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Re: J. floridae (was [Killietalk] Conditioning breeders)

Diane Brown <debunix at well_com> wrote:

I put a pair of j. floridae by themselves in a small gravel-bottomed
tank and would like them to spawn for me. They don't seem very
comfortable in the tank after having hung out there for a week (they
were in a heavily planted near-jungle tank before this) and don't
look like they're got the slighted interest in spawning. I'm
wondering if they need more cover to be comfortable enough to go at
it (since the tank is unlit, and gets only light from a not-to-close
window, even java fern won't survive in it).

The fish look plump and in good color, so I think they're in good
enough condition, but maybe that's not enough?

--diane brown in st. louis

*J. floridae* will eat anything, but need a major portion of their diet as some kind of vegetable matter. Blanched zucchini ends are one of my favorites, but many other veggies are eagerly taken.

They spawn on plants and root fibers, but even when they build a nest in the gravel, the eggs are always found clinging to some kind of root or Java moss strand. They will spawn, also, in mops if conditions are right, but the male prefers to guard and fans the eggs when in plant material, IME. Fibrous peat might work OK.

A bare tank, with few or no plants is sheer torture for this pupfish, and why they often look so rotten in store tanks. Put them in a very well-lit planted tank and watch the change in behaviour. If it is a small tank, you will have to remove the female after a spawn, or the male will kill her while guarding the eggs. Even before that, provide plenty of structure and hiding places for her to get away from him as needed.

Remember that the breeding behaviour of most of the pupfishes is more like a sunfish or chicklet, than like other killifish. Nesting and egg-guarding are normal.

Wright

--
Wright Huntley - Rt. 001 Box K36, Bishop CA 93514 - whuntley at verizon_net
                    760 872-3995

Eschew obfuscation and bloviation!



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