usual more nervous swordtails.

Bobby
 
Yeah, I've seen a couple of pics of nezzie swordtails. I like the way that the sword curves upward. By all orange you mean the swords lack black pigment?
 
it has a black line on the edges. Most pics do not do the nezzies justice at all. They always show weak, small, colorless, runts. Mine are robust whoppers.

Bobby
 
Do you think I should try the 2 cull fry in the pond? If they survive, I will remove them and put in better fry. I may also add a young male. Do you have any experience with keeping them outside?

I suppose if I succeed I will have more than I know what to do with. A few people on the other forums asked if I was going to sell or trade any fry. I've never shipped fish before though.

Thanks!
 
Hi Nflytrap,

I would cull the bent fry. I have had 2 curved spine fry out of 100's so that gene is there. I wouldn't breed it. I would definitely put fry outside when you get some as these fish can stand temperatures down to 65F and they'll grow so well there.

Are you sure the sunfish won't eat the swords or their fry? My impression of sunfish is that they are terrible carivors. Is this a drawf species?

I hope you can get alot of fry and send the monties around. If you have the sunfish in the tank, you may have to set up a separate tank for the females to be placed to drop their fry.

Sorry no digi camera -- no camera! My set-up is nothing special -- very functional. There are three 55's, one 58, four 30 longs, two 29's, and fifteen 10's -- 25 tanks. I have 30 empty tanks in the garage if I need more. All the tanks are on 2 tank holding wrought iron standard stands. They are either black bottom or have an ultra thin layer of natural gravel. All thanks have plants but they are in clay pots, on drift wood or floating. That's really it. Most tanks are breeding colonies are raising tanks so they are designed for easy fast cleaning, water changes and growing fry.

How is that thin leaf hygro I snet you doing? Looks like my narrow leaf java fern survived the velvet's salt bath -- thank goodness.

I moved some Gnatholebias zonatus fry out of their hatching container yesterday and I thought there were only 9 fry but there were 16. If you've never seen a zonatus photo look it up -- a large beauty from Venezuela. The eggs take 5 months to develop -- or longer.

Bobby
 
The sunfish I told you about is a smaller species. It grows to only about 3inches. According to the owner, they are pretty close in temperament to dwarf cichlids, but are only aggressive during breeding season. I'll be getting 6 little juvies. They probably will eat fry, but I doubt they will be very efficient. I hope to try them outside when I get more...and pass them around a bit if I'm successful.

I believe by dwarfs you are talking about Elassoma. These guys are really small...like 1 1/2inch or so in size. If you ever have any tank space, I would say to give them a try. I'd be willing to bet that if you started with juvies you would have pretty good luck.


Today, the female you sent has a flat belly(from a very plump one yesterday). I've looked around and have seen fry twice. I think they may be premature...as there bellies were pretty large and they hadn't filled there swimbladders when I saw them. So far, I've only seen the fry twice, so I think that a pretty good portion were eaten by the adults. Maybe I'll have to add more cover...right now the cover is mostly superficial.

The narrow leaf hygro is growing quite well. However, some of the leaves that were on when they were shipped now have lots of holes in them like they've been skeletonized. I have ramshorns, but I'm not sure if they are doing the damage. I've also thought about nutrient deficiency.

The java fern is doing well

I'll keep you updated.
 
Maybe put the female in one of those net brooder things inside the tank next time?
 
  • #10
Pretty sure that would only make it worse. Being trapped in the netbrooder is very stressful and the female will usually make frantic attemps to escape. Many sites say that this often causes premature births.


I will be observing the tank carefully for any more signs of fry.
 
  • #11
HI Nflytrap,


The holes may be from the snails. Ramshorns are not bad but do nibble, plus stem plants always have ugly bottom leaves without CO2 injection. I hope the fry absorbed their yoke sacs and are now swimming. Until the tank gets well populated, monties are not bad fry eaters. Hang in there, you'll get fry.

Bobby
 
  • #12
Spotted one fry swimming in the water column today. I think it still had a yoke sack, otherwise it found a LOT of goodies in my tank! Maybe so, cause I've actually seen cyclops darting around in the java moss on the left side of the tank where few fish go.
 
