Re: Bolivian rams

[Mike & Diane Wise <apistowise@bewellnet.com>]

Mark Westling wrote:

> By the way, I have about a hundred of them right now and the number's not
> going down.  I really, really hate to see a spawn wasted but these guys are
> so prolific they're reproducing faster than I can unload them at shops and
> auctions.  I wish they were as "unloadable" as angelfish..

I have the same problem with several species that are fairly rare, but rarely
salable. One example is my pair of Anomalochromis sp. Guinea. They are very
prolific; 200 fry per spawn isn't unusual. These aren't highly valued by LFS but
I would hate to see them lost to the hobby. So what I do is allow the pair to
raise a spawn until one or both adults lose interest (about 4 - 6 weeks). Then I
simply separate the pair until I feel I need to spawn them again. For biparental
species like these & Laetacara,  it may take a couple of weeks to reacquaint the
pair, but spawning usually occurs within a month. To me this is much better than
filling tanks full of fish I can't move and then watching them become stunted
because they don't have enough room to grow. I also find that the fish seem to
live longer when given a vacation from breeding & raising broods. My A. sp.
Guinea pair, for example, are at least 3 years old now. They look as vigorous as
when they first spawned 2 years ago, only larger. They just presented me with 200
fry last month that are healthy & growing fast.

Mike Wise

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