Re: Cacatuoides EGGS!!! Yiippee,, I'm a eg

[Tim Ellis <timellis@flash.net>]

Vicky,

Hi and congratulations on the eggs,

I was wondering just what steps you go thru to condition your water. Mainly the
peat usage. I am using pure RO water, adding trace elements, adding sodium
bicarbonate for buffering, and using Aqua Lab's PH Minus.(lots of phosphate!) I
dont have any problem getting the PH down to 6.5, but I would like to try and set
up a tank for my Iniridae and I've been told this fish needs aq PH of 5.0 or
lower. If I use the same stuff to get down to 5.0 the phosphate level would be
terribly high and of course here would come the algae(YUCK!) Could you share a
little of your technics.
I thought I only had two females, but after getting them out of that lfs tank(7.8
PH!) and into a soft water 6.5 PH one of them is showing a dark stripe at a 45
degree angle from his eyes back to under the gill plates, and a wide dark band
running down the side of the body, the blue specks around the gill plates are
brighter too. The other has stayed quite bland looking, just a light brown orange
color all over.(could be a sneeker male, hope not)

Thanks,
Tim




Brown, Victoria: TMI wrote:

> Hi Folks,,
>
> Just a quick note to give you all the great news!!!
>
> The courting pair of Cacatuoides that I had moved into their own little
> tank, were very busy little fishy's yesterday. When I arrived home from
> work yesterday, and checked to see how the little one's were doing, the
> male was kinda hanging around pretty far from the flower pot.  I looked
> in the pot, and there was the female, and she was looking at the roof of
> the pot.  I got a flashlight, and peeked in, and saw a whole bunch of
> very red eggs!!   The male seemed kinda cowed, so I netted him up and put
> him back into the 20 gallon community with the rest of the Cacatuoides,
> Biatiana's and male Agassizii.  Where he promptly started to court the
> other 3 females Cacatuoides that live in that tank.
>
> The female mom, is so cute. She kinda sweeps the floor of the pot with
> her pectorals. When I fed her, a flake drifted into the pot, and she
> sweeped it right out of her pot. She is continually fanning and mouthing
> the eggs. I wasn't sure if she would come out to eat, but she did, she
> grabbed a flake, and dashed back to the pot. She would check her eggs,
> and then come out for another flake, then back again. After she had her
> flakes, I squirted a bit of brine shrimp right in front of the pot, and
> she stayed right at the entrance, and ate the shrimp, as it settled down.
>
> WAY KEWL!!!!
>
> This morning, she is very happily tending her eggs, and had a very good
> breakfast of freeze dried red grubs. She is quite at ease, and doesn't
> seem nervous when I peek in her tank.  I  conditioned some water last
> night, and added a bag of peat, so when I water change her tank, the
> water will already be peat conditioned. My water is soft and less than 40
> DGH (test kit read 70PPM, which you multiply by some number, don't
> remember what that was,, to get at reading of 39.2), and a PH of 6.6, so
> I want her water change water to be close to that in the tank.
>
> I was so excited about this spawn, that I called a fellow Apisto digest
> member in Montreal to tell him about the event.
>
> HI GEORGE!!!  Great talkin' to you last night!!
>
> This morning, the male Cacatuoides, is really struttin' his stuff for the
> other 3 females. He is really pumped, and very bright red.  The other
> females are much more yellow this morning, and I'm thinking that he will
> probably spawn with the other ones also.  I'm going to do another tank
> shuffle to-nite, and move my 3 chocolate angels and the Nijsseni to
> another tank, and free up that 15 gallon, and move  the 4 other
> Cacatuoides into their own tank. I will have to decorate with plastic
> plants for now to create little territories, cause the tank is low in a 2
> tank stand, and I don't have a fluorescent light for it yet. Soon,
> though,,,
>
> I'm havin' major fun with these guys!!!
>
> Later,,,
>
> Vicky and her fishy buddies
>
>
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