Questions about Honduran Red Points

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K

ktluvsfish

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 21, 2008
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Southern CA
I finally got a new tank today to dedicate to some Honduran Red Points that I have had my eye on forever at my LFS! I want to end up with a pair, but I have no idea how to sex them and at what size they are sexable. The fish are about 3/4 inch at my LFS, so I'm not sure if they are to young to tell. If they are too young, how many should I get to ensure I get a pair... would 5 work?

I am setting up a 20 gallon long tank with some piles of river rocks and a few plants. Does this seem like a good setup and enough space for a single pair? Also, are there any dithers that would work with them? I was thinking that some wild type platys would be cool, but I can't find any near me and I don't have the money to order online right now. Any suggestions would be very much appreciated!

Also, just out of curiosity, are they a type of convict or a separate species? I thought they were a different species, but I have seen them labled "Honduran Red Point Convicts" at a few places. Is this just a common name?

Thanks,
Katie
 
as far as i can tell male and females are pretty much the same color-wise, i think if you got a group of 5 then you should have no problem coming up with a pair. they are really cool fish and have great colors especially when breeding the females get this gorgeous almost metallic blue in their fins. i think a 20long would probably be ok for a pair though i dont think you would have much room for dithers i would just let them have the tank to themselves GOOD LUCK
 
Both varieties of HRP's (the greys and blues) will be similar to convicts in that the females will have orange coloring/"sparkles" on their belly. It may be hard to tell when they are 3/4". Picking up five or six should give you a good chance at getting a pair, if not two. I would get two of the bigger ones at the LFS (probably males) and as many as the smaller ones as you think is appropriate.

I have a pair in a 20 long right now growing out and it will be their permanent home. I also have an adult breeding pair of leucistic HRP's in a 29 (same footprint) and any dithers I have put in the tank are toast when they breed. Your best bet will to let them have the tank to them selves.

Good luck with them. They are great little fish and some of my favorites.
 
Thanks for the responses :) I am having 2nd thoughts about the HRP's now though. I didn't realize that there was a blue strain and a gray strain. I don't really like the gray ones since they really do resemble regular convicts. I am not sure how to tell if the juvies that my LFS has are the blues are the grays, so I might go another way with stock.

I was thinking that rainbows, spilurus, or a species of apisto would be nice for the tank, but I'm not sure which way I want to go. Any suggestions would be great!
 
i didnt know there were grey ones either? i only knew about the regular bluish ones and then the leucistic ones, but i think either way the blue ones are probably more common so thats most likely what your fish store has

but yeah i dont know about rainbows or spilurus but if you did a trio of apistos you could most likely have some small tetra dithers as well
 
The grayish ones are from Rio Monga and the bluer ones are from Rio Deppi. Both are nice fish...just different.

Kind of like peacocks from Lake Malawi, just about every stream has it's own version of "convict" ... each perfectly adapted to the conditions of that stream.

Matt
 
I dont know that Id call the 'danali' collection locale grey...maybe less blue than the 'Rio Monga'... I have both and both are blu-ish. The cool thing about the 'Danali' is how dark navy blue their throats get when spawning or when irritated. The 'Danali' were supposed to be less aggressive and basically passive from what I was told, but that hasnt been my experience at all. The biggest 'Danali' I have (4 inches) regularly throws down with a 5 inch male Grammodes and a 5 inch Carpintis, as well as with a pair of 'Danali's' daily.

The 'Rio Monga' are definitely brighter, have lots of red in their fins, belly and tail and are aggressive as well. I have 5 ranging from 2-3 inches in their own 75 because they are too small for my bigger tank.

And maybe there are more than 2 locale collections. I know the 'danali' are from Ken Davis and the 'Rio Monga' from Jeff Rapps, so if what Matt is saying is true, are the 'Rio Deppi' even bluer than the 'Ro Monga'?

Also, its not my experience that they are as easy to sex as convicts. The orange on the belly thing isnt the same as with convicts.

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Thanks for all of the info everyone :) VRWC, those HRP's are really nice!

When I went to the LFS today, I decided to stick to my original idea and go with the HRP's. They were showing some nice blue color, so I figured I may get lucky and end up with a really nice pair. I got 5 Juvies.... fingers crossed I have at least one male and one female. I'll try to post some pics when I get a chance.
 
I've always heard HRP's are less aggressive than convicts but I've found the opposite to be ture. I had 5 growing out in a 20tall and the large male was beating on everyone. He had to go to a bigger tank. Then the rest started kicking each other around. This is around 1" with plenty of hiding spots. When I have a 20L open up I'm going to move a pair in and see how it goes.
 
i think the "less aggression" thing goes for how they act with other fish and not necessarily conspecific aggression (at least that is what i thought)
 
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