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Often referred to as the Rainbow Goodeid ( or latterly the "Red Prince"). I first saw this Goodeid from Mexico when visiting an auction where it was on the show bench.I liked the colours on the male;- red fins edged with black whereas the female's fins are tinged yellow. However, none of these fish were occurring in auctions at that time. Eventually I managed to buy 4 very young fish and yes they all turned out to be males! Thanks to livebearer contacts on my website (yes it is useful!) I swapped 2 adult males with Keith Myers who generously gave me 3 females and 4 fry. All the fish settled in well and the fry were often given a token chasing but not eaten. I put them in a 24" tank near the window which does "green up" quickly but nothing detrimental apart from any plants being algaed rather quickly. For this reason I put in some ocean rock and plantpots as these fish like to claim a "nook" especially the males. I do a 25% water change every week and the water temperature is around 70 F with a cooler water period during a winter "break". When the 2 males were claiming territories,apart from the usual chases,there was a surprising encounter;- a Cichlid type mouth wrestle which was quite a violent clash.For a while the loser became quite withdrawn and hid away, while the victor became much more vividly coloured and (as in the photo below) won the hand of this fair lady! When comparing the females in the photos, the amount of blotches can vary considerably.  A few months later and one female was looking deeper bodied but not overly plump (when compared to a gravid Allotoca dugesi!) It was quite a surprise when I found 5 fry had been dropped somewhat before I expected them. I watched for a while and although the adults darted at them,there was no serious attempt to catch them. Just over a week later the other female dropped around 6 fry. Four days later and the 3rd female dropped,but only 4 fry. These are small broods (and their first) but the fry are quite large (approx 0.75cm) and certainly not timid, although for the first few days they stayed very near the surface in the corner of the tank.  I fed them microworms and crushed Spirulina flake which was accepted although when food isn't around they are always energetically nibbling at growth on the rocks and on the plastic tube from the sponge filter. At this stage all the fry are blotchy along the lateral line and showing no colour. In the photo below, the fry have reached just over 1 cm in size and are readily devouring frozen bloodworm and Black Mosquito larva. At this stage they are all identically marked, albeit with varying degrees of blotches.  By the time the fry are 4+ months old and around 4 cms in length (see photo below), it becomes possible to sex the fish as the males are beginning to colour up.  On this juvenile the red can clearly be seen around the anal fin area. Also the greeny/gold sheen is just starting to appear compared with the grey/white of the female. Even at this age the young males are chasing after the adult females and shimmying alongside them!  Summary... With some more ocean rock added, the tank is certainly a busy scene now with countless fry boldly swimming around, in and out of the crevices. Taking full advantage of the "colony breeding" set up has also proved both reliable and successful, with more new, tiny fry appearing near the surface when I make my morning visit to the tank. A very satisfactory situation with no sign of any trouble apart from a bit of male sparring. The fact that the fry survive so well with the adults certainly reduces pressure on my limited space and creates an interesting and lively tank. (Copyright; Text and photos by Ivor Hilton) |
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