Biotoecus sp.'Tapajos'

[ed seeley]

I ordered some of these from Mark Breeze (Microman) just over a week ago. I never got round to posting the pictures at the time!

First of all in the bag as I didn't think I'd get another picture!

The second one is a lousy photo, except for the red ventral fins. In the tank this isn't very evident on any of the fish; is it a sign of the sex of this fish?

Once in the tank they stayed still for a few minutes allowing me to snap a few more pictures.

In the last photo the smaller fish at the back is noticeably different colouring to the others. Is this probably just because it's smaller do you think or this a different sex to the larger ones? Mark reckons I got one male and three females.

Love to hear what you guys think. :biggrin:

 

[Microman]

Nice looking tank they have gone into there Ed...
You wont be able to tell sexes from those pics and at such a small size(3/4" TL) the only way to sex them is to look at the horizontal row of blue spots running along lower part of the dorsal. Spots are broken in males and merge into one another to form a continuous line in females. This is clearly visible on Romers pics of Biotoecus(see CA1 page 1009). As the fish mature you will see extended ventral and caudal filaments appear in your male which is not the case in females. I have found that both males and females can show reddish ventrals....
Good luck with them...
Mark...

 

[ed seeley]

Cheers Mark.

I remebered you saying about the blue dots/line but have only seen anything like that on the largest. I will just have to be patient, even if it's not my favourite passtime!

Cheers for your comments about the tank. Just did a trim yesterday and the tank looks like this now,

 

[ste12000]

Lovely Tank Ed..Im sure the biotoecus will settle in there nicely and you will be producing upper class dwarf cichlids soon:biggrin: :biggrin:

 

[oaken]

Nice fish and nice tank. Just got a few Biotoecus opercularis myself. Good luck with them.

 

[Apistomaster]

Beautiful planted tank. Should make them happy.
Looks like your juveniles are fragile. I know a few fellow hobbyist who have found just keeping them was hard let alone spawning them.

 

[NilsKockmann]

Nice tank

Hi there,
it truly is a beautiful setup. I got myself 2 pairs of these wonderful fish about 2 month ago. 1 pair was taking care for their fry for about 2 days before they lost all of them, but now both pairs are tending their eggs again. From my personal experience they are fairly easy to keep and they spawn very frequently. As soon as the young are swimming free this time I will separate them and try to get them to adult size in another tank.
cya,
Nils

 

[ed seeley]

Cheers guys.

Funny you should say that Apistomaster; I'm down to two now. But the two left are doing well, eating lots and seem to be spending a lot of time together with no aggro, so I'm hoping they may end up being a pair.

 

[Microman]

These Biotoecus sp Tapajos are not a fragile species from my experience if conditions are to their liking. I am not losing fish but my water conditions will most likely be alot more acidic,pH4.5-pH5.0,and softer than Eds beautifully planted tank. They do also appreciate the addition of peat or alder extract to create near natural blackwater conditions.
Hope you have a pair there ED...
Cheers,
Mark...

 

[ed seeley]

These Biotoecus sp Tapajos are not a fragile species from my experience if conditions are to their liking. I am not losing fish but my water conditions will most likely be alot more acidic,pH4.5-pH5.0,and softer than Eds beautifully planted tank. They do also appreciate the addition of peat or alder extract to create near natural blackwater conditions.
Hope you have a pair there ED...
Cheers,
Mark...

Cheers Mark. The other two seem good and tough. I am softening the water further (adding less GH booster) and laying off the ferts to reduce the TDS further. I'll check pH and hardness etc tomorrow. They are in great health and I was a little shocked when the other one simply disappeared as it gave no indication of any problems. Strange really.

 

[Apistomaster]

Hi Ed,
One lost out of three is not bad except it's effect on your chance of getting a pair.
I have not kept Biotoecus spp yet but I had a couple friend buy six each last Summer and they gave them very soft acid water but they both lost theirs' one at a time over two months.They are both skilled so I was rather looking forward to hear news of some successful spawns but they never got that far. I figured if they had trouble keeping them then they must be delicate fish. They are not very cheap so I have never tried them. I prefer more colorful dwarf Cichlid spp but they are an attractive fish; little like fishy fairies kind of beauty.