sex ratio in altispinosa

[fishgeek]

i am hoping my latest spawn of altispinosa's will survive and was hoping you could advise my on temp/pH for acheiving a mid range split of male to female

also any tips for feeding
i am not ina posyion to produce bbs at present
am using microworm and crushed pellets at present

thanks andrew

 

[fishgeek]

lost all the spawn again after a couple of weeks
so it wasnt just cardinal eating them

anyone have a suggestion for me getting these fry past 2-3 weeks , i have lost about 5 spawns over the last 2-3 mths like this now

does romer have a sex ration temp/pH in his book?

andrew

 

[Mike Wise]

Usually if you start losing fry after 2-3 weeks it is caused by either water or food problems. I'd suggest doing small, frequent water changes instead of fewer, larger changes. Feeding is the same - small & frequent, and make sure that it is the right size. Usually die offs are more related to water.

Römer, nor anyone else that I know of, has ever done sex ratio studies on Bolivian Rams. I've not heard of sex ratio problems with this species. Bolivian Rams, however, are notoriusly hard to sex and often take 2 year to start breeding. Many of the problems people have with breeding - thinking they have 2 of the same sex - is because the fish take so long to mature.

 

[fishgeek]

what would you suggest as ideal water conditions , to be honest i haven't checked nything of my water as i have assumed that the frequent spaning suggest's water they like, perhaps too naive

what feeding types and techniques do you advise
i have a 150 litre tank wit 2 pair that alternate with spawning , one pair is more succesful at raising the fry than the other with a large foam filter driven by a powerhead
i use microworm directed down airline to the fry , though cant say i see them feeding

they way a large group dissapears so quickly made me believe there was predation aspects , hence removing the cardinals or thinking that parents may have been involved

thanks for your response mike

 

[Mike Wise]

Your tank size & water should be fine since the fish spawn in it. I would still do smaller water changes more often. Microworms are excellent first food for the first week. My guess is the the fry are not getting enough to eat after the first week however. After week 1 I suggest that you switch to baby brine shrimp - and lots of it if you have a large number of fry. This mean more frequent small partial water changes.

 

[fishgeek]

got both parents through about 3 weeks now , they both spawned very close together
at present i have been feeding bbs/microworm/frozen cyclops and first bites , they seem to take all of these though the moving food excites them the most

they are still very small though doing much better than i have acheived in other spawns

any suggestions for the next food size's up?
i hvae younger cacatoides of similar size who are already trying to take smaller whiteworms and smaller daphnia when i feed the adults

thanks
andrew