  • #13
Just looked up Gnatholebias. Very impressive! Doesn't look liek a good starter killie though...LOL


Do you own any of the cynolebias species? I heard some of them can tolerate cooler temps(one that comesinto mind is C. nigripinnis and C. bellotii). Annual killies sound very interesting...esp how they spawn. Besides aplocheilus, jordanellae, and lucania goodei, i have no experience with killifish. The only one I bred and raised fry from was the A. lineatus. My male American Flagfish was brutally murdered by the female(wel...thats the best suspect) and I only have one male lucania goodei(bluefin killifish).
 
  • #14
Bobby: Well...right now at LEAST 10 fry are swimming around in this tank. I took the count from the ones swimming in the water-who knows how many are swimming on the edges of the java moss foreground(btw, though I have said it already, that portion you gave was very generous...still havent used it all and it covers half the foreground)! They have been eating frozen BBs...along with the adults. I hope to get a hatchery made and get some eggs. I have seen cyclopeeze at my LFS, so I may also give that a try.

As for the "juvies" they are doing quite well. both females are now fat and carrying a load of fry. I hope that doesn't stop them from growing larger though! In the future, I hope to do as you suggested and seperate young females and grow the to full size before allowing them to mate. But I doubt that ever happens in the wild.

The young males now have the first row of dashes on there dorsals, which are now higher than the young females. It is still hard to believe the robust looking young will soon take the form of the adult male in the tank. They now pose stiff competition for the adult male, and I have seen them mate with the young females. Its funny how hard the male works to keep that from happening. Should one of the young males raise his dorsal fin and start strutting anywhere in his field of view, he will raise his and chase the male for about a foot before returning to his business.

I managed to remove one of the culls, and decided to do an hardiness test. My ten gallon fry tank currently has live food in the form of little(prolly 2 week old) bullfrog tadpoles. The hets enjoy attacking them and tearing them up like little piranhas. The little swordtail survived and did quite well in this rather dirty tank for 2 days before I decided to feed him to one of my firebelly newts. The other one is too smart. The branches and dense planting prevent me from netting anywhere other than the very front of the tank.

If I get a good number of fry, I will try some in the pond. I might also put a young male in there too.

Thanks for all the help! I think you have managed to set up yet another colony of these wonderful fish.
 
  • #15
Hi Nflytrap,

This is great news. With any luck the next batch won't be too long and in a few months you will know the fun of overpopulation. All my little monties are sexed out too and looking good. I'm especially excited by a couple of particularly big nezzie males developing -- very nice.

The Velifera mollies are doing great and eat like pigs. They are so much thicker than domestic mollies and the long dorsal fin base is very evident. Hopefully the petenensis will come next week.

I sent a friend some Phalloceros and all arrived well, so hopefully that will become a colony.

Gnatholebias are easy to keep and breed but the peat is difficult to incubate as it needs a constant 80F for 5 months plus you need to wet it for an hour at 4 months and then redry and hatch at 5 months and at 6 months. Eggs can take 9 months to hatch. Plus they have horrible sex ratios. My 15 fry look to be 13 males and 2 females -- ugh! They are a big gorgeous peaceful fish though that just love fruit flies!

I have Simpsonichthys whitei right now which was a Cynolebias for 50 years. It is from Brazil and this is a new population a friend collected last year. The breeders are F1's. I hope they are prolific as usual and I should have 100's in 2 months! Whitei is a great beginner's annual. They are a beauty.

I also have what was once called Cynolebias lacortei and is now in a new genus something like Macroara or the like. It is a beauty and very weird looking -- look it up on the South American Annual site or cynolebias group on Yahoo. It is named after my old friend and the world's greatest breeder of all kinds of tropical fish Rosario LaCorte. Nemobrycon lacortei is also named for him -- the Rainbow Emperor Tetra, a real gem. Emperor Tets are great plant tank fish.

Nigripinnis and bellottii can take near freezing weather as they come from Argentina. They like temperatures in the 50's and 60's part of the year but breed better in the 70's. They need to be hatched in cool water and not raised too warm. They have been collected from iced over ponds in Argentina. There is no prettier fish than a good male nigripinnis. Stunning. Like stars on a dark night.

