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Venting

2K views 16 replies 7 participants last post by  frontosaSo 
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#1 ·
I was looking for some procedure or advice on how to vent Tropheus and how to tell which is female and male but I couldn't find anything here.
I have a colony of 27 Ndoles, had them since fry, but now they are around 3". All have survived and are strong and eating very well thanks to the information I got from this website and it's patrons before starting the tank up.

Now, I figure it is time to figure out what is in there as I have been waiting for them to breed but nothing has happened yet.

Water 78.5*
PH 8.5
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 20*
my water is OFF-THE-CHARTS hard right from the tap
water changes every weekend 50% give or take

Maybe it is time to cull out the colony?
 
#2 ·
if female one of the vent holes will be larger and the male would be the same size... :thumb:
 
#4 ·
not sure about easily.
just grab a few up and check it out...
you should have a female in there somewhere.
i found its easier to vent once they have spawned a time or two.
 
#5 ·
also i wouldnt cull the colony if they are living in harmony.
just vent to know what you have in case you ever sell them
you can let the buyer know what they are getting because sooner or later
just about everyone sells their colony to get something different. :wink:
 
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#8 ·
NorthShore said:
3" is too small to vent accurately, imo, unless you're already experienced. A virgin female will look very similar to a male's vent at that size.

Tank size?

What's the rock work like in the tank?
It is a 75G and there are 3 different piles of rock. 1 big pile on each side and 1 small pile in the middle
 
#9 ·
And there's no fighting and no shaking/shimmying at each other?

If I were you, I'd change up the rockwork to try to stimulate some action. Reduce to two rock piles, or something like that, in order to get the group to re-estblish itself. Tropheus typically spawn as part of this process.

You could also wait another 6 months, but at 3" you really should be seeing some signs of spawning behaviour.
 
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#10 ·
NorthShore said:
And there's no fighting and no shaking/shimmying at each other?

If I were you, I'd change up the rockwork to try to stimulate some action. Reduce to two rock piles, or something like that, in order to get the group to re-estblish itself. Tropheus typically spawn as part of this process.

You could also wait another 6 months, but at 3" you really should be seeing some signs of spawning behaviour.
Actually, I have seen the shaking/shimmying thing and I "thought" maybe I did see a female holding but there was no fry.

As for fighting....no fighting but I definitely know I have 2 males that both defend those 2 rock piles. The whole colony appears to get along well. I have not seen any kind of serious aggression with each other. They have all been together since fry, no additions.
 
#12 ·
When you see one swimming away with a shimmy, trying to entice another.....thats the male. When you see them shake at each other, thats them telling each other....
"back off or we gonna beef", male and female do that.
Also, just cause you see them defending a rock pile, doesn't mean it's a male, the females will do that also.

this is from my research, and from my 1yr 1/2 of watching my tank day after day.
 
#13 ·
b_ron007 said:
When you see one swimming away with a shimmy, trying to entice another.....thats the male. When you see them shake at each other, thats them telling each other....
"back off or we gonna beef", male and female do that.
Also, just cause you see them defending a rock pile, doesn't mean it's a male, the females will do that also.

this is from my research, and from my 1yr 1/2 of watching my tank day after day.
Well put!
 
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