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Pet Forum / Aquaria / Cichlids / January 2006breeding nightmare
hi, I currently have a 5ft mbuna tank, established for about four years, the problem I have is they are prolifically breeding, most of the young are surviving as I have plenty of rock and I will occasionally fish them out and grow them on in the fish room until they are large enough for my local fs to take, unfortunately I have more young mbuna than he can handle (approx 50 growing on) and the adults are still at it! any tips on how to slow them down? > hi, I currently have a 5ft mbuna tank, established for about four years, > the [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > growing on) and the adults are still at it! any tips on how to slow them > down? Remove some rock cover, reduce water temperature to about 74F, decrease feedings etc.  Signaturewww.NetMax.tk > Remove some rock cover, reduce water temperature to about 74F, decrease > feedings etc. > -- > www.NetMax.tk I've tried that, I wouldn't mind so much but I have seen at least 15 in the 5ft, I have about 50 in the fish room and I took 45 to my local shop 2 weeks ago. will a pictus cat be ok with synodontis? cause i have 2 of those in the tank >> Remove some rock cover, reduce water temperature to about 74F, decrease >> feedings etc. [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > will a pictus cat be ok with synodontis? cause i have 2 of those in the > tank No problem I can envision. Pictus are non-stop vacuum cleaners on steroids (highly food motivated and food focused). http://fish.mongabay.com/species/Pimelodus_pictus.html I've had them in 8.4pH mbuna tanks. They just need lots of roaming room, 5 feet is good. Signaturewww.NetMax.tk > >> Remove some rock cover, reduce water temperature to about 74F, decrease > >> feedings etc. [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > -- > www.NetMax.tk thanks for that, i'll give it a go >>>>Remove some rock cover, reduce water temperature to about 74F, decrease >>>>feedings etc. [quoted text clipped - 24 lines] > > thanks for that, i'll give it a go Mine are prolofic breeders as well but I haven't got to your stage. I'm wondering if the Plec keeps the numbers down - he never feeds on anything other than what is in the tank even if offered.... If it does become a problem I will also consider the pictus Gill > Mine are prolofic breeders as well but I haven't got to your stage. I'm > wondering if the Plec keeps the numbers down - he never feeds on [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > Gill its only in the past few months its got this bad, I have no idea why they are surviving so well, I have 2 plecs and 2 synodontis which I thought would help but the young are very very good at hiding even getting them out of the tank is like a military operation thats why I leave it as long as possible so as not to disrupt the fish too often, although at one point we were removing 20+ young every three weeks, i'm desperate now, if only there was the fish equivalent of bromide! >>Mine are prolofic breeders as well but I haven't got to your stage. I'm >>wondering if the Plec keeps the numbers down - he never feeds on [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > removing 20+ young every three weeks, i'm desperate now, if only there was > the fish equivalent of bromide! Know what you mean about the bromide - LOL My tank hasn't quite got as bad as you describe but there are rather a lot of fry of varying sizes - I haven't taken any to the LFS yet mainly because the thought of tearing down the rock work to catch them is quite daunting. I checked on the synodontis and am wondering if I might get some of these to help control things before it gets too bad. Gill > > its only in the past few months its got this bad, I have no idea why they > > are surviving so well, I have 2 plecs and 2 synodontis which I thought would [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > Gill the first few times were hell as I had loads of rock in there, i've had to cut it down to try and reduce the number of hiding spaces, what hasn't helped id the plecs/synos are not interested in the young so they are happily swimming round and only hiding when an adult decides to chase them a bit. what makes fishing them out even worse is that the tank is over 2ft deep and even standing on a ladder I can hardly reach some of the rock Chelle(posting from her husbands email) >>>Mine are prolofic breeders as well but I haven't got to your stage. >>>I'm [quoted text clipped - 27 lines] > > Gill If you look at a pictus's long twin barbels, you get a sense of how they hunt. They sweep the barbels through the cracks in the rocks, and frighten the fry momentarily out into the open. They also 'taste' with the barbels, so they know exactly when to turn their heads and open their mouths. They are almost always in a forward motion as well, so they have that advantage as well. Formidable eating machines. Synodontis typically have branched barbels, more typically designed for sifting through sand looking for invertebrates. They are (imo) specialized bottom feeders for smaller prey, while pictus are more adapted to covering larger areas faster looking for larger prey (fry). Signaturewww.NetMax.tk Heres a crazy thought. What about abstinence??? Take out the females & problem is solved. >>>>Mine are prolofic breeders as well but I haven't got to your stage. I'm >>>>wondering if the Plec keeps the numbers down - he never feeds on [quoted text clipped - 38 lines] > specialized bottom feeders for smaller prey, while pictus are more adapted > to covering larger areas faster looking for larger prey (fry). lol, lots of work, but some people have done this