Read the Beginner's Guide on the AKA webpage for a good intro to killie keeping.

Boy you should see the F. fallax now. Some of the males are stunning and 2 orange males did appear among all the yellows. I also cured the other batch of velvet but lost the plants in the tank from all the salt.

I'm getting some new young Scriptoaphyosemion (Roloffia) "calabarica" killies as the pairs I had refused to breed. Once a month the females would just dump their eggs unfertilized in a big clump -- very strange behavior for killies. The females hated the males and the males gave up chasing them. I have never seen this in almost 40 years of killie keeping.

My Malpulutta kretseri gouramis refuse to breed. They are a very very very shy species but quite delicately beautiful. I don't know the problem still working on it.

Glad the java moss did so well. You have mean Hets! I'd leave 3-4 male swords in the tank and put the rest outside to see. Of course catching them will be a female.

Bobby
 
  • #17
[b said:
Quote[/b] (biggun110 @ June 29 2004,11:24)]Hi Nflytrap,

    This is great news. With any luck the next batch won't be too long and in a few months you will know the fun of overpopulation. All my little monties are sexed out too and looking good. I'm especially excited by a couple of particularly big nezzie males developing -- very nice.

The Velifera mollies are doing great and eat like pigs. They are so much thicker than domestic mollies and the long dorsal fin base is very evident. Hopefully the petenensis will come next week.

I sent a friend some Phalloceros and all arrived well, so hopefully that will become a colony.

Gnatholebias are easy to keep and breed but the peat is difficult to incubate as it needs a constant 80F for 5 months plus you need to wet it for an hour at 4 months and then redry and hatch at 5 months and at 6 months. Eggs can take 9 months to hatch. Plus they have horrible sex ratios. My 15 fry look to be 13 males and 2 females -- ugh! They are a big gorgeous peaceful fish though that just love fruit flies!

I have Simpsonichthys whitei right now which was a Cynolebias for 50 years. It is from Brazil and this is a new population a friend collected last year. The breeders are F1's. I hope they are prolific as usual and I should have 100's in 2 months! Whitei is a great beginner's annual. They are a beauty.

I also have what was once called Cynolebias lacortei and is now in a new genus something like Macroara or the like. It is a beauty and very weird looking -- look it up on the South American Annual site or cynolebias group on Yahoo. It is named after my old friend and the world's greatest breeder of all kinds of tropical fish Rosario LaCorte. Nemobrycon lacortei is also named for him -- the Rainbow Emperor Tetra, a real gem. Emperor Tets are great plant tank fish.

Nigripinnis and bellottii can take near freezing weather as they come from Argentina. They like temperatures in the 50's and 60's part of the year but breed better in the 70's. They need to be hatched in cool water and not raised too warm. They have been collected from iced over ponds in Argentina. There is no prettier fish than a good male nigripinnis. Stunning. Like stars on a dark night.

Read the Beginner's Guide on the AKA webpage for a good intro to killie keeping.

Boy you should see the F. fallax now. Some of the males are stunning and 2 orange males did appear among all the yellows. I also cured the other batch of velvet but lost the plants in the tank from all the salt.

I'm getting some new young Scriptoaphyosemion (Roloffia) "calabarica" killies as the pairs I had refused to breed. Once a month the females would just dump their eggs unfertilized in a big clump -- very strange behavior for killies. The females hated the males and the males gave up chasing them. I have never seen this in almost 40 years of killie keeping.

My Malpulutta kretseri gouramis refuse to breed. They are a very very very shy species but quite delicately beautiful. I don't know the problem still working on it.

Glad the java moss did so well. You have mean Hets! I'd leave 3-4 male swords in the tank and put the rest outside to see. Of course catching them will be a female.

Bobby
I'll break this up into little bits.

[b said:
Quote[/b] ]This is great news. With any luck the next batch won't be too long and in a few months you will know the fun of overpopulation. All my little monties are sexed out too and looking good. I'm especially excited by a couple of particularly big nezzie males developing -- very nice
Yup...the young females are quite plump, And I'm guessing maybe 2 weeks till they both drop fry! They are pretty small, so I think I will only get around 15-20 and then you have to subtract the dumb ones that can't run fast enough.

