Re: "It's a matter of Breeding"

[Michael Kelly Larsen <mlarsen@cisco.com>]

: Question:  Will I get Rams with a taste for Bratwurst, Beer and Hot
: Latin Salsa and Chilies or will they breed exclusively with their own
: species (or genus, whatever!?!)?  Obviously I don't want them to
: interbreed, so what can I do?
 
I haven't seen anything in the books about hybrids of ramirezi &
altispinosa, so I can't say authoritatively, but I'm willing to bet
they will stick with their own kind, especiaqlly since full grown 
altispinosa are about double the size of ramirezi.

: The aformentioned Bolivian Rams (Microgeophagus Altispinosa) seem to
: have a case of worm/nematodes.  Symptoms: tiny red pin shaped "spikes"
: hanging out their anus and have clamped fins.  I've tried Hexamite
: unsuccessfully and a deworming medication with pellets and frozen brine
: shrimps.  I actually removed several with a tiny pair of tweezers.  All
: remedies aside, they still have these damn worms sticking out their
: butts!!!!  WHAT CAN I DO?
 
May be Lernaea, or Anchor Worm. The treatments that I have read 
suggest removing the fish, holding it in a wet cloth, and removing the
worms w/ tweezers. Treat the wound w/ a Q-tip dipped in mercurochrome
or iodine (books reccommend that a vet do this while the fish is
under anaesthetic, but I don't know how practical that may be in
your case). Put the fish in very clean water, preferably a set-aside
hospital tank and treat the water to ensure that the wound will not become
infected.
 
- --
Michael Kelly Larsen       Cisco Systems, Routed WAN Engineering
Development Test Engineer    Network Management/Layer 3 Services
http://www.employees.org/~mlarsen/      mlarsen at cisco dot com
"Bug Checking is *brutally* cool!"             --Alex Doonesbury