I think we're about 3 weeks old now. They look like gold rams at this stage.
Cichlasoma sp. 'Esmeraldas Gold'
- Thread starter ryansmith83
- Start date
These guys will be four weeks old (from free-swimming) in three days, 100% gold and bar-less like the parents.
I picked up a pair of fish in July from my LFS that were labeled "blonde port acaras." With all of the internet searching, the only "match" I can find are these fish from Rapps and in your thread. Mine have spawned multiple times but they eat their babies within a day or two of reaching free swimming. They were in a SA community but I recently moved them into a 55 with just a few tankmates (a pair of swordtails and some SAEs).
Apparently I can't post links since I am a new member to the forum. Ugh. Trying to remove the https from the front to see if I can still post how to find the video of the fish.
//youtu.be/UhAHJqAmc74
Apparently I can't post links since I am a new member to the forum. Ugh. Trying to remove the https from the front to see if I can still post how to find the video of the fish.
//youtu.be/UhAHJqAmc74
Tomorrow marks 8 weeks free-swimming and the juveniles are about 1" long and ready for their new homes. I haven't culled out the tiny stunted ones yet but a good majority of them are 1" and uniform. They're little carbon copies of their parents.
Water changes, water changes, water changes. I fed live baby brine for the first month, averaging three times per day. Now they’re on a high-protein micropellet I use for discus and they only get it once or twice a day.
The juveniles do have bars, they're just not pigmented black. As you can make out in this picture, they're an iridescent gold color. This suggests the fish are likely some leucistic form of an acara, much like gold severums are essentially a leucistic severum.
Hello Ryan, I've been following your progress with breeding these guys for awhile. I'm honestly a little jealous! haha... I also have a pair of these, I got them at the big fish deal this year.
Mine seem to be a LOT different from yours... My male is about 4.5-5 inches (head to tail), and the female is about 3 inches.
The pair has spawned for me... 6 times... but all the fry would die at 2 weeks, nomatter what I did.
I tried separating the eggs from the parents and hatching them separately, but the fry wouldn't eat.
I tried leaving them, but they got eaten at 2-3 weeks. (3 weeks was the oldest I got them to)
Recently, the pair got sick with internal worms, and I treated them both in the same tank since they were both going through the same thing. The male got better before the female and was in spawning mood... doing all his mating dances and all that, and it got to the point that he was just chasing and attacking her because she wouldn't/couldn't breed.
I put her in what was supposed to be the fry tank, and I've been treating her there. She is getting better and her fins are healing, but I won't put them together for awhile because of the size difference. My male has gotten really aggressive, attacking at my hand when I put it up to the glass. About those stripes on your fry... They stay there. My male gets these dark stripes when gets angry or tries to attack my hand through the glass... I could get a picture of him but the stripes probably won't show up since my only camera is on my chromebook haha....
Anyway, any tips on breeding them? I might have to upgrade the male, since he's just in a 10 gallon by himself... Jeff Rapps said that they'd be fine and breed in the 10 gallon, which they have been. I'm just concerned about how big the male is going to get, I got him at 2-3 inches, and he has grown quite a lot in just a 10 gallon.
Mine seem to be a LOT different from yours... My male is about 4.5-5 inches (head to tail), and the female is about 3 inches.
The pair has spawned for me... 6 times... but all the fry would die at 2 weeks, nomatter what I did.
I tried separating the eggs from the parents and hatching them separately, but the fry wouldn't eat.
I tried leaving them, but they got eaten at 2-3 weeks. (3 weeks was the oldest I got them to)
Recently, the pair got sick with internal worms, and I treated them both in the same tank since they were both going through the same thing. The male got better before the female and was in spawning mood... doing all his mating dances and all that, and it got to the point that he was just chasing and attacking her because she wouldn't/couldn't breed.
I put her in what was supposed to be the fry tank, and I've been treating her there. She is getting better and her fins are healing, but I won't put them together for awhile because of the size difference. My male has gotten really aggressive, attacking at my hand when I put it up to the glass. About those stripes on your fry... They stay there. My male gets these dark stripes when gets angry or tries to attack my hand through the glass... I could get a picture of him but the stripes probably won't show up since my only camera is on my chromebook haha....
Anyway, any tips on breeding them? I might have to upgrade the male, since he's just in a 10 gallon by himself... Jeff Rapps said that they'd be fine and breed in the 10 gallon, which they have been. I'm just concerned about how big the male is going to get, I got him at 2-3 inches, and he has grown quite a lot in just a 10 gallon.
Last edited: