RE: Belly sliders

["Ray McCaleb" <ray.mccaleb@usg.edu>]

Interesting question...one I have been considering lately. I personally
believe this is hereditary; here's why.

A couple years back I was intent on spawning A. Nijsseni so I acquired a
couple pair from different sources, later finding out that they had all come
from the same spawn. The fish spawned and the fry appeared OK initially; as
time went by it became obvious that there were two distinct problems...belly
sliders (crawlers) and improperly developed ventral fins.

In recent months I have been working with A. Cacatuoides var. Yellow (White)
Gold. This is a fairly recent color strain that has not yet been stabilized.
I have fish from Hawaii via. California (Mike Yamamoto strain/Aquarium Fish
Mag./ photo of my female at:
http://www.apistogramma.com/cms/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=133&It
emid=44 ), as well as from Czech.  and a fellow breeder in Atlanta, GA.;
however, all of these fish have recent common ancestry. Out of the first 5
spawns from different pairings I am seeing anywhere from 10 to 50 % belly
sliders, along with crooked spines and malformed ventrals. I believe this to
be a result of the inbreeding used to achieve color. I am currently setting
up 12 additional 20 longs and intend to continue work to refine this fish,
out crossing with Triple Red, Orange Flash, and wild Cacs until I can
consistently produce quality color and conformity.

Ray



-----Original Message-----
From: owner-apisto@v2.listbox.com [mailto:owner-apisto@v2.listbox.com] On
Behalf Of Nuno Prazeres
Sent: Wednesday, April 28, 2004 5:49 AM
To: apisto@v2.listbox.com
Subject: Belly sliders

Hi all,

anybody has experience with belly sliders (fry unable to swim).

I had this problem with aggies, borellii and trifasciata. Some of the fry
(sometimes up to 25% of them) is unable to swim properly.

Any thoughts about what to do to prevent it?

Thanks in advance

Nuno Prazeres

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