[Killietalk] Aphanius mento

["Allan Semeit" <azkillie at cox_net>]

For several years I kept Aphanius mento and was able to distribute them 
widely.  These are a fairly aggressive species and require a lot of space 
and cover for the females and non-dominant male(s).  I was successful by 
removing the eggs from the mops and incubating and rearing the fry 
separately.

A few years ago, something ran through my Aphanius mento tank and wiped them 
out.  Last year, when visiting one of our "occasional" Arizona members, I 
discovered that she was maintaining my old strain - in a 10-gallon tank 
(that was planted) with the fry growing up in the tank.  I was surprised, 
but accepted her offer of some fry.

The fry matured into several males and females and were placed in a 
20-gallon Long with a Hydro sponge filter and a Penn Plax Cascade 300 
Internal Filter, lots of mops and some live plants (water sprite, later 
hornwort).  I continued my former practice of harvesting eggs - until I 
noticed fry growing up in the adult tank.  Surprisingly to me, the dominant 
male ignored the fry even when they swam quite close to him.  Not so 
surprising, the fry in the tank grew faster than their peers in separate 
show boxes.

Thinking back, I don't remember ever seeing fry in tanks with mops only. 
I'm guessing that the "fry friendly" plants help the fry grow large enough 
and quickly enough to avoid becoming adult food.  My 20 Long has turned out 
to be too small for more than one male so it looks like I'll need to remove 
the fry before they mature.  But, as you might guess, I'm breeding Aphanius 
mento differently now.

What sort of experiences have you had with Aphanius mento?  How much 
territory do you need for more than one male?  Does overpopulating reduce 
aggression?

As a final note, do not judge all Aphanius species based upon Aphanius 
mento's behavior.  Other Aphanius species that I have kept (i.e. - Aphanius 
sirhani and baeticus) can be far less aggressive toward one another.

Allan from Arizona

 


Join the AKA at http://www.aka.org/aka/modules/content/index.php?id=9.
Archives are at http://fins.actwin.com/killietalk/
Modify your subscription at http://www.actwin.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/killietalk