Chromidotilapia guentheri guentheri questions

[dfea]

Hi All,

I have a group of 8 C. guentheri guentheri which I adopted from a friend. I would like to determine the sex of each. In the group I have 1 obvious pair (as they spawned) so using them as my reference, I noted that the male has a fine red stripe on the edge of his dorsal fin while the female has a bit heavier iridescent stripe on the edge of her dorsal. As 5 of the group have red while 3 have iridescent, does this denote the sexes?

If not how can I tell?

Thanks for any help - Dan

 

[tjudy]

Yes.. you have figured out how to sex them. Females will also stay a bit smaller than the males and have more rounded fins. Different location varieties have varying amounts of iridescence, but since wild fish rarely get imported it is not likely that you would have one of the few populations in which the males have some iridescence.

 

[dfea]

Great Thankyou,

I assume 5 males to 3 females isn't a good ratio, should I consider separating any of the males? I was thinking I should wait to see if any additional pairs formed first. A couple of the males are smaller so I am guessing that they wouldn't be ready to pair anyway.

Thanks again - Dan

 

[tjudy]

In my experience, unless the tank is very large a breeding pair will harass the other fish enough to where they will not form other pairs. I would separate the nonbreeding fish if you want more pairs.

 

[dfea]

Ah, they didn't seam too bad on the first spawn but I'll take your advice.

I have them in a 150 gallon right now.

Thanks - Dan

 

[tjudy]

That's plenty big! No worroes. I had my group in a 40 breeder, and the breedign male was pushing 6"... he is a bit of bully.

 

[dfea]

Ok, so they are good. I am hoping for at least one more pair from the group.

Your male must be something, my breeding male is about 4 1/2 to 5 inches. The other males are a only around 2 to 3 inches.

- Dan

 

[dfea]

I need some advice on moving my breeding pair.

They are currently in (believe it or not) a community tank. To be honest I wasn't expecting them to spawn. This tank is set up with overflows and sump filtration which is obviously not good for fry. I learned this the hard way by losing an entire clutch of 70+. I would like to move the breeding pair into their own tank and use a sponge filter if they spawn again, I have a 40 breeder available. Sponging the community is not feasible as it is a 150 gallon.

They appear to be getting ready for another spawn, should I wait for the spawn? move prior to spawn? If after the spawn, I assume I want to wait until after the fry are released so as not to stress the father into swallowing the eggs, or is there still a potential for him to swallow the fry?

Ted mentioned that he had your group in the same size tank, should I move any others with them or move them alone. Should it be a CGG specific tank or should any others go with them.

Any other advice would also be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for any help - Dan

 

[tjudy]

Moving fish is going to disrupt them, regardless of when you do it. So the choice is really whether the eminent spawn is important to you (don't move them till after they have spawned and gotten the fry to free swimming), or if moving the pair into their own tank so that they can raise the fry with less stress is mor important. If the latter, then you can expect toe delay a spawn for a month or so whil the pair settles in.

I keep a pair in a 40 breeder with a school of African Red-eye tetras. When the cichlid spawn the tetras lose a few scales. But these are large, robust tetras that can take a bit of a beating. In a large tank like yours a pair can probably sapwn and raise fry without difficulty. Once they are free swimming the other fish may snack on them. This species protects fry for a long time after free swimming. You can startle the parents into picking up the fry, netting them out and then stripping the fry from them.

 

[dfea]

Thanks Ted, I was hoping they could raise the fry where they were but lost the entire clutch in 2 days. They were just a week old (post free swimming) when they vanished. I assume it to be the filter as I found a few in the overflow and the parents always seemed to be releasing them not to far from it. Additionally they were VERY good at keep their tankmates away.

- Dan

 

[dfea]

Are these truely C guntheri guntheri

Hello All,

After finally getting a copy of Dr. Lamboj's book, I am starting to wonder if my C. guntheri guntheri are what I was told. I got them from a friend. Can someone either confirm or correct me on what these fish are.

Here are some pictures of my breeding pair. All pictures are of the same to fish.

Thanks - Dan

 

[tjudy]

Yes, they are C. guentheri guentheri. It is a highly variable species and the few images in Anton's book barely scratch the surface of its diversity. Noce looking fish you have.

 

[dfea]

Awesome, once again Thank you Ted.

- Dan