First off - it's incredibly cool to find a board devoted to dwarf cichlids!
Now my issues:
I have a pair of Laetacara curviceps (or are they dorsigera?) that I've had for about 7 months now. They came from the same shipment at the LFS, and one is about two thirds the size of the larger one and also has more rounded dorsal & anal fins - so I'm guessing the smaller one is the female. First question - is that the correct way to sex these fish?
Right now the smaller one is probably one inch long and the larger one is 1.25 or 1.5 inches or so. If they are a pair, how much bigger do they need to be to start breeding? Also, my set-up has lots of live plants, 3 hunks of driftwood that create 3 hiding areas, and a few places with small flat stones. I've read that they are not cave brooders, so I don't have any classic caves but I do have lots of places to hide. Until last week, I had 2 small stone caves, but they ignored them. If anyone has bred these fish, I'd love to hear their stories and set-ups for breeding.
One last bit of info., they are in a 20 gallon high tank with 1 cory (the last one to survive an ice storm with 3 days without power and 52 degree water!), 3 otos, and 3 platys.
Thanks in advance!
Now my issues:
I have a pair of Laetacara curviceps (or are they dorsigera?) that I've had for about 7 months now. They came from the same shipment at the LFS, and one is about two thirds the size of the larger one and also has more rounded dorsal & anal fins - so I'm guessing the smaller one is the female. First question - is that the correct way to sex these fish?
Right now the smaller one is probably one inch long and the larger one is 1.25 or 1.5 inches or so. If they are a pair, how much bigger do they need to be to start breeding? Also, my set-up has lots of live plants, 3 hunks of driftwood that create 3 hiding areas, and a few places with small flat stones. I've read that they are not cave brooders, so I don't have any classic caves but I do have lots of places to hide. Until last week, I had 2 small stone caves, but they ignored them. If anyone has bred these fish, I'd love to hear their stories and set-ups for breeding.
One last bit of info., they are in a 20 gallon high tank with 1 cory (the last one to survive an ice storm with 3 days without power and 52 degree water!), 3 otos, and 3 platys.
Thanks in advance!