Hey guys I have an ornatus pair I got back in Dec from rapps. They roughly around 5inchs. I still can't tell them a part. They are in a 75 with a divider. Anyone have any tricks on breeding these beauties? They are aggressive towards each other even with the Divider. They been in the 75 for about month now. I'm afraid to take the divider down. I can't cut a hole either because they are about equal in size. Any suggestions please!
breeding cichlasoma onatus?
- Thread starter rjkz28
- Start date
i have kept them now for over a year. i have had adults, that never seemed to pair up. they were very aggressive to each other. i am now going with small growouts. i have seen alot of similarities between them and the festae. so i will give you advice on what i would do with the festae and you can try that.
i would get a strawberry pot put it in there. take out the divider. do a 50-70 percent water change. put in cooler water so your tank gets down to low to mid 70's and then let it climb back up to about 84. and do about 10 percent water changes every day.
keep a close eye on them and if they are getting to aggressive just put the divider back in. with my festae when i paired them up. the female beat the crap out of the male right before they spawned. and i never had any more aggression until i took all the babies out after the third spawn and then the male ended up beating the female to death.
good luck and i hope i gave you some good advice.
i would get a strawberry pot put it in there. take out the divider. do a 50-70 percent water change. put in cooler water so your tank gets down to low to mid 70's and then let it climb back up to about 84. and do about 10 percent water changes every day.
keep a close eye on them and if they are getting to aggressive just put the divider back in. with my festae when i paired them up. the female beat the crap out of the male right before they spawned. and i never had any more aggression until i took all the babies out after the third spawn and then the male ended up beating the female to death.
good luck and i hope i gave you some good advice.
These guys as of yet seem to be one of the most challenging fish to spawn. The only person I know of that has spawned them is GMFishnut. And as far as advice for you... Keep the divider until they show signs of wanting to pair thru it, otherwise look for a few females and do a small community of 4-6 females and 2 males. If that doesn't appeal to you then you can sell them. Cause if u pull the divider and they're not ready or both the same sex then it will end in disaster
I know Rapps is very reputable but that doesnt mean people dont make mistakes. I would vent them to be sure. and as far as signs go, look for head shaking, gill flaring, moving gravel, and color change/brighter, plus if they like each other they will spend alot of time at the divider together. maybe place a flat rock or something on the females side next to the divider so if she wants to lay eggs she can.
Freshwaterpredators;5128672; said:
Thats what Id do and leave the divider. Ive had many fish spawn through a divider over the years.
Much like festae, it can be tough to get a stable pair from two adult fish - probably of different sexes - dropped in together, especially alone. Violence is likely...without a divider. Even if they seem to be fine for awhile.
It's much better to start out with 4-6 smaller ones and let them pair off on their own in a community setting. Takes a little longer but the chances of a stable pair will be much better.
Good luck!
Matt
It's much better to start out with 4-6 smaller ones and let them pair off on their own in a community setting. Takes a little longer but the chances of a stable pair will be much better.
Good luck!
Matt
They are probably still to small to spawn. I have a male and 2 females at about 4" and he is aggro with them both but only if they come near his flower pot. I am using a group of 6 Buenos Aires Tetras as targets for some of the aggression and it seems to work. None but the targets show any sign of damage and you can pick up decent targets very cheap at Petsmart.