with mixed results. When the fish are old enough to properly identify as males, then everyone else gets moved out. The problems are: i) the effort of moving everything out of the tank to do this, ii) what to do with all the females (and recessive males), iii) you typically end up with very few species represented in the male-only tank (but they will be gorgeous, mostly alpha males), iv) they *will* quarrel over the newly arranged rocks and may not settle down (at least until each species is uniquely represented), and v) you will invariably miss catching one little fry, who will of course be a female ;~). Do I sound like I've done this before? Signaturewww.NetMax.tk > Heres a crazy thought. What about abstinence??? Take out the females & > problem is solved. [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] >>>>> >>>>>Gill <snip> Do they sell aquaria contraceptive?? > lol, lots of work, but some people have done this with mixed results. When > the fish are old enough to properly identify as males, then everyone else [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] >>>>>>Gill > <snip> Hey that might make some money. Someone should develop it. LOL > Do they sell aquaria contraceptive?? > [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] >>>>>>>Gill >> <snip> What kind of Synos do you have??? Some Multipuctatus (sp) would help cut down on the baby cichlids by switching their eggs. >>> Remove some rock cover, reduce water temperature to about 74F, decrease >>> feedings etc. [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > I've had them in 8.4pH mbuna tanks. They just need lots of roaming room, > 5 feet is good. > What kind of Synos do you have??? Some Multipuctatus (sp) would help cut > down on the baby cichlids by switching their eggs. decorus the fish are all mouthbrooders so wouldn't work that way What do you mean it wouldn't work. That's what syno multi cats do. They go around scooping up the eggs as the female cichlid lays her eggs & then deposits her own before the cichlid scoops them up into her mouth. >> What kind of Synos do you have??? Some Multipuctatus (sp) would help cut >> down on the baby cichlids by switching their eggs. > > decorus > > the fish are all mouthbrooders so wouldn't work that way with mine, the female lays her eggs and the male is right behind her fertilising them, she then scoops them up so they are moving in circles, if any of the others get close the male chases them off and the female gives up so the male has to follow her and try again, possibly in a smaller tank where there are less breeding it would work cause the fish wouldn't be left to it too much but in mine the syno would have to be in 3/4 places at the same time, I am wary of putting too many synos in the tank as the 2 I have decorus & schoutendini(sp?) are very territorial even if I move their hiding places they and the 2 plecs will still stay in the same area defending it from eachother > What do you mean it wouldn't work. That's what syno multi cats do. They go > around scooping up the eggs as the female cichlid lays her eggs & then [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > > > the fish are all mouthbrooders so wouldn't work that way You've gotta figure though that even if they take care of half of the babies that's a good start. This is how they survive so the male chasing them off is not an issue. The male & female synos actually tag team the other cichlids. > with mine, the female lays her eggs and the male is right behind her > fertilising them, she then scoops them up so they are moving in circles, [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] >> > >> > the fish are all mouthbrooders so wouldn't work that way i'm desperate enough to try anything right now! > You've gotta figure though that even if they take care of half of the babies > that's a good start. This is how they survive so the male chasing them off > is not an issue. The male & female synos actually tag team the other > cichlids. http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/breeding/Walker_Synodontis_multipunctatus.html >> What kind of Synos do you have??? Some Multipuctatus (sp) would help cut >> down on the baby cichlids by switching their eggs. > > decorus > > the fish are all mouthbrooders so wouldn't work that way Get some smaller fish that can eat the babies like rock dwelling or shellies. >> hi, I currently have a 5ft mbuna tank, established for about four years, >> the [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > Remove some rock cover, reduce water temperature to about 74F, decrease > feedings etc. Bottom posted. > hi, I currently have a 5ft mbuna tank, established for about four > years, the problem I have is they are prolifically breeding, most of [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > more young mbuna than he can handle (approx 50 growing on) and the > adults are still at it! any tips on how to slow them down? You might try a function fish, like a big old aggressive cichlid, MAYBE one angelfish, that would eat the young? Just an idea.... Good luck and later! > Bottom posted. >> hi, I currently have a 5ft mbuna tank, established for about four [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > angelfish, that would eat the young? Just an idea.... Good luck and > later! Good idea, but with a pictus catfish maybe, not an Angelfish. Signaturewww.NetMax.tk Pictus cat. Awesome idea. At least then you will have some babies worth something >> Bottom posted. >>> hi, I currently have a 5ft mbuna tank, established for about four [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > Good idea, but with a pictus catfish maybe, not an Angelfish. |
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