Motaguense info...

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These fish continue to impress! Looking forward to seeing that female pop!

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Thanks....you and me both...however... the female got beat up again and she's got a fungal infection... had to remove her and put her in a hospital tank.... Both sexes are very beautiful in their own right, but they seem incomplete (to me)f you don't have a pair ,so I got my fingers crossed that she'll pull through this again.....

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Pattern change on the male since I removed the female.... Also needed to place temporarily a male Texas cichlid on this side of the divider that the female was on.... Male mota behaving in a cautious matter now....

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Thanks....you and me both...however... the female got beat up again and she's got a fungal infection... had to remove her and put her in a hospital tank.... Both sexes are very beautiful in their own right, but they seem incomplete (to me)f you don't have a pair ,so I got my fingers crossed that she'll pull through this again.....

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Secondary disease and parasite issues can be a constant problem when trying to pair fish. Do you use salt in your Parachromis tanks?

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I have salt on hand ,but of course had not been using it pro actively as I should have been ... It was not an overt beat down so it caught me by surprise ...the female dug under the divider and stayed by the spot where she slid through... never ran from the male and no chasing going on so I thought they were beginning to bond and I just let it be..it was not until later that day that I noticed she was getting skinned alive while still staying in that same spot...i guided her back over to her side of the divider where she was mobile but got fuzzed up very bad with fungus left and right.....in my 20 plus years of keeping and breeding different cichlids I've never had any fish look that diseased....now in a 20 gallon hospital tank I am trying to save her but mentally preparing for the worst...the only thing good is I'm off work this week and I've been able to do water changes like a mad man on all my tanks... and add salt.,which meanwhile the voracious male actually eats some of the undissolved as it comes down ....

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I always kept salt in my breeder tanks. Try adding some salt gradually. Minimum of 1 cup per 100 gallons and a good remedy rate is 2.5 cups per 100 gallons.

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Mota's are probably the most brutal of all parachromis even though they aren't the largest. I have never been successful forming a pair without a big group & them forming naturally. Then they kill off the rest unless im lucky enough to notice in time.
That doesn't sound good but hopefully she pulls through.
 
Thanks...and i completely agree that the standard and effective way to get a compatible pair is to get five or six juveniles and let them pair off naturally then remove the rest... hopefully before any get killed.... Initially when I saw them all I was trying to do was get a nice male... Then on second thought i went back a week later and got two more to make sure I got my male and to get a possible female .. they were a bit pricey (didn't want to spend almost $100 for a 6 ).. but it was mainly space limitations.,so I only got two more ... I know now for sure with this species to get a pair one has to raise the right number of these guys in a large (125 and up) tank with other grow outs or monitor in a divided tank better than I did thus far....clearly in a 75 with nothing else to disperse aggression a dominant one claims it and makes life miserable for the rest... on the positive note the female is still alive so there is hope and the male is turning to be at excellent wet pet....

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what are you feeding those fish and how often? they look bloated in just about every shot.. my female mota doesn't have any where near the belly yours do. (Not sayin its a bad thing, I just rather not go too far for risk of over feeding/polluting their environment)

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Frozen Mysis shrimp cubes ,blood worm cubes ,massivore.,carnasticks,Cut tilapia ,marketshrimp.. Is the full range of what I've ever given them...Feeding twice a day with any one of those items in the morning and one or two of those in the late evening.... and once in awhile not feed them all when I just don't have the time... I noticed them holding a nice pose while being fed.. They do not look like that all the time though...(see page six).... You've done well to raise that nice female you have so I cant say its bad advice to be cautious with the amount being fed .....

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