I've had my male mayan for a few years now, and he's about 8" + or - and has lived in my 120 gallon african cichlid community since he was 3 or 4 inches. in the past, he's paired up with and faux-spawned (never layed eggs but acted like they did) with a flowerhorn, and never has killed another fish in the tank. I've since removed the flowerhorn (at least a year ago) and decided that I would get him a real girlfriend!
yesterday i picked up a female mayan that was a bit smaller than my male from my local aquarium club meeting and plan on introducing her soon
I just found out that she is either wild caught, or too shy to eat, because she showed no interest in the food i offered her. right now i'm keeping her in a large storage bin with a sponge filter, multiple water changes a week. i plan on converting a large critter cage into a breeder box type enclosure to trap her at the bottom of my 120 to see how she reacts to him and my other fish. if she doesnt show interest in the other fish after a few days, i'll let her free and watch her for a couple hours to make sure. if either he attacks her too roughly or she's to aggressive/predatory with any of my current fish, she'll go to my former high school for their aquaculture program exotics display.
worst case scenario i lose a labidochromis or other small african in my tank, nbd, lol
if they decide to breed, hopefully they'll only take over 1/4 of the tank like my male and his flowerhorn girlfriend did back when they pretended to spawn and protect eggs! otherwise, like i said, she'll go to a new home.
I'll upload a video tonight that shows his reaction when i put her bag in the tank for a couple minutes!
yesterday i picked up a female mayan that was a bit smaller than my male from my local aquarium club meeting and plan on introducing her soonI just found out that she is either wild caught, or too shy to eat, because she showed no interest in the food i offered her. right now i'm keeping her in a large storage bin with a sponge filter, multiple water changes a week. i plan on converting a large critter cage into a breeder box type enclosure to trap her at the bottom of my 120 to see how she reacts to him and my other fish. if she doesnt show interest in the other fish after a few days, i'll let her free and watch her for a couple hours to make sure. if either he attacks her too roughly or she's to aggressive/predatory with any of my current fish, she'll go to my former high school for their aquaculture program exotics display.
worst case scenario i lose a labidochromis or other small african in my tank, nbd, lol
if they decide to breed, hopefully they'll only take over 1/4 of the tank like my male and his flowerhorn girlfriend did back when they pretended to spawn and protect eggs! otherwise, like i said, she'll go to a new home.
I'll upload a video tonight that shows his reaction when i put her bag in the tank for a couple minutes!
