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I had just the opposite experience from Mike; iniridae have been the toughest for me by far. Also, I have found fishes of the pertensis group to be the most difficult to maintain for the long term - many years. For me I have trouble with them losing vigor after a couple of generations.
Bob
I completely agree about the need for quality females. Most of us focus on breeding the best/most colorful males. However, it is likely that the female is the most important in terms of passing on good traits.
Bob
I have the same situation with my hongsloi. The offspring fail to achieve anywhere near the colors of the parent. I have fed a variety of diets rich in color enhancing ingredients with no success. The fry I produce are very drab.
In my more cynical moments I suspect that the females provided...
I don't know how long the .pdf is but I believe the Journal article is 7 pages.
More info about the journal and issue (vol 16 #4) http://www.pfeil-verlag.de/04biol/e9902d16.php
Bob
I have been spending some time with the new DATZ book that I got from Mike Wise (I don't know if he has any left but if you didn't get one from him you should!).
One of the ideas they are advancing is the establishment of an A number system for Apistos. The thinking is that by giving every...
A new scientific study of Apistogramma mate selection has been published by Uwe Romer and Wolfgang Beisenherz in the journal "Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters". I have not read the article but have read a couple of summaries.
It seems that they placed a number of females in...
Ranch,
There are probably only a couple of options for you.
You will have the best long term success if you can remove the minerals that cause the hardness. As has been previously noted, the best method is to use a RO filter. With RO you run the water through one time and it removes much/most...
Ranch,
The reason I reccommend the Romer book is that there is no single answer to your questions about hardness. This will vary with each species. Apistos are found in whitewater, clearwater and black water. Each of these water types have different parameters that you would ideally match for...
Ranch,
To answer all of your questions I would need to write a book. Fortunately, there are already excellent books that will answer most of your questions. I recommend that you purchase the Mergus Cichlid Atlas Vol. I by Uwe Romer. This book contains the best information about keeping and...
I have great success without using co2 with:
Watersprite
Java moss
Java Fern
Anubias (several species)
several different crypts
I have had good luck in the past with wisteria.
I use fairly low light levels and only fertilize on rare occaison.
Bob
This sounds like typical behaviour to me. The dominate male is working to keep another male out of his territory and away from his harem. The displays by the female just serve to get him riled up to beat up on intruders. I believe that if any of the females are ready to spawn they will have no...
I have produced many spawns of both species. Generally I have found sex ratios to be pretty good. With subocellatus I have always been in the vicinity of 50/50.
Recently my taeniatus spawns have tended to be higher percentage male. However, I am getting at least 30% female so I am not worried...
Are you sure the eggs are not fertile? One of the things I do in situations like this is to pull a batch of eggs and try to hatch them artificially. If I get larval fry hatching I know the problem is an egg eating female not a poor male.
In my experience, the older males can lose their...
All,
Does anyone know of any good shops for unusual fish (preferably dwarfs) in Seattle or Spokane area? I will be spending a week driving around the I 90 corridor and am always looking for?
thanks
Bob
Ted has provided excellent info. Rather than repeat much of what he said I will offer a few of my ideas. I use water from the tank the fish are in but do multiple 40 - 60% changes in the days before shipping. I do add an ammonia neutralizer. I used to use poly filter pieces but I now use Amquel...
Wholesale, that's how I get rid of most of my fish. I breed and raise quite a few Dwarfs and normally don't advertise or ship to individuals. I have found it too time consuming to deal with individuals so I have a couple of places where I send almost all of my fish. In a single box I can ship up...
I do not agree with the people that are saying you cannot "fix" a strain. For many years I maintained a 100% stock of Orange Flash that I developed by selectively breeding our the double red. It took about 5 generations to get to 100% but once I did I never had anything but OF for many more...
Merry Christmas Everyone!
May your stockings be filled with the fish you've been dreaming of.
I hope Santa brings us all a world where a better life becomes more important than owning more stuff, and respect for each other becomes the cherished norm.
Peace and joy to you all.
Bob