ivanacara bimaculata

[rasmusW]

time for a small update...
today i got first glimpses of my pairs 3rd batch of new kids on the block... i have just caught the last ones of their previous spawn which is now at 3-3,5cm length. and is housed in the teenage tank.
this newest batch looks to be even bigger than the previous one (30 fry).
-and here's the pictures.

and here is a few, not so good pictures of the older fry.

-r

 

[anewbie]

What temp and water condition are you keeping them? Also are you usa based? I've got a 65 (48 long 16 wide) and i'm getting 3 from tangle. The literature isn't clear esp around temp.

 

[rasmusW]

the temperature is 25-26c., i use rain water and besides that i don't know.
i live across the pond in denmark.

-r

 

[anewbie]

the temperature is 25-26c., i use rain water and besides that i don't know.
i live across the pond in denmark.

-r

That's what i was looking for - i had read 81 but 77 is easier on everything so i will lower the tank. converting to metric the tank is 122 cm x 40cm (foot print) and ~246 liter.

 

[rasmusW]

That's what i was looking for - i had read 81 but 77 is easier on everything so i will lower the tank. converting to metric the tank is 122 cm x 40cm (foot print) and ~246 liter.

that should be a good size. i was recommended only one pair for my 155 liter, so your tank should be fine for a trio, though i'm not sure how it works fish wise if you got 2 females. they seem to both be on parental duty.
ohh! ph should as far as i know be 5,5 or lower to get them to spawn, so i guess mine is that.

-r

 

[anewbie]

that should be a good size. i was recommended only one pair for my 155 liter, so your tank should be fine for a trio, though i'm not sure how it works fish wise if you got 2 females. they seem to both be on parental duty.
ohh! ph should as far as i know be 5,5 or lower to get them to spawn, so i guess mine is that.

-r

My ph will settle somewhere between 5.5 and 5.8; this is just three young fishes; i expect the species to be pair bonding so the third one out will be moved or whatever - will cross that bridge when it happens. I'm actually putting in 5 (2 others from another source). I've been told that 2 pairs should work but not sure.
-
I have 5 krobia in a 120 (2 pairs and an odd one out) and they breed every 2 weeks but the tank is relatively tranquile - i.,e the parents viciously guard the frys but as long as everyone stays a little bit away all is well (there are also 10 angles in the there).
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I don't know that bimaculata will behave like the krobia but from what little information i could find it seems likely.

 

[rasmusW]

Good luck with them. They are absolutely fantastic fish to follow.
Uhh! Just an idea, not sure if it will help in any way. Dim the light either with floaters or in any other way. Also put something dark on the backwall. Should help the fish feel more secure.

If you get them to spawn, it will happen regulary. I lost one spawn because all my 2nd batch fry was still in the tank with the parents.
I did have another pair in my other 155 liter tank. No fry there, though they did their best (-actually tried with two different females). They dug a lot of pits in the sand etc.

-r

 

[anewbie]

Good luck with them. They are absolutely fantastic fish to follow.
Uhh! Just an idea, not sure if it will help in any way. Dim the light either with floaters or in any other way. Also put something dark on the backwall. Should help the fish feel more secure.

If you get them to spawn, it will happen regulary. I lost one spawn because all my 2nd batch fry was still in the tank with the parents.
I did have another pair in my other 155 liter tank. No fry there, though they did their best (-actually tried with two different females). They dug a lot of pits in the sand etc.

-r

Will update - your thread if that is ok with you but it will likely be in about 6 to 12 months; however long it takes them to mature. The tank right now is very dark due to tannis but i hope to lighten it a bit. I'll make sure the frogbit get established My discus tank (wc discus); is not blackwater but the ph hangs around 5.5; the blue rams (wc) seem to be thriving in there @ 84 - much better than the ones i put in my other aquarium @80 and ec 120 (i can only guess ph is around 7 in that one but i don't have a ph monitor on it). I have a special love for wc blue rams but am also surprise how quickly the discus have settled in. I've only had them for around 2 months but they have really settled down. Of course i really won't know how well they are doing till a year or two from now as these things take time to mature.
-
Changing topics completely my festivum are incredibly moody - frequently display very aggressive colours and i start looking to see if there is a pair but it seems like from time to time they just want a little space (they are 3 years old; but no pair has seemed to form).

