female borellii

[medge00]

Hello all. this is one of my first posts, I've been lurking for sometime. i've got heavily planted tanks and am just getting into apistos...

here's my question: i have two female borellii. they are normally quite yellow, but recently one has turned completely bright yellow. I would assume this is a breeding thing, but there's no male. he died within in days of me getting him (a month ago), i'm waiting on a replacement from the store (taking entirely too long). are female borelli normally so yellow? i was under the impression they were kinda grayish when not mating or anything. is this a fish that will lay eggs even without the presence of a male? by the way i'm not complaining, they are a stunning little duo.

i just feel like my females are ready! where's my male? LOL

 

[fishboy20]

they are probably ready to spawn. ive had the females spawn before without a male before. sounds like you need a male. you might check with neil here on this site for acquiring one. he might be able to special ship some to you. ive got a bunch of fry but they arent ready yet. plus i need to keep some for future breeders. be aware when they do spawn that male:female ratio has been linked to pH values. with most apistos it is temperature but not in this species. good luck, im sure someone on here has an extra male for you.

 

[Neil]

medge00,

WELCOME TO THE FORUM

Look at it this way: You have females now, waiting for a male. Consider this your breeding conditioning time. Make sure that you have appropriate, clean water. Feed the females well and with a variety of good foods. Once the male arrives, the females probably won't waste any time getting down to business.

Good luck,

Neil

 

[medge00]

LOL I wouldn't worry about their conditions. they're the most spoilt little fishes I have! they're in my 10 gal, heavily planted, they get a good variety of food (and are greedy little girls! my god!) and water changes twice a week. i find myself in fish shops all the time saying, hhmm, my borellii would love to eat that!

my rams are in a bigger tank, and are loving the new food supply. as soon as I added worms to the menu (the only got flake and the occasional shrimp before) they started breeding all over the place!

 

[medge00]

anyone know of breeders in the santa barbara, ca or so. ca area? i still can't seem to get a male borellii! my lfs gets shipments on thursdays, no male came in for me yesterday

 

[Neil]

It is a little drive, but there were some in San Jose last time I checked. Unfortunately, that was some time ago. I don't know anyone south of that and I am north of that. It is funny that there are not more stores and breeders in Southern Cal.

Neil

 

[medge00]

well, i'm going home for spring break soon, up to chico. maybe i can bring one back down with me when i come back...

 

[medge00]

I'm up in northern cali for spring break... any one know of lfs keeping borellii in the sacramento area? I'm dying to bring one back