Re: breeding apisto ramirezi?

["David A. Youngker" <nestor10@mindspring.com>]

From: Dennis Nagtegaal
Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2001 5:16 AM


> I am kind off new too this but i really like those apistos!!
> Got one pair cacatoides and a pair ramirezi...

Gosh, but that certainly sounds like a familiar combination...

> and the ramirezi are busy spawning they made a nest
> (whole) just on the bottom and they were both moving
> over the bottom guess they were laying egg and
> fertilizing it??

Yes, they'll alternate passing over the nesting site. First the female will
lay a span of eggs, then the male will pass over them to fertilize...

> and i looked like they were immidiatly eating it is this
> possible?

If you mean that they've taken _food_ right afterwards, then yes - it's not
only possible but highly likely. It takes quite a bit of energy to produce a
clutch.

If it's them "picking" at the nest, then odds are they're just "fuss-
budgets" who are trying to get the nest "just right".

> and can i move the egg and how? because in the tank
> that they are in are also some other fish that eat the eggs!

It's my habit to leave them in crowded situations through the first few
clutches, sacrificing the spawns to "develop" the pair as effective parents.

The first of the reasons for doing so is to combat the commonly- held
perception that Rams are "poor parents". Logic might lead you to believe
otherwise when you consider the normal _density_ of wild populations, but
what's most often "observed" in a tank environment usually leads to the
conclusion that they're rather cavalier in their approach to reproduction.

Leaving them in a tank with competitors, both for resources and over the
clutch, more quickly establishes the protective instincts of the pair. Once
they've spent a few rounds trying to guard a nest against "active"
predation, getting them to raise a brood in isolation is a snap.

But another consideration is the age of the pair itself. A recent posting
expounded on the age differential in a breeding pair of Apistos (Mike Wise?)
in a tank environment as opposed to the wild, so I don't need to reiterate
it. But that consideration appears to be a significant contributor to clutch
"failures" with Rams, and my own experiences would confirm the conjecture
here.

Keeping the pair in the community through the first few clutches also gives
the male sufficient time to mature before you try to make a real "go" of
things. Give them three or four tries at least before you separate them out.
You'll be much more pleased with the results.

> Do otocinclus also eat the egg?

Yes, given the "opportunity". Otos aren't the "strict vegetarians" a lot of
the market believes they are, but of all the cat species available for a
community, they're the easiest to protect against. They aren't aggressive in
destroying a nest - just opportunistic, as I started out the paragraph...

-Y-

David A. Youngker
nestor10@mindspring.com




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