Apistt_ed
New Member
- Messages
- 465
ok, the thing is that I have always heard of subdominant males showing female coloration, behavior, and so on in the presence of the dominant male but have never witnessed it before... until now!
situation goes:
I purchased some triple red cacatuoides (3males/2females) from a friend about 5months ago who had bought them from David Soares before that. Of the 3 males, they were of different sizes ranging from a really really old male nearing 4 inches, one that was just about 2 1/4 inches, and a very little male what was about a little over an inch and a half. well, the old male died about a month after and the middle one became king of the 90 gallon tank they were in. The little male disappeared during this time in the tank and I feared for the worse but not long after, he resurfaced and had grown a significant amount in less than 4 weeks. It wasn't long till I had fry from one of the females and the dominant male but they were all loss due to my corys and pleco. After not long, I separated them and put them into a breeder tank. In about a week period, the small male had become quite aggressive towards the remaining last female that was in the tank ( seemed like typical spawning behavior). At the time of the first spawning in the tank, both females showed bright yellow coloration and courted the dominant male, but when the breeding pair was removed out of the tank there was one last female with the remaining male in the 90gal. To my surprise, by the time I had fry from the separated pair and they were freeswimming (about a 3week period) I had two males in the 90gal tank! I guess that would be the reason for all the squabbling! The one remaining female was a male!! It showed yellow and everything!! I couldn't believe it. I thought it was a mistake... but it's true, now I have only one female! (besides the young one's which are in their own growout tank.) Is this really common or was it just my luck as usual? just wondering.
situation goes:
I purchased some triple red cacatuoides (3males/2females) from a friend about 5months ago who had bought them from David Soares before that. Of the 3 males, they were of different sizes ranging from a really really old male nearing 4 inches, one that was just about 2 1/4 inches, and a very little male what was about a little over an inch and a half. well, the old male died about a month after and the middle one became king of the 90 gallon tank they were in. The little male disappeared during this time in the tank and I feared for the worse but not long after, he resurfaced and had grown a significant amount in less than 4 weeks. It wasn't long till I had fry from one of the females and the dominant male but they were all loss due to my corys and pleco. After not long, I separated them and put them into a breeder tank. In about a week period, the small male had become quite aggressive towards the remaining last female that was in the tank ( seemed like typical spawning behavior). At the time of the first spawning in the tank, both females showed bright yellow coloration and courted the dominant male, but when the breeding pair was removed out of the tank there was one last female with the remaining male in the 90gal. To my surprise, by the time I had fry from the separated pair and they were freeswimming (about a 3week period) I had two males in the 90gal tank! I guess that would be the reason for all the squabbling! The one remaining female was a male!! It showed yellow and everything!! I couldn't believe it. I thought it was a mistake... but it's true, now I have only one female! (besides the young one's which are in their own growout tank.) Is this really common or was it just my luck as usual? just wondering.
