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My aquarium hobby began just like anybody else’s from a fish bowl to a small tank, then a bigger one, then an even bigger one. In all of my tanks I tried to experiment and keep different plants and fishes. Some of my aquariums focused on the fishes, some on plants, and some featured both. I took a break from the hobby and did not keep anything for almost two years. However
Wolfman says:
I'm a DEMACRAT. I'm getting a pair of (AFRICAN WOLF CICHLIDS) the scientific name of it is africansis k9 they are the real wild wolfnature fish unrelated to the central American wolf cichlid they are faaar worst in aggression they are KILLERS PERIOD theres not many cichlids that stand in their way they are not recommend to keep by many Americans cause of the killer nature only 8% of people have them.John C Gern says:
Looking for Tophat for my brackish 55g tank. Are you aware of any available?kay says:
Amazing!great informationDr. Reza Farrokh says:
MessageMarty says:
Sumer, Thank you for your well written and comprehensive article. I enjoyed it very much and it is not too long at all. I have kept bettas for about 60 years. My first pair spawned in a one gallon glass pickle jar, only one male survived to maturity. You wrote that your water is less than 10 TDS. I assume you start with RO/DI water. What and how much do you add to get to 10 TDS? In the egg exchange portion of the video, the male's right operculum appears to be slightly malformed (too short). Is there a malformation or just a camera angle? I have seen 2 males with a malformed operculum. Too many inbred fish? I've been giving the 2-3 day swallowing problem some thought. This 2-3 day or sometimes 5-7 day period from spawning to swallowing is consistently seen by many people trying to raise Macs. It can't be that everyone startles their holding males on day 2 or day 5 and that makes them swallow the eggs. It seems to me that this behavior may be an instinctive response to non viable eggs. Somehow the male fish gets a signal (probably chemical) from the "rotting eggs" and that triggers the swallowing. The male swallows the eggs rather than spits them in order to conserve energy. Fish sperm motility (swimming speed and duration) is strongly affected by the make up of the water, particularly the osmolarity. So TDS, or a very narrow range, may be THE factor that determines whether the sperm fertilizes the eggs and whether he swallows. Currently, I have 16 adult Macs. I keep the pH at 5.5-5.8, the TDS less than 30 ppm. In one 10 gallon tank there are 2 males and 1 female. The males chased each other at first. Now they watch each other, but there has been no damage to either. The female previously spawned with each of the 2 males in a 50+ gallon grow-out tank. I put them together hoping the female would spawn with each male in an alternating pattern. But today she spawned with both males, one after the other. it took about 7 hours. Both males are holding now. The female is resting. What do you feed fry? I feed live BBS, and very finely ground Betta Bug Bites. Then switch to frozen Daphnia, fruit flies and white worms. MartySumer Tiwari says:
Joseph, I too have heard that it can be done but have never done it myself or seen anyone else do it. Since the males are known to eat the whole brood, I would suspect that it'd be very hard to strip the male of the fry.The male might just swallow the whole brood when the keeper would approach to catch the male. Do you keep Betta macrostoma? Have you heard or seen someone practice "stripping" with Betta macrostoma male?