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This is a Goodeid from Mexico which I had been trying to get for a while along with Allotoca maculata,but neither species were coming up even in livebearer auctions around the north. Eventually I dropped lucky and a pair came up in the British Livebearers auction at the B.A.F. event at Stretford, Manchester. I put them in a well planted 24" tank with the temperature at 72F and the P.H. just above neutral. They settled in easily and feeding was certainly not a problem as they readily devoured Spirulina, frozen bloodworm, black mosquito larva and daphnia. The male is the smaller fish (see below) and his colour is beige/bronze with a gold sheen. This sheen can cover most of the body and from this, the fish gets it's nickname of the "Golden Bumble Bee" goodeid. The female is a more robust fish with a beige body and a much darker blotched blue irridescence on the belly.(Very different but, in my opinion, an equally attractive fish).  After around 2 months the female ("Big Momma" as I nicknamed her!) was becoming really large, so much so that when swimming out from behind the bogwood for food,she was almost waddling! At this time, as recommended, I was giving her plenty of live food from my garden pond. Also I was keeping up with weekly water changes, having read previously how important this was with this particular species. Despite her really huge girth she only dropped 16 fry . With such a size, I wasn't sure how many to expect! (This number was certainly nowhere near the record drop of 76! This huge brood is a record not just for this species, but for any Goodeid. This happened over a period of one week when a single isolated female was in transit on her way to England). As it was my first dugesi drop I decided to play safe and not leave them all with the adults. Also some fry were weaker looking in their swimming motion but not deformed. Of the 16 fry, I "glassed" 10, and put them in a 16" rearing tank of the same water. (* Having netted the fry I like to scoop them out of the net with a small glass so that they are never out of the water) I watched the remaining 6 fry and, in a very similar manner to the Char. lateralis, the adults darted towards the fry but never made any concerted efforts to eat them.  The fry were fed on finely crushed Spirulina flake, some microworm and small sifted daphnia. There were considerable differences in the rate of growth in both tanks. By the time the fry were 8 weeks old, the larger fry (around 1.25 cms) were twice the size of the smallest! Is this a case of early female growth or is it that some avid eaters were doing well and the "picky" ones were staying small? Soon after, I realised my numbers had sadly reduced;- the slow growers had probably become losses. I now had 4 healthy fish with the adults and 4 in the rearing tank. At least I knew there was no need, nor any advantage in separating the fry, so I put the 4 juveniles back into the main tank with the adults as a step towards an intended "colony breeding" set up. On their re-introduction they were not harassed at all, so all was well. |
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By the time the fry were 3 months old, I had 7 healthy fry, each appr. 2.5 cms long. The females were developing the blue sheen (see photo) while the smaller males had only a very faint lateral line with a slight gold sheen patch above it. From these early appearances I had 2 males and 5 females. Eventually the second brood of fry of "Big Momma" were dropped while I'm at an auction. By the time I checked the tank, I could see just 4 fry in the floating plants. I knew the adults didn't bother them, so, as there were so few left, was it the juveniles who have had a go at the fry? As I continued peering in, I spotted a few more, but 3 fry were lying on the gravel and moving in a slow spiral motion. By the time I had removed the deformities, there were perhaps 8+ fry all staying in the sanctuary of the floating Indian Fern. I left them to see how they coped. Was it the size of the gravid female that created some kind of physical "pressure" on some of the fry? ( I have read other accounts stating that building up numbers in consecutive broods was not an easy task). The following day I counted 8 fry minimum in the plants, but then saw a juvenile make a very determined grab at a fry at the surface. I decided then, that although the first batch were safe with the parents, any ensuing fry could not be left with lively, developing juveniles! I quickly glassed 8 fry who were all hiding in the floating Indian Fern and put them in a growing-on tank. Later I realised I had left one fry in the tank which I couldn't catch. I decided to see how it coped;- significantly after 3 more days it was not seen. It was pretty obvious I was not going to have the same ease of creating a colony as I had with my Characodon lateralis! Also I was desperately hoping to have a few more males in this small brood of 8 fry. Although the "growing on" tank is a lifesaver I do find that the fry don't grow as quickly because they are missing all the tiny infusorians which they are constantly finding in a mature planted tank. At 3 months old I put the 8 juveniles back into the main tank with the adults and my first brood juv's and they were accepted. This meant I now had 15 fish from two broods and, by my limited observations of fish moving in and out of plants and bogwood, I seemed to have a satisfactory ratio of 5 males and 10 females. During the winter break I lowered the temp. down to around 65F. This gives the fish a "rest" period and they are refreshed for the onset of Spring. I was also able to sell/swap a few pairs to friends around my area as it is a species seldom seen. 2006 My first drop after the break was a very satisfactory one;- I got 18 fry and thankfully no deformed swimmers. They were all in the top plants as there were five adults to hide from! I netted and glassed them and put them in a spare 24" tank. I shall grow them on and return them to the main tank when sufficiently developed. Update Having now established a reasonably sized group of fish, it would seem that in the future, removing the fry is my best option. I don't think I can have the luxury of a colony breeding set-up which I enjoy with the Characodon lateralis. It is an attractive livebearer well worth keeping and breeding, particularly as it doesn't occur too often at auctions and certainly not in aquarist shops. Also I am not too sure of its endangered status in the wild. |
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