Btw, do any of your young male montys show vertical bars above the stripes on their sides(the dorsolateral stripe?)? I'm guessing its just a teen thing, as the male you sent me has no sign of them. I'm watching one of my young males in particular, he is the largest, and yet his dorsal fin hasn't developed and he still looks much like a juvie. I wonder how big he will be?

Also, I remember you mentioning that the male you sent was still young and hadn't grown the full length of his sword and dorsal. When will he be at his prime? Both(but most noticeably the dorsal) have grown quite a bit since you sent him(as you saw from the pics).

Good luck with those nezzies! I agree that late bloomers are always exciting. I had some with petstore swordtails, but it was usually the difference between a 1 inch male to a 1 1/2 to 2 inch one...LOL

[b said:
Quote[/b] ]The Velifera mollies are doing great and eat like pigs. They are so much thicker than domestic mollies and the long dorsal fin base is very evident. Hopefully the petenensis will come next week.

Great to know! If you ever get a camera, I want to see pics! I've seen supposed Velifera online, and the dorsal size varies quite a bit-from the same size as a nice male latipinna, to a huge sail that actually peaks in the middle.

BTw, did you see the wild molly auction(I believe in was caucana...not sure) on aquabid? Went up in flames! They didn't exactly resemble mollies, maybe giant blue mosquitofish with a cool dorsal-but that was enough to perk interest.

[b said:
Quote[/b] ]I sent a friend some Phalloceros and all arrived well, so hopefully that will become a colony
Sounds good. They sound very nice to keep. What I really like about livebearers is maintaining a colony, and having members grow mature, and reproduce in the same tank.



[b said:
Quote[/b] ]Gnatholebias are easy to keep and breed but the peat is difficult to incubate as it needs a constant 80F for 5 months plus you need to wet it for an hour at 4 months and then redry and hatch at 5 months and at 6 months. Eggs can take 9 months to hatch. Plus they have horrible sex ratios. My 15 fry look to be 13 males and 2 females -- ugh! They are a big gorgeous peaceful fish though that just love fruit flies!

I have Simpsonichthys whitei right now which was a Cynolebias for 50 years. It is from Brazil and this is a new population a friend collected last year. The breeders are F1's. I hope they are prolific as usual and I should have 100's in 2 months! Whitei is a great beginner's annual. They are a beauty.

Wow...the hatching process sounds pretty complicated for the gnatholebias. Not only do you have to keep them dry for a few months, then you wet them at the proper time and then wait some more. Do you ever have trouble with your bags of egg drying up while in "storage"? I've seen pics of Whitei, nice lookers. Dunno where I would ever find most kinds of killies though, and i'm not sure if I would be comfy starting from eggs.

[b said:
Quote[/b] ]I also have what was once called Cynolebias lacortei and is now in a new genus something like Macroara or the like. It is a beauty and very weird looking -- look it up on the South American Annual site or cynolebias group on Yahoo. It is named after my old friend and the world's greatest breeder of all kinds of tropical fish Rosario LaCorte. Nemobrycon lacortei is also named for him -- the Rainbow Emperor Tetra, a real gem. Emperor Tets are great plant tank fish.

Nigripinnis and bellottii can take near freezing weather as they come from Argentina. They like temperatures in the 50's and 60's part of the year but breed better in the 70's. They need to be hatched in cool water and not raised too warm. They have been collected from iced over ponds in Argentina. There is no prettier fish than a good male nigripinnis. Stunning. Like stars on a dark night.
Wow! Thats pretty cool! I've seen pictures of that species of tetra in the books, but only Emperor tetras in life. I'll have to look up the "Macroara"...splitters in control? LOL

Have you seen the nigripinnis in life? Again, only pictures for me. Yeah, the book quoted someone who described them as"like stars in a summer night". Gorgeous fish. I bet that you could even do an "annual pond". Line the bottom with peat and/or cocofiber, and simply allow it to dry up after your fish spawn themselves out. Keep it moist while there is no water, and at the right add water and instant fish! Or maybe just wait for it to rain.