 

[rasmusW]

Small update… the kids are growing nicely.
Probably not the best quality pictures.

-r

 

[rasmusW]

-aaand a few more of the whole family.

-r

 

[anewbie]

Do you know how large they get and if they form strong pairs; weak pairs or polygamous ?

I have a group of 7 and I thought they were very juvi but one has already spawned and she is only like 1 to 1.25 inch and the male is only marginally larger. I thought adults were 2 to 3 inches. The male is not doing any guarding and i can only identify him via the fact that she does not chase him and his enhanced colouring. She is very aggressive (not terribly abnormal) but also demands at least 2 feet distance of the other 5. On the bright side they are in a larger aquarium that is 4 feet long and 16 inches wide.

I do realize that some dwarf cichild will spawn very young but do they not have a distance to grow ?

 

[Mike Wise]

Age and size can be 2 different things. A 1" fish can be a year old and sexually mature. My adoketa easily reached 3"/7.5cm SL.

 

[rasmusW]

Do you know how large they get and if they form strong pairs; weak pairs or polygamous ?

I have a group of 7 and I thought they were very juvi but one has already spawned and she is only like 1 to 1.25 inch and the male is only marginally larger. I thought adults were 2 to 3 inches. The male is not doing any guarding and i can only identify him via the fact that she does not chase him and his enhanced colouring. She is very aggressive (not terribly abnormal) but also demands at least 2 feet distance of the other 5. On the bright side they are in a larger aquarium that is 4 feet long and 16 inches wide.

I do realize that some dwarf cichild will spawn very young but do they not have a distance to grow ?

Hi!

My adults are 9cm. for male and around 6-7cm. for the female.
I have never kept more than one pair in a tank (-back when i had more than i needed, they where split in male/female tank). -But they do stick together and both parents help out in rearing the little ones.
They can get get mean to each other, i see it both the teenage tank aswell as back when i had 3 males in one tank, but nothing like the warstories i hear about i. adoketa.

when i got mine i was adviced to only keep one pair in my 1155 liter tank (120cm. long), so about the same length as yours.

Not sure i get your last question, sorry.

-r

 

[anewbie]

Hi!

My adults are 9cm. for male and around 6-7cm. for the female.
I have never kept more than one pair in a tank (-back when i had more than i needed, they where split in male/female tank). -But they do stick together and both parents help out in rearing the little ones.
They can get get mean to each other, i see it both the teenage tank aswell as back when i had 3 males in one tank, but nothing like the warstories i hear about i. adoketa.

when i got mine i was adviced to only keep one pair in my 1155 liter tank (120cm. long), so about the same length as yours.

Not sure i get your last question, sorry.

-r

Ok thanks. I'll keep an eye on them and sep if necessary. The aggression is very limited and as long as they stay away from her it seems fine. My krobia are very passive breeder. That is they guard their nest very aggressively but as long as you stay away from the nest all is well (I have 11 angels and 5 krobia in a 120). It was being used as a grow out tank for the angels when i got he krobia. I found they were unsuitable for their target home so left them in the 120 and the angels while growing out - have been in there for a year so we can say they are pretty much grown out.
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Was unsure if the ivancara would be like the krobia or like my wc cockatoo which are monster and dominate the entire 40B i have them in - i've had to remove everything but a few guppies - they even killed one of my juvie pleco (2 inch); and no they aren't breeding they're just extremely territorial.
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For @mike i was not able to get information on their age. I do know that if raised in a small container they will tend to stay smaller but the seller described them as relatively young. I guess in 6 months i'll have a better idea on if they grow larger. I suppose if the eggs hatch i should hatch some bbs for them.
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One last question do you know if they are strictly meat eaters like most of the apisto i own or if they like a lot of greens like some other folks. I found one reference which suggest they will graze on plant matter but not sure if it is reliable.

