vadnappa Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 How many cuckoo's is everyone getting in a mouthful? I got some wild caughts a few months ago and they have started breeding. First attempt was for a lone fry second I got 4 out and had a third last week of 13. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buccal Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 13-15 seems the go for mine.I think it can depend on how many eggs the host has to feed the baby cuckoo's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LithoMan Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 on and off i have had massive i mean 20-30 red empress hostbefore yellow tail acei and lithos around that 10-15 markand depends on size of cuckoos and diet i reckonsometimes i get them a touch earlier and tumble them gently with the host eggs still in tumbler and watch them disapear Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vadnappa Posted March 14, 2015 Author Share Posted March 14, 2015 Yeah I have been stripping on day 3, cuckoos are head and tail. I tumble and let them feed on all the host eggs then into a fry saver to grow out a bit. Crazy fast growth rate on these guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spiesie Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 What is the size/age/ratio of your cuckoo colony? And what have you been using as the hosts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astochristo Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 How big do the hosts need to be? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vadnappa Posted March 20, 2015 Author Share Posted March 20, 2015 Guessing 8-10cm 2 male 3 female. Age unknown being WC but they were sub adult when I got them. Have a few hosts with them but they have only been getting into the White knight clutches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LithoMan Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 8cm+ more age i say than sizewhat they do is after a while they stop the host fish from breeding so you will see complete stop no mouthfulsso then you need to change host ...Once you do that the other host(the ones that stopped breeding) will start to breed again i notice takes them 1 month or so to get back in to action...i have used yellow tail acei - red emp - lithos - now demasoninot so much luck with mbuna best way is take out caves and so on so they breed in open and cuckoos get a chance to drop eggsi give my cuckoos baby brine shrimp on occassion to get them excited and make more eggs(well i think it helps i try never to keep the eggs(host fish) even if i strip early i notice they can come out deformed and so on because of the cuckoos probably damaging them early so i feed them or let the cuckoos eat them..cuckoos are like canibals they eat each other as well and kill each other off i have great success using the outside hang on fry savers and keep an eye on them once they look strong and free swimming i release them in a tank and let them grow with other fry...hope this helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astochristo Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 They sound like a awesome fish to keep! Can't wait to get a few! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vadnappa Posted March 21, 2015 Author Share Posted March 21, 2015 Once they are settled they are great so active not intimidated by any other fish, just chase each other around doing their own thing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ged Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 I found that swapping the host species around would normally allow the hosts to start breeding again but I had a colony of acei that would stop as soon as the cuckoos went back into their tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astochristo Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 Do the hosts catch on to the parasite if the eggