P. signatus

[Nebraska_cichlids]

Any suggestions on how to get P. signatus to spawn? I keep a pair in a 20L. They appear to get along well, but that's about it. He and she found homes in spots at opposite ends of the tank and pretty much ignore each other. Any suggestions are welcome.

 

[tjudy]

If they are on opposite ends of the tanks in separate caves then I woudl suspect that the male is keeping the female hid. I would either:

1) Remove the male from the tank, add dithers and let the female become the queen of her domain replacing the male... couple weeks usually will do it.

2) Add a 'beater female' if you have one. Sometimes the presence of a sub-dominant female will trigger teh dominant female into becoming very territorial.

I also think that the Type 1 Pelvic. are hard to predict regarding spawning. Once they start going they seem pretty hard to stop. My P. humilis were quite large before they started, and now they are constantly willing to start a brood.

Aquaticclarity can probably jump in here.. his are breedign regularly.

 

[aquaticclarity]

Ted’s ideas are solid advice. I’d also try a large slightly cooler (2-4 degrees) water change. I was fortunate enough to get 2 wild pairs that were already ‘matedâ€Â. The one pair spawned in short order and I got rid of the other. The remaining pair is ALWAYS spawning! I’ve even gone as far as leaving the young in the tank with the adults for extended periods of time just to stop the spawning. Literally with in 1-2 days after pulling the youngsters out the pair spawns.

Just for comparison I’ve got the almost 4†male and 3†female signatus in a 20h with a silica sand and fine natural gravel mix. There is 1 lamp eye rasbora overhead. The decorations are sparse…1 coconut shell cave, 4 pieces of 1 ½†diameter 6†long PVC pipe strapped together, a hydro sponge 3 filter, a small amount of floating Naja grass, and a weird shaped piece of Malaysian wood. Each object is placed more or less in a corner of the tank creating 4 separate territories. I’m using mainly D.I. water with a very small amount of well water mixed in for mineral content. The fish are feed primarily BBS and occasionally some O.S.I. flake food. That’s it, nothing special. I wouldn’t have even realized that they’re tough fish to spawn if Ted hadn’t mentioned it a while back.

Sorry I don’t have any magic tricks to share with the fish…
Jeff

 

[Richgrenfell]

I agree with the beater female idea. I had a pair that did the same thing and they spawned twice inside a few weeks when I added a 2nd female. Careful though, they can be pretty vicious!

The pair killed the extra female. Then after the 2nd spawn, the female wasn't ready when the male was and he beat her almost to death. I had to put her in furan and salt for almost 2 weeks to heal her up.

I have them separated now, as I am growing out some fry before I try again.

Rich

 

[Nebraska_cichlids]

Thanks guys. Unfortunately, I don't have a second female. Hence, I'll try Ted's other suggestion: remove the male for a while and add some dither. I've already got some characins from W. Africa (Micralestes stormsi) that appear to do very well with the signatus. (Ted: these are some of the fish that you got me from Toyin -- all doing great, thanks again!)