[b said:
Quote[/b] ]Boy you should see the F. fallax now. Some of the males are stunning and 2 orange males did appear among all the yellows. I also cured the other batch of velvet but lost the plants in the tank from all the salt.

I'm getting some new young Scriptoaphyosemion (Roloffia) "calabarica" killies as the pairs I had refused to breed. Once a month the females would just dump their eggs unfertilized in a big clump -- very strange behavior for killies. The females hated the males and the males gave up chasing them. I have never seen this in almost 40 years of killie keeping.

Actually, I have never seen them! LOL *nudge*

Don't other "killies" normally lay clumps of eggs. What pops into mind is the medaka.

[b said:
Quote[/b] ]My Malpulutta kretseri gouramis refuse to breed. They are a very very very shy species but quite delicately beautiful. I don't know the problem still working on it.

You're very lucky to own those guys. I couldn't give any suggestions besides the obvious stuff like"Do they have a place to spawn? Is the water soft and acidic?" but I do wish you luck! Perhaps I will see their descendants someday.
smile.gif


[b said:
Quote[/b] ] Glad the java moss did so well. You have mean Hets! I'd leave 3-4 male swords in the tank and put the rest outside to see. Of course catching them will be a female.

Its growing nicely. Yesterday I was adding laterite to the tank and since I had to stir up the sand, the tank was pretty cloudy(the laterite wasn't as bad as I expected actually). The java moss in the foreground looks like it has been sprinkled with brown snow. Hope to get rid of that soon.

lol about the mean hets. Would you believe they fight over food? If you put lots of food in the same spot, the females will often try to defend it. They lighten to a golden color, raise their fins, puff their cheeks, and circle and "charge" each other(no damage though). Its pretty amusing because while 2 or 3 fish are doing battle, everyone else is gobbling the food. Often, when the victor chases the loser away, the loser comes back after a minute or two to help herself to the food while the winner is still chasing the other fish. Even little 3 mm long fry show this behavior.


BTw, do you have any suggestions on catching them? They may be even harder than a CAE to catch! Fast, and unlike most fish, seem to be able to think ahead(very helpful when you are trapped in a corner and one net is billowed out and another one is coming towards you and you realize that you can go up!)...
mad.gif
I tried the classic jar on a string trap, but they didn't bite. Any suggestions?

Thanks! I really enjoy finding out what progress your specimens are making.
 
  • #18
I just noticed 2 sets of 35 nigripinnis eggs on aquabid. Very interesting.
 
  • #19
[Quote ]

Yup...the young females are quite plump, And I'm guessing maybe 2 weeks till they both drop fry! They are pretty small, so I think I will only get around 15-20 and then you have to subtract the dumb ones that can't run fast enough.

[/quote]

My young females are filling up too. I culled down to the next generation this week -- about 7 pairs. The males do seem to have less black than their parents, so maybe they are reverting. I'd love to see a male as thick as the photo Marlin uses. Monties are not bad fry eaters so you may be surprized.

[b said:
Quote[/b] ]
Btw, do any of your young male montys show vertical bars above the stripes on their sides(the dorsolateral stripe?)? I'm guessing its just a teen thing, as the male you sent me has no sign of them. I'm watching one of my young males in particular, he is the largest, and yet his dorsal fin hasn't developed and he still looks much like a juvie. I wonder how big he will be?

Yes, I have seen those. Nezzies really have them and they can stay on them. Breed the big male and each generation will get larger.

[b said:
Quote[/b] ]
Also, I remember you mentioning that the male you sent was still young and hadn't grown the full length of his sword and dorsal. When will he be at his prime? Both(but most noticeably the dorsal) have grown quite a bit since you sent him(as you saw from the pics).

He is a year old now so should be maxed out. Some color in the dorsal may still develop. Size should be at max.

[b said:
Quote[/b] ]
Good luck with those nezzies! I agree that late bloomers are always exciting. I had some with petstore swordtails, but it was usually the difference between a 1 inch male to a 1 1/2 to 2 inch one...LOL

I had a strain of hi fin lyretail swords that got to be 5 inches on the females and 4 inches on the males. I had it for 7 generations before it crapped out genetically. Boy they were fine. The hi fins were huge full triangles that flowed past the caudal fins. It was a lucky cross on my part. They sold in shops here for $25 a pair.



[b said:
Quote[/b] ]
Great to know! If you ever get a camera, I want to see pics! I've seen supposed Velifera online, and the dorsal size varies quite a bit-from the same size as a nice male latipinna, to a huge sail that actually peaks in the middle.

The best photo of a true wild velifera is in the old Innes book EXOTIC AQURIUM FISHES. Most domestic sailfins are velifera based crosses but the real article is bigger, thicker, more colorful and has a huge teacup shaped dorsal fin. I'm waiting on the replacement petenensis. I'm going to be devoting alot of tanks to these so I can raise them right and distribute them. The killies will be phased down for a while.

[b said:
Quote[/b] ]
BTw, did you see the wild molly auction(I believe in was caucana...not sure) on aquabid? Went up in flames! They didn't exactly resemble mollies, maybe giant blue mosquitofish with a cool dorsal-but that was enough to perk interest.

The best shenops type wild species is P. orri. It can be gorgeous -- as well as salvatoris.


[b said:
Quote[/b] ]
Sounds good. They sound very nice to keep. What I really like about livebearers is maintaining a colony, and having members grow mature, and reproduce in the same tank.

Yes like keeping guppies only that look like tiny marble mollies with a gold body. I love the little guys. They have huge gonopodiums!


[b said:
Quote[/b] ]
Wow...the hatching process sounds pretty complicated for the gnatholebias. Not only do you have to keep them dry for a few months, then you wet them at the proper time and then wait some more. Do you ever have trouble with your bags of egg drying up while in "storage"? I've seen pics of Whitei, nice lookers. Dunno where I would ever find most kinds of killies though, and i'm not sure if I would be comfy starting from eggs.

Yes, you have to check the bags every week to check moisture and add a bit at times as the bags breathe and the peat dries. I leave my peat just a hair damper than most to give me some wiggle room here. Northern California has great killie guys. Sacramento may have a club. Check the AKA homepage. I think Roger Brousseau lives there or Fresno and he is a great Cynolebias, Gnatholebias breeder and has a whole book on them. Look him up and tell him I sent you. He has collected Gnatholebias many times in Venezuela over the years. Eggs are a great way to go if from a good source. Killie fry must have live baby brine shrimp to grow well.


[b said:
Quote[/b] ]
Wow! Thats pretty cool! I've seen pictures of that species of tetra in the books, but only Emperor tetras in life. I'll have to look up the "Macroara"...splitters in control? LOL

Oh, Rainbow Emperor are gorgeous and few photos really capture them. Emperors are all great fish and easy to breed in soft acid water. They will colony breed with tons of java moss.

[b said:
Quote[/b] ]
Have you seen the nigripinnis in life? Again, only pictures for me. Yeah, the book quoted someone who described them as"like stars in a summer night". Gorgeous fish. I bet that you could even do an "annual pond". Line the bottom with peat and/or cocofiber, and simply allow it to dry up after your fish spawn themselves out. Keep it moist while there is no water, and at the right add water and instant fish! Or maybe just wait for it to rain.

I used to raise 100's of nigripinnis years ago but the summer heat was tough as it caused them to become belly sliders sometimes. You can pool breed annual killies. Just put big tubs of peat moss for them to breed in and keep the bottom bare. Collect the peat and store. Trying the natural way would probably fail. The fish will get huge and colorful outside.


[b said:
Quote[/b] ]
Actually, I have never seen them! LOL *nudge*

Did you want some fallax?

[b said:
Quote[/b] ]
Don't other "killies" normally lay clumps of eggs. What pops into mind is the medaka.

Medakas do but most killies lay one or two eggs at a time.


[b said:
Quote[/b] ]
You're very lucky to own those guys. I couldn't give any suggestions besides the obvious stuff like"Do they have a place to spawn? Is the water soft and acidic?" but I do wish you luck! Perhaps I will see their descendants someday.

After waiting 30 years! Water is very soft and acid. I will heat them up to 85F and add floating film containers which they supposedly like for a nest. I was trying pots.


