Ecuadorian "Green Terror" Group

[Athletic_Amph]

Looking good, they all have nice colors.

Thanks, Alex
the single fish in the 7th photo (and fish above the pot all the way to the right in the 9th photo) is the one I presumed to be a subdominant male. But upon waking up this morning, it was following around my male white saum and dancing as if they were attempting to attract each other. These guys need to get a little bigger so I can vent and start making room! lol

 

[terrorG]

dude your fish are amazing

 

[Athletic_Amph]

dude your fish are amazing

Thanks, T terrorG ! how's your guy coming along?

 

[Alexxxxsv14]

Thanks, Alex
the single fish in the 7th photo (and fish above the pot all the way to the right in the 9th photo) is the one I presumed to be a subdominant male. But upon waking up this morning, it was following around my male white saum and dancing as if they were attempting to attract each other. These guys need to get a little bigger so I can vent and start making room! lol

I feel you man, one day you think male then the next female can't really tell till they get bigger for sure. Only assume and guess for now

 

[Athletic_Amph]

I feel you man, one day you think male then the next female can't really tell till they get bigger for sure. Only assume and guess for now

lol yeah man, although they're still small they're growing much quicker than I had anticipated. I think I may end up removing the larger Rivs and keeping the 3 smallest along with my Silver Saum male... if I find that they are also males as they begin to mature then I'll remove them as well and begin a search for a mature female. I just can't keep all of them in the 55, it's just too cramped for them so i'll have to make some sacrifices and hope the ones I choose to keep are female lol

 

[DarylMac]

It would be great if you could be sure some of the ones you want to pull are male, but at this small size it's hard to be sure. I do think you have at least 1 Male with a white seam. I also see photos of fish that look female. Problem is I can't tell from a few pics if they are of the same or different fish.

Not sure if I said it yet but your rescape looks great and the new light / black background make the colours pop.

 

[Athletic_Amph]

I also see photos of fish that look female. Problem is I can't tell from a few pics if they are of the same or different fish.

Not sure if I said it yet but your rescape looks great and the new light / black background make the colours pop.

Thanks, DarylMac ! I appreciate the kind words
and as far as the females, I'm the one taking the pictures and I am unsure half the time which one is which lol - but my reasoning for thinking the smallest are all females (besides slower growth rate), they all seem to get rather dark in the body and lighter in the face, all while their tail band is rather bright. Like I said, if I find out I decided to keep the wrong ones and they all turn out male, then i'll just have to source a mature CB female for my White Saum. I'm just at a crossroad right now about what would be best hahha

 

[philipraposo1982]

Force spawning to be able to sex.

Here is how:
1. tank temp between 77-80
2. 2x 50-75% water changes a week
3. feed 2-3 times a day to condition (high quality foods only)
4. run lights 6-8 a day max (too long photo period stresses them out) or dim the lighting a bit
5. create some protected area and provide some nice large flat stones for spawning.
6. keep the tank clean

They should be spawning like once a month or a bit more. You will quickly see the females plumping up and their mating colors showing up. The aggression should spike too.

With my young group I was easily able to sex every fish only after 1 month of having them.

 

[DarylMac]

I understand you'll be getting a much larger tank when you move, earlier you mentioned the possibility of using a 75g temporarily. Do you have the 75 now? Is it occupied?

Just wondering if you could split the group or move things around. I imagine how cramped that 55 is looking for you... I have a 135g and I'd love to add more bleeding hearts. But then I think "when these guys get some size, if I do get a harem, will the tank feel too full with 4 or 5 GT's AND a bunch of bleeding hearts?"

Decisions, decisions...

 

[Athletic_Amph]

philipraposo1982 everything you stated above is standard for keeping cichlids, imho, regardless of whether or not you're attempting to breed or not... so I've been following the steps you mentioned to a T for the last couple years, as they should be considered relatively standard practice when keeping cichlids

The issue with my group, I would guess, is that the tank is too small for them. And even when my male flares and attempts to attract the others, there isn't much space for him to do it without everyone else barging on through and interrupting. Which is why I either need to thin the herd, or upgrade the tank. And I don't plan on upgrading until I move out at the end of March to make things easier