ID PLEASE!!!

[Rikesh]

As for using them as feeders.. If I still remember, they get less fry than other livebearers but the fry that are born are bigger in size.

 

[vaine111]

You can use Ameca splendens as feeder fish if you have too many of them. Do not feed the big males to your big fish because the female goodeids DO NOT stored the sperm pockets like poecillids (guppies, mollies, gambusia, Xiphophorus etc) therefore they must be bred every time after had a batch of fry. Even if you removed the dominant male, another male will take its place and become the dominant male. The dominant male wont let smaller males to mate with the females. So you can feed small male goodeids to your fish but once a while you can replace the dominant male with a small male of same colony before the dominant male get too old to breed.

Now on female subject, larger females often produce bigger spawns than smaller females. Depends on the size of females and the numbers of fry, sometimes the large spawns often have small sized fry while larger spawns always produced larger fry. Most females produced a batch up to 15 to 30 fry. If you were lucky, a female might produced four batches of fry per a year. So you need to save few large females for fry producation.

I used to have Xenotoca eiseni as feeder fish in past as they are very proflic breeders but I sold them. Now I really missed this species. Someday I will try Ameca splendens out sometimes but right now I have only Goodea atripinnis, Ilydon furcidens, Characodon lateralis "Los Berros", Skiffia multipunctata and Xenotaenia resolanae.

Ameca splendens aint too hard to obtained if you look harder. Fish clubs, aquabid, private breeders and sometimes LFS always have supply of this species along with Xenotoca eiseni (redtailed goodeid) another common goodeid species. Ameca splendens have been in Aquariums for 70 years and there is a remnant population has been found in El Rincon waterpark near a town of Ameca.

I thank you for replying and the information.

As for using them as feeders.. If I still remember, they get less fry than other livebearers but the fry that are born are bigger in size.

When I went looking for something to breed for food I was considering convicts but wanted something that grew faster and this is what the LFS gave me. When the owner told me that they were pretty decent size right at birth that I would give them a try. I started out with about 15 2 months ago and now I have about 35-40 and there were a few guppies that came along with them and now there are about that many guppies too.

Can anyone suggest something more practicle?
Or is this a decent thing. Cause as soon as I can add my pbass to my 120g from the 75g the 75g will be the feeder tank.

Anything maybe a little bigger that I can use?

 

[MN_Rebel]

75gal sounds excellent tank for growing your Ameca splendens colony along with guppies. Ameca splendens do well in the ponds outside as long as its plastic and not naturally pond but I think you have much better chances with your 75gal tank than outside pond. May I suggest you should have two colony of Ameca splendens instead of a single colony? Just put few of them into 75gal and leave some in their current tank? If I remember correctly, you have only two males right now is that right? Then start to save few males for breeding purposes.

IMO Ameca splendens are much easily to managing than convicts as you can have lots of spawns from different fish than from a single pair of highly aggressive cichlids.

 

[Rikesh]

Can anyone suggest something more practicle?

Concentrate on guppies. Or try comets. Or white clouds.
Don't forget, that massive water changes really boost fish size(more than food!!)

 

[MN_Rebel]

Concentrate on guppies. Or try comets. Or white clouds.
Don't forget, that massive water changes really boost fish size(more than food!!)

Forget comets, they are worthless and not healthy diet for pbass except a very rare treat. White clouds can spawn in aquariums but not that often, unless you have bigger ponds outside.

 

[vaine111]

Cool. Thanks for the help guys.

 

[congo1040]

Ameca Splendins.