[b said:
Quote[/b] ]
lol about the mean hets. Would you believe they fight over food? If you put lots of food in the same spot, the females will often try to defend it. They lighten to a golden color, raise their fins, puff their cheeks, and circle and "charge" each other(no damage though). Its pretty amusing because while 2 or 3 fish are doing battle, everyone else is gobbling the food. Often, when the victor chases the loser away, the loser comes back after a minute or two to help herself to the food while the winner is still chasing the other fish. Even little 3 mm long fry show this behavior.

So have you seen them doing their weird egg laying ritual?

[b said:
Quote[/b] ]
BTw, do you have any suggestions on catching them? They may be even harder than a CAE to catch! Fast, and unlike most fish, seem to be able to think ahead(very helpful when you are trapped in a corner and one net is billowed out and another one is coming towards you and you realize that you can go up!)... I tried the classic jar on a string trap, but they didn't bite. Any suggestions?

Drain the tank low? Use your hands to corral them toward the net. Get up at night turn on the light in the dark and get them sleeping.

Well, that's all. Today was harvesting and drying peat moss from everyone. It all looked to be full of eggs. We have a killie show this weekend. I hope to see some cool fish.

Take care.

Bobby
 
  • #20
Bobby[/quote]
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]Yes, I have seen those. Nezzies really have them and they can stay on them. Breed the big male and each generation will get larger.

The young males are often using sneak mating tactics, which seem more effective than displaying. I'm thinking of removing some to the pond, but i'm unsure of what to do with the smaller males. Perhaps do a cross of some sort? Have you ever tried crossing montezumae into highfin or lyretail swordtails?

[b said:
Quote[/b] ]He is a year old now so should be maxed out. Some color in the dorsal may still develop. Size should be at max.

Thats pretty impressive. My cruddy(but hardy) petstore strain swordtails seldom lived over 1 year and a half, and by that time you could tell they were winded. They were at there prime in 6-7 months...diss of being tiny I guess.

[b said:
Quote[/b] ]Northern California has great killie guys. Sacramento may have a club. Check the AKA homepage. I think Roger Brousseau lives there or Fresno and he is a great Cynolebias, Gnatholebias breeder and has a whole book on them. Look him up and tell him I sent you. He has collected Gnatholebias many times in Venezuela over the years. Eggs are a great way to go if from a good source. Killie fry must have live baby brine shrimp to grow well.

I've seen BBS in little vials and in cans. How long does the smallest can last? I assume if you arent fast enough you will have a whole bunch of "mummies". Guess I will find him in the phonebook...or do you have an email? Do you know of any club situated in Fresno?

[b said:
Quote[/b] ]After waiting 30 years! Water is very soft and acid. I will heat them up to 85F and add floating film containers which they supposedly like for a nest. I was trying pots.

I heard that they often spawn under cryptocryne leaves. I spawned paradise fish(first egglayer!) under a lid from a yogurt container. Only diss was that it tended to tip and eject parts of the nest. I wish I could try P. dayii, but i'm short on room as of now.

[b said:
Quote[/b] ]So have you seen them doing their weird egg laying ritual?

Hets laying eggs? Naw...Whats it like?

I will try the nighttime stalking thing on the cull and some smaller males. That cull is starting to make me mad...eating so much!


Also, after SIX days in the mail, the bluespotted sunnies finally arrived. The guy on the other end made a bit of a mistake and sent them out on wednesday(he normally only ships on Monday). They didn't arrive on friday or Saturday...and Sunday and 4th of July holiday added another 2 days.

Luckily almost everyone made it, and he through in tons of extras. I think I have at least 8...counting juvies. 3 died on the way, one larger juvie and 2 small ones. I've managed to get them to eat live blackworms and frozen bloodworms. He also stuck in a tadpole madtom(basically a mini(2inches...will grow to 4) channel cat), a central mudminnow(little relative of the pike...definetly not going in with any small fish!), and a tesselated darter(but this one died on the way). None of the extras are in with the monties.


Thanks! Go ahead and give me a report on the show-never been to one. You entering any of your fish?
 
Back
Top