Heroina isonycterina showing off

[ryansmith83]

My male Heroina are turning out to be gorgeous little fish. They're developing wide foreheads and stocky bodies, and they show beautiful orange and red colors with nice teal/blue iridescence and bright red eyes. The males are all about 5" now. Here are a few pictures from tonight:

Love the gill flaring! They can be really hard on each other so I'm going to have to split them all up soon. I'm also having a weird issue where any body injury results in fungus and death within a day or two. I've tried with several different fish to cure it -- the first one I just used clean water and salt with no success, then I used Melafix on a second... so far nothing seems to work. This is a real shame because they fight a lot and injuries are common. Split fins heal fine but the body injuries are what cause problems. Anyone ever had something similar happen? For instance, two males lip-locked last night and today one male already has puffy, fuzzy lips and is acting lethargic. If he goes the way of the others I've lost, he'll be gone in a day or two. Any input would be great.

As much as I hate losing any of the adults, I'm not too concerned... I've got several hundred F1s growing out that I can replace them with.

If anyone would like to own this rare and beautiful little cichlid, keep your eye on the Marketplace because I'll have to find homes very soon.

 

[jonclark96]

Beautiful, Ryan. Awesome job with them. Are there any clear differences in the genders or do know by watching their behavior in the tank?

 

[Andrewtfw]

They are coming along nicely. There a few pics out there of anything larger than about 3". Do you keep them as a species tank? I am curious to know if the aggression is solely conspecific.

 

[Dispatch273]

They are awesome! I contemplated getting some but just didn't have the room at the time. Hopefully I will soon, these pictures have made me want them even more! The issue with the fungus thing is pretty strange though. I've had really good luck curing fungus like disease with jungle's fungus cure tabs. Can't hurt to try them.

 

[ewok]

really nice job with these
keep it up!

 

[Decker504]

Looking good bro

Sent from my DROID4 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App

 

[IanTOT]

Really nice! Send me a pm when you want to sell some.

 

[ryansmith83]

Thanks guys.

Are there any clear differences in the genders or do know by watching their behavior in the tank?

If I sit and watch them long enough I can figure it out. The males are more elongated. They remind me of Cryptoheros/convicts. My females tend to be smaller with shorter bodies and better colors. They really light up when they're spawning. The body color may not be much to look at, but their eyes and the iridescence in their fins is awesome. I also don't notice the small black flecks/freckles on the females as much as I do the males.

Actually, the large, colorful fish in the pictures above may be a female. I haven't gotten a successful spawn from that fish yet and its tube kind of looks female. We'll have to see if it lays eggs in the next few days. If it is female, that throws the whole theory out the window because it's the largest and most aggressive/colorful fish in the tank.

They are coming along nicely. There a few pics out there of anything larger than about 3". Do you keep them as a species tank? I am curious to know if the aggression is solely conspecific.

It's not solely conspecific. I had them mixed in with other South Americans while growing out and they were very snippy with fish three or four times their size. At 3", I put three males in my 150 gallon with large adult severums and Krobia guianensis. I saw them attack the spawning pairs of Krobia and they dive-bombed the severums when they weren't looking. Unfortunately the fish retaliated and caused bodily injury to the Heroina, which is when I noticed the weird fungus problem I mentioned in my first post. I got scared that I was going to lose them all if that kept happening, so I decided to put them in a species tank to grow out. They fit comfortably in a 55 gallon size-wise but their aggression outgrew the tank, so now I have a couple of pairs in their own 40 breeders and the remaining five in the 55. Eventually I have a 150 to set up just for them but it's taking me forever to get around to it.

I do have a female Krobia guianensis in the 55 with the grow-outs and she is at war with them all day -- lots of flaring, tail slapping, etc. They give her grief but she gives it right back.

 

[ryansmith83]

Well, the large fish with the orange/red color turned out to be a female. Who knew? She's officially bigger than all the males.

What stands out the most about differences between the sexes seem to be the black freckles. I don't really notice them on the females.

 

[Brodywm]

Ryan, I know this is an old thread, but do you have any idea where I would go about finding some? I live in Florida. Thanks!