A couple questions about C. regani

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ryansmith83

ryansmith83

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May 2, 2008
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A month or two ago I received a trio of C. regani from John -- one male and two females. They were all about the same size when I got them, maybe 2 - 3". I quarantined them for a few weeks in a 20 gallon alone and they were eating well, so I moved them into a 55 gallon with some Herotilapia multispinosa grow-outs. They're all getting along really well, surprisingly.

The male has almost doubled in size and he is beautiful. He shows bright red eyes and a vibrant red stripe through the top of his tail. He's thick and chunky. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the two females. They are both quite a bit smaller than him. One is fairly full-bodied but nowhere near as much as the male. The other is almost always skinny, to the point that her stomach looks sunken in.

Do you think I should isolate the females and worm them? It may also give them time to bulk up and put on some size. I can't tell if they're thin due to parasites or if they're just not quick enough to get as much food as the male (and all the rainbow cichlids). I'm not even sure if they take the pellets or if only the male is after them.

If I do quarantine them, should I put the two females in separate tanks or leave them together?
 
Its up to you if you separate the females from the main tank, but treating them in a separate, smaller tank for internal parasites will definitely be easier. If you are going to remove them I would put them in two separate tanks though, no need to stress them out more with the potential aggression they could have towards each other.

You could also switch the diet in the tank. Start feeding bloodworms and blackworms in bulk. That will bulk them up quickly and it will be almost absolute given that they will eat them. Plus the live blackworms and frozen bloodworms will help condition the females and get them in prime breeding condition.
 
Thanks, Jeremy.

My problem right now are the Herotilapia. I think they are just too greedy when it comes to food and the female pikes aren't getting enough. I'm thinning those out this week along with some Laetacara, so that will clear out the 55 gallon for the pikes and also a couple 20 gallons that I could QT the females in. It can't hurt to worm them, so I'll try that and go from there.
 
If it is any help, in my apisto tank, my tetras steal all the food before it has time to get to the bottom where the apistos get to it. So, I feed them some pellet food, and fill the tetra's bellies, then I put in the blood worms so the apistos can get some. It works pretty well. Just an idea.
 
The rainbow cichlids have been gone for a few weeks. The pikes' new roommates are a group of Geophagus dicrozoster and the combo is working out much better. The male pike is turning out to be gorgeous -- he's about 4" now and has long, flowing anal and dorsal fins. The anal fin has a thick black stripe down the front of it and the red in his tail is bright and vibrant. The healthier of the two females is showing a barring pattern this week and she occasionally turns really dark, usually when she's around the male. She also swims in front of him and displays. No pink belly yet, but they are definitely interacting more.

I removed the second female because she's completely sunken in and it's giving her body a bowed appearance. Right now I'm doing a levamisole treatment for roundworms, then I'll try Prazi and lastly metro to see if I can get her plump and healthy. She's still pretty feisty considering her size and weight.
 
So I lost the second female. I treated her with Levamisole, then gave her a week or so to rest up and eat before trying Prazi. Nothing really worked. She was constantly eating but she continued to waste away -- eventually her body was crooked and almost S-shaped before she passed. No idea what happened. :confused:

The other female is still in a 55 gallon with the male, and although she's small, she's not sunken in and she's a great eater. The male cannot stand her, though. He's also over twice her size.

What's the general consensus on the smaller pikes -- do people try multiple females with a male until he picks a mate? I may need to pick up a few more female regani if that's the case.

Also, is it normal for males to grow huge and females to stay so small? My male is over 4" probably and way bulkier than the female. He's beautiful, but not so nice when he sees her.
 
My largest dwarf pike was a female regani, but I bought her at that size. In general, all my females have been much smaller than the males though when bought at the same time. By a good amount.

When buying groups, I prefer to get more females than males of most cichlids, dwarf pikes not being an exception. I actually think it's going to be critical with compressiceps to get a pair. Sadly, pikes are great when forced to pair, so the groups tend to be the way to go. Usually, the dwarves won't liquidate each other (except compressiceps) like say lents might ... but they are still fiesty.
 
Males almost always will explode in growth when put side by side with a female. Its definitely one way that is almost always accurate for sexing as well. I guess its because they have to defend the territory, so they have faster growth rates.

My male lent exploded over my female, they both started at 6", but then he went through a growth spurt and hit 10" while she was still at 7". I had to separate them and grow her up till she was almost the same size as him. It took a little while, but she finally caught up.

Just keep an eye on them. The female can get away, so she should be fine. Plus the other cichlids are there to break up the attention. She may be still to small though for breeding, thus the males disinterest in her. The fact that she is displaying for him though is a great sign!!!

Sorry bout your other female, sometimes no matter what you do, you still can't save them. Thats when its most frustrating.

I wouldn't get any more females right now. Give that couple a little more time, say another month at least. You might be surprised what might happen.
 
Any updates on your Regani, Ryan? I've been thinking about getting a few. I've been reading a lot online and reading some threads here too. I've read great things about them but I really value member's experiences. I hope your pair is doing great.
 
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