Re: spawning triggers

[Mike & Diane Wise <apistowise@bewellnet.com>]

Matthew Diller wrote:

> Thank you all for your thoughts on my Cacatoides who haven't spawned.   Here are a couple of answers to questions that have been raised:
>
> 1.  I do feed frozen glass worms on ocassion, so the diet is not exclusively blood worms.  I no longer feed live black or tubifex worms, having learned my lesson the hard way.

I feed my apistos a wide variety of flakes, pellets, frozen, freeze-dried, and live foods. In this way I feel confident that they get an adequate diet.

>
>
> 2.  On the possibility of intestinal worms, I am in general reluctant to put medications into an apparently healthy tank.  Is the fact that she eats but remains thin enough to go on?

Not really. Gary may be right. She may be too frightened by the male to eat well. If she has normal dark firm feces, she probably doesn't have a bad worm infestation (if at all). You might want to put the female in a
tank all by herself and feed heavily. If she doesn't fatten up, then I would suspect intestinal parasites.

>   Is deworming medication risky?

No. There are several commercial products out there as well as worming medicines you have to get from a veterinarian or feed store. All are effective to some extent. Just make sure you follow the directions.

>
>
> 3.  On the possibility that the fish are old, I really have no idea.  The male is large & gorgeous (purchased through the mail from Dominic in Denver whose fish have previously been mentioned on this list).

If these are the A. cacatuoides "Orange" that Dominic was selling, they were very mature, but not extremely old fish. I picked my own pair, a large older, but well colored,  male about 3" (7.5 cm) TL and a female about
1.75" (3.5 cm) TL. My female had even developed short extensions on the caudal fin. Eight days after putting them in a breeding tank I had a cloud of fry. The male died about 3 weeks later, but mom and the kids are
doing well.

Mike Wise

>
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