hemichromis problem

[Chugger]

I have 16 hemichromis lifalili(german breed) in a 55 gal tank, i have so many cause i bought them off aquabid, i had even more , but gave some away, which if you live near philly let me know i still want to get rid of more, any way here's the prob these fish have been in the tank, for almost a year and r full grown, but not a single pair has emerged, im surprise they dont kill each other, but im more surprised i cant get a pair, now since there german breed, they have been domesticated and it's harder to determine the sexs, which in wild pairs or any of the f's isn't that hard, does anyone have any idea on what to do do to get a pair

 

[tjudy]

I suspect that there are too many in the tank. Sometimes fish that are territorial cannot defend a large enough space to make them comfortable enough to breed. Moving about half of them out would probably solve the problem. I would keep the four largest and the four smallest in hopes of having males and females in the group.

 

[retro_gk]

Did you try venting them?

 

[Chugger]

whats venting them? i'll try it

 

[tjudy]

Venting is looking at the vent of the fish. The anatomical differences between males and females can sometimes be seen. Females have two round openings, the anterior one is the egg tube and the posterior one the anus. Males have a narrower opening anterior to the anus. Sometimes it is hard to distinguish if you do not have a male and female to compare to each other. It would look something like this:

female: 0 O

male: > O

with the anus being the O ...

If you have a pair of larger cichlids that you know are male and female, take a look at them first and will be able to see the difference. If the fish are smaller, or not actively breeding, a pair of cheap magnifying reading glasses will help.

 

[retro_gk]

I think you got it upside down, Ted. The vent is posterior to the anus.

Head-pelvic fins-anus-vent-anal fin-tail

The shape is as Ted illustrated.

 

[tjudy]

Yep... opposite what i said. Anus is in front. I do not vent.. or at least I have not in many years.

 

[retro_gk]

You can't vent egg-scatterers anyway

 

[tjudy]

My eyesight is not what it used to be. I never had much luck venting small cichlids, especially if they were not breeding.

 

[Randall]

Sexing Hemichromis spp.

Hello Chugger,

If you care to send me a photo or photos of the fish in question, I'll sex them for you.

Good luck!

Randall Kohn

 

[Chugger]

thanks

i'll get on that, but im telling you it's real hard with these guys, im usually pretty good at it