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Hello all!
I thought I would start a thread to invite some discussion on the (seemingly) less frequently kept, smaller CA species.
I decided about eight months ago to dedicate some tank space to a pair of Cryptoheros spilurus, in the hope of them spawning. The tank they were in is a 450 litre (99 imperial gallon) bow-fronted aquarium, furnished with a variety of beach pebbles, larger rocks and hardy plants. I also added an assortment of livebearer dithers (mostly swordtails) in the hope of making the cichlids feel more secure.
It didn't take long for the pair to 'get down to business' and they subsequently proved to be regular breeders:
The female with fry
The male in profile
Mum staring me out
They really are tremendous parents (as would be expected from convict cousins) but don't share the same psychotic tendencies as convicts when not in brood protection mode. I would whole heartedly recommend them as alternatives.
Anyway all was going well until, for an unknown reason, the male started to suffer with popeye about a month or so ago. Despite water tests showing nothing out of the ordinary, and after frequent and large water changes (having read that popeye may be associated with poor water quality) the condition progressively got worse and worse until I came home from work to find the male dead!
I have now acquired a pair of Cryptoheros myrnae in the hope of raising them to similar breeding success (hopefully without the same ending).
PS I have just discovered today that the digital thermometer on the tank which now houses the myrnae (and housed the spuilurus) is not functioning properly and has been showing a gradually decreasing temperature. My response to this has been to incrementally turn up the heaters . . . Doh! I have gone back to using old-fashioned thermometers now and have reduced the tank temperature by over 5 degrees Celsius, to a more reasonable 25 degrees C. I can't believe I didn't think to cross check this weeks ago! I wonder whether the elevated levels may have been responsible for stressing the male spilurus? I shall probably never know, but it goes to show once again, that more than 25 years experience in this hobby and I have still only just scratched the surface!
PPS Today the myrnae have spawned in their flowerpot. I'll try to get some photos up soon! :thumb:
Anyone else had any experience with these little beauties?
I thought I would start a thread to invite some discussion on the (seemingly) less frequently kept, smaller CA species.
I decided about eight months ago to dedicate some tank space to a pair of Cryptoheros spilurus, in the hope of them spawning. The tank they were in is a 450 litre (99 imperial gallon) bow-fronted aquarium, furnished with a variety of beach pebbles, larger rocks and hardy plants. I also added an assortment of livebearer dithers (mostly swordtails) in the hope of making the cichlids feel more secure.
It didn't take long for the pair to 'get down to business' and they subsequently proved to be regular breeders:
The female with fry
The male in profile
Mum staring me out
They really are tremendous parents (as would be expected from convict cousins) but don't share the same psychotic tendencies as convicts when not in brood protection mode. I would whole heartedly recommend them as alternatives.
Anyway all was going well until, for an unknown reason, the male started to suffer with popeye about a month or so ago. Despite water tests showing nothing out of the ordinary, and after frequent and large water changes (having read that popeye may be associated with poor water quality) the condition progressively got worse and worse until I came home from work to find the male dead!
I have now acquired a pair of Cryptoheros myrnae in the hope of raising them to similar breeding success (hopefully without the same ending).
PS I have just discovered today that the digital thermometer on the tank which now houses the myrnae (and housed the spuilurus) is not functioning properly and has been showing a gradually decreasing temperature. My response to this has been to incrementally turn up the heaters . . . Doh! I have gone back to using old-fashioned thermometers now and have reduced the tank temperature by over 5 degrees Celsius, to a more reasonable 25 degrees C. I can't believe I didn't think to cross check this weeks ago! I wonder whether the elevated levels may have been responsible for stressing the male spilurus? I shall probably never know, but it goes to show once again, that more than 25 years experience in this hobby and I have still only just scratched the surface!
PPS Today the myrnae have spawned in their flowerpot. I'll try to get some photos up soon! :thumb:
Anyone else had any experience with these little beauties?
