Getting them to pair up

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jaws7777

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isde02 isde02 gave me a great idea on what to do with my 150 that will soon be free'd up. Since i have a female vieja heterospilus i think i would like to try and find her a b-friend.

I have no experience with pairing up fish and think it will be fun to try. I've only had angels spawn a few times but it was by chance and not design.

So my options are get an adult male and hope they pair up or get a bunch of juvies and wait for them to mature.

Option 1) could be the easiest but what are the chances that an adult male and my female dont work out ? Only willing to purchase 1 adult not multiple .

Option 2) could be a headache. They are incredibly slow growers. Wondering if males grow/mature faster than females ? Also isnt there a chance that any of the juvie males will pair up with another juvie female (when they mature of course) and not my existing female ? I do love growing fish out though so this option isnt a totally un-enjoyable

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jaws7777 said:
isde02 isde02 gave me a great idea on what to do with my 150 that will soon be free'd up. Since i have a female vieja heterospilus i think i would like to try and find her a b-friend.

I have no experience with pairing up fish and think it will be fun to try. I've only had angels spawn a few times but it was by chance and not design.

So my options are get an adult male and hope they pair up or get a bunch of juvies and wait for them to mature.

Option 1) could be the easiest but what are the chances that an adult male and my female dont work out ? Only willing to purchase 1 adult not multiple .

Option 2) could be a headache. They are incredibly slow growers. Wondering if males grow/mature faster than females ? Also isnt there a chance that any of the juvie males will pair up with another juvie female (when they mature of course) and not my existing female ? I do love growing fish out though so this option isnt a totally un-enjoyable

Frank Castle Frank Castle Stanzzzz7 Stanzzzz7 dan518 dan518 duanes duanes
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definitely go with option 2. Much better chance of introducing a male to a dominant female than vice versa, plus she gets to pick so that doubles your chances. You will always have better luck pairing fish when the female is dominant and gets to pick from a group of others, unless you simply start out w/ juvies all the same size - introducing a larger male to a dominant female can often result in disaster.

When I bred a male Midas to a female FH (purely by accident) years ago, she was already a good 10" and started spawning w/ him when he was a mere 4-5" or so. Males don't need to be big just like in reptiles and amphibians - you can breed males barely sexually mature to larger females if they accept them and the only thing that matters is whether or not her body is physically mature and capable of handling the breeding process.
 
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I would go with a group of juvies.
Your lone female should except them as they are a social fish by nature and do very well in groups.It may be a slow process but the sight of a small group of well kept hetros is just jaw droppingly beautiful.
 
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I would imagine as soon as a juvie male matures he will be drawn to the existing female as she will probably be ripe before the others,also bigger and stronger and more capable of defending their offspring.
 
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