I could never accurately distinguish males from females. I put a group of sub-adult silvers together in 1995. Then, separated out the ones that paired off. I placed the largest pair in a 450 where they did nothing but swim together for several years. I made 2 relocations with them and eventually put them in a 300 that I used as my shop counter and cash register station. I came into work one morning, in 2002, and the male's buccal cavity was greatly distended. After he released the hatched fry (and losing a few and culling a few others) I had a couple of dozen nice little aros.
I gave all the fry away. I couldn't think of any reasonable price to charge. Between the tank space/cost, the cost of years of food for the breeders, and the costs of rearing space and foods for the fry I would have had to charge about $500 a fish just to break even. I don't really mind though. I got to witness something I'd only seen in books before.
BTW, their water was neutral at 7.0-7.5 pH. In late winters, their water changes were done with water about 5 F cooler than their 80F tank. In late Spring, I raised their temp to 84F. I can't say what finally triggered their spawn (since I followed that change and temp plan for years) or if age was my limiting factor all along. I've never been able to get them to spawn again and sold them in 2006 when I had to start traveling for my work.
I gave all the fry away. I couldn't think of any reasonable price to charge. Between the tank space/cost, the cost of years of food for the breeders, and the costs of rearing space and foods for the fry I would have had to charge about $500 a fish just to break even. I don't really mind though. I got to witness something I'd only seen in books before.
BTW, their water was neutral at 7.0-7.5 pH. In late winters, their water changes were done with water about 5 F cooler than their 80F tank. In late Spring, I raised their temp to 84F. I can't say what finally triggered their spawn (since I followed that change and temp plan for years) or if age was my limiting factor all along. I've never been able to get them to spawn again and sold them in 2006 when I had to start traveling for my work.
