Re: A. cruzi?

[Charles Claunch <cclaunch@ix.netcom.com>]

Lilia Stepanova wrote:
> 
> Recently I got a pair of A.cruzi. I can not find any specific information
> on keeping them. The only thing I found is what they belong to A.regini
> (sp?) group. And sales person (very good one) said they are "hardy". So
> far, it looks like they do not like a lot of light - coming out mostly in
> the dim light (then the lights in the room are on, but tank's are off) -
> is it because they are new (a week) in here or this is their normal
> behavior, and if it is so what should I do with plants?
> 
> What are the best conditions for keeping and breeding A.cruzi?
> Why they are not so popular - do they have some negative trait what makes
> them undesirable?
> I have some neons and pristellas as dithers, but they did not succeed in
> keeping Cruzi out. Male and female have separate hiding places - male in
> coconut shell, female under the filter, although I have also clay pot.
> Some plants (not a lot, but I am planning to add more). 10g, pH 5.6-5.7,
> no heating (I think about summer - soon here will be 85-90F room
> temperature without any heater).
> What I can improove and how to make them spawn (they are  about 2.5
> inches long)
> 
> Thank you for advice
> 
> Lilia
> 
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------

I obtained 3 female and 1 male cruzi about the first of November of 97.
I have found them easy to keep and not shy as far as apistos go. All are
kept in 10 gal. tanks with plenty of hiding places (broken clay pots).
The ph is relively high at 6.5 to 7.0. I have had four spawns in that
time and found them to be exception parents. The average spawn was about
thirty to forty fry. I always remove all other fish in the tank as soon
as the fry are free swimming, although I now have 2 females in same tank
with fry. I will soon move female and oldest fry to separate tank as the
females are starting to fight now that both spawns are free swimming.
The fry grow quickly on a diet of baby brine shrimp and I am curious to
see how the somewhat higher ph values affect sex ratios (hope I don't
end up what all males or females. I feed the adults mixed diet of frozen
brine shrimp, chopped fresh shrimp from supermarket, frozen mysis shrimp
and mosquito larve. So far they have been very easy to keep and breed
and male is begining to show more color as he gets larger (light blue
sheen). Females turn an attractive yellow when spawning and guarding
fry. By the way, all my tanks have white/brown play sand as a substrate.
This kind of sand is not sharp and the apistos seem to enjoy shifting
through it.

Thanks,
     Charles Claunch