Thanks Keith for the wonderful fish!
Thanks Sean for the hook up!
Not sure where this thread belongs to ... hoping for some information and tips....will stop when I have fry or when I give up, whichever happens first
-------------------------------
Some of you might remember I got a pair of WC Heros sp. Atabapo (or Heros severus "Atabapo"?) two weeks ago from Keith. I put them in my 220 with a bunch of other fish (probably too many...need to consolidate..).
A couple of pictures from 03/21/09 - their first day in the tank:
Female:
Male:
They were a little beaten up from a ride in the cooler, but quickly recovered and started to show some amazing red color, especially the female.
Female (3/24/09):
Male (03/27/09):
They get along very well with their tankmates. They are the dominant pair but are not too rough on the other fish.
Tank shot from 03/28/09. I left a flower pot at the back left corner (just in case)
Since the beginning of this past week (their second week in my tank), they started to chase, display, and court. I also got a feeling that they were looking for a spot - they "examined" various surfaces in the tank and tried to clean a few spots.
Female checking out the large driftwood (03/29/09)
Male seemed to like a pile of small river rocks (03/27/09)
They started to show some very intense facial markings since the middle of the past week (04/01/09) - not extensive or colorful but very obvious. You'll see what I mean if you compare the pictures below to the earlier ones.
Female (04/01/09)
More and more obvious...female (04/03/09)
Pair (04/04/09)
Female (04/04/09)
From what I could gather Heros severus seem to like vertical surfaces as spawning sites, so I took the pot out and replaced it with a few large river rocks, and arranged them so that the fish would have a few different surfaces to choose from. I really hoped they'd pick that corner because it's the least crowded area in the tank.
They seemed to like the rocks a lot, and started to drop breeding tubes Friday.
Female (04/03/09)
Male (04/04/09)
They started to dance Saturday morning (04/04/09). I told my wife it was going to be this weekend, and she got really worried (not b/c the fish, but b/c she thought I'd want yet another tank
).
Dancing (noon 04/04/09):
They also finally managed to chase all other fish to the right 2/3 of the tank. Not easy considering the number of dumb fish in the tank
Tank shot 04/04/09
Went out in the afternoon and really thought I'd need an egg crate, so home depot I went. Got home in the evening and BAM! EGGS!
And they did pick the vertical surface!
Eggs (04/04/09)
Parents guarding the eggs (04/04/09)
In went the egg crate (talk about timing). I'd say they have ~60 gallons of room secured for themselves and the eggs.
Their room (04/04/05)
The rest of the tank (04/04/09)
It's 1:10am Monday morning now, about 36 hours after spawning. Most eggs (if not all) are still there....no white egg (or they picked them off already)....hoping the parents will pick up and hold in the next day or two....
Sunday (04/05/09)
Thanks Sean for the hook up!
Not sure where this thread belongs to ... hoping for some information and tips....will stop when I have fry or when I give up, whichever happens first
-------------------------------
Some of you might remember I got a pair of WC Heros sp. Atabapo (or Heros severus "Atabapo"?) two weeks ago from Keith. I put them in my 220 with a bunch of other fish (probably too many...need to consolidate..).
A couple of pictures from 03/21/09 - their first day in the tank:
Female:
Male:
They were a little beaten up from a ride in the cooler, but quickly recovered and started to show some amazing red color, especially the female.
Female (3/24/09):
Male (03/27/09):
They get along very well with their tankmates. They are the dominant pair but are not too rough on the other fish.
Tank shot from 03/28/09. I left a flower pot at the back left corner (just in case
)
Since the beginning of this past week (their second week in my tank), they started to chase, display, and court. I also got a feeling that they were looking for a spot - they "examined" various surfaces in the tank and tried to clean a few spots.
Female checking out the large driftwood (03/29/09)
Male seemed to like a pile of small river rocks (03/27/09)
They started to show some very intense facial markings since the middle of the past week (04/01/09) - not extensive or colorful but very obvious. You'll see what I mean if you compare the pictures below to the earlier ones.
Female (04/01/09)
More and more obvious...female (04/03/09)
Pair (04/04/09)
Female (04/04/09)
From what I could gather Heros severus seem to like vertical surfaces as spawning sites, so I took the pot out and replaced it with a few large river rocks, and arranged them so that the fish would have a few different surfaces to choose from. I really hoped they'd pick that corner because it's the least crowded area in the tank.
They seemed to like the rocks a lot, and started to drop breeding tubes Friday.
Female (04/03/09)
Male (04/04/09)
They started to dance Saturday morning (04/04/09). I told my wife it was going to be this weekend, and she got really worried (not b/c the fish, but b/c she thought I'd want yet another tank
). Dancing (noon 04/04/09):
They also finally managed to chase all other fish to the right 2/3 of the tank. Not easy considering the number of dumb fish in the tank
Tank shot 04/04/09
Went out in the afternoon and really thought I'd need an egg crate, so home depot I went. Got home in the evening and BAM! EGGS!
And they did pick the vertical surface!
Eggs (04/04/09)
Parents guarding the eggs (04/04/09)
In went the egg crate (talk about timing). I'd say they have ~60 gallons of room secured for themselves and the eggs.
Their room (04/04/05)
The rest of the tank (04/04/09)
It's 1:10am Monday morning now, about 36 hours after spawning. Most eggs (if not all) are still there....no white egg (or they picked them off already)....hoping the parents will pick up and hold in the next day or two....
Sunday (04/05/09)
congrats , i'll be the first to say it ..... i'd be interested in some fry when the time comes !
.