 

[rasmusW]

I do see them graze on the wood and roots but i suspect it’s mostly for whatever micro fauna they can find. I only feed frozen and live food and no bloodworm.

-r

 

[rasmusW]

hi all!

Here is a few pictures of my great male and full tank view.
Next time i’ll use a better camera than my phone…

-r

 

[rasmusW]

hi all!

yesterday, i managed to grab a bunch of somewhat decent pictures of this pair and some of their older kids.
have a great weekend everybody...

ohh! there is also one of the tanks other inhabitants.

-r

 

[rasmusW]

btw! i got a small question, that i hope you would come with some suggestions to.
it's actually mostly a luxury-issue, but could turn into a real problem.
so far i have been really lucky, that this pair likes their accommodations so well, they have spawned several times. as of now i got around 85 youngsters (between 2-5cm) and another 20-30 small ones, around 1cm.

the "problem" is they are sadly more difficult to sell, than i would have expected.
it could very well, just be my lack of salesman skills or not using the best channels to sell them through.
i have never shipped fish anywhere in the world, so i don't know where to begin on that.

-so, here is my ideas or options as i see it. let's start with the cheapest (-but not necessarily easiest).
1. split the pair. i do have a 75 liter, that i use for fry.
2. lower the temperature a couple of degrees. -i'm not sure if that will hold them of, of breeding.
3. buying a small school of fish to help, keep the fry numbers lower. -if so, i want something that you would also find in their natural habitat (or as close as possible). -of fish available in the trade i think of one of these options: glowlight tetras, sailfin tetras, rodway tetra or n. beckfordi.

if any of you have any good insights on this, i'd be happy to hear. tomorrow i will go to a lfs and see what they have to offer and also ask if they want more of my fry, as they have taken some before.

-r

 

[MacZ]

Separatingbthe pair is pretty much the only solution that definitely works.

 

[anewbie]

btw! i got a small question, that i hope you would come with some suggestions to.
it's actually mostly a luxury-issue, but could turn into a real problem.
so far i have been really lucky, that this pair likes their accommodations so well, they have spawned several times. as of now i got around 85 youngsters (between 2-5cm) and another 20-30 small ones, around 1cm.

the "problem" is they are sadly more difficult to sell, than i would have expected.
it could very well, just be my lack of salesman skills or not using the best channels to sell them through.
i have never shipped fish anywhere in the world, so i don't know where to begin on that.

-so, here is my ideas or options as i see it. let's start with the cheapest (-but not necessarily easiest).
1. split the pair. i do have a 75 liter, that i use for fry.
2. lower the temperature a couple of degrees. -i'm not sure if that will hold them of, of breeding.
3. buying a small school of fish to help, keep the fry numbers lower. -if so, i want something that you would also find in their natural habitat (or as close as possible). -of fish available in the trade i think of one of these options: glowlight tetras, sailfin tetras, rodway tetra or n. beckfordi.

if any of you have any good insights on this, i'd be happy to hear. tomorrow i will go to a lfs and see what they have to offer and also ask if they want more of my fry, as they have taken some before.

-r

If you can find a shop that would sell them that might work - i noticed wetspot selling them. The real issue before deciding what to do is what you want long term - do you want them to breed again at a later date - are you perm. done breeding them ... sep the pair will certainly prevent them from breeding but they might not be incline to breed again. I do suspect the market is getting saturated having said that i'm not sure if there is an advantage of zebra over these and if not maybe more people should be made aware that these make excellent docile zebra if you don't want to deal with the aggression and dedicated space required for zebra.
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One other choice you have to is to raise the hardness of the water so breeding will fail.