Re: Breeding Rams !?!?!?!

[Steph & Dave <caligula@curie.dialix.com.au>]

Ken Laidlaw wrote:

> As to why they are not fertilised may be to do with the
> male being too young.  I have read that male fish take
> longer to reach sexual maturity than females.  Often fish
> require a few attempts to get things right.

How old is sexually mature?? (how long is a piece of  string!) Ive had the pair
for 9 months and the male is 5-6 cm (doesnt stay still to be measured)

>From what u have described it looks like they are not fertilised.

> Anotherpossiblilty is that your water is not of the correct
> chemistry.  In some fish if the water is too hard the sperm
> cannot penitrate the eggs easily but this may not be the
> case in Rams which have a long history in the hobby.

Sydney Water is very soft, LFS says 10-20 ppm and the pH is about 7.9.The fish
were bred here in Aus and bought from a LFS. From discussions with different
shops getting fish into Australia is difficult and expensive, the quarantine
costs are high. Quarantine inspectors have to visit the quarantining facilities
twice, once when fish enter the facility and once before moving fish into 'public
sales'.
(I read all the messages about wild caught apistos, and ppl popping down to south
america to collect them and 'drool' :)

I'm going to try and lower pH as my next step (never done this before!) - it may
be too high and be affecting the sperm?? as none of my spawns in community or
breeding tank have ever got to hatching stage.

If that doesnt work I may try the other male ?

Either that or both males I have are wimps ;)

Thanks for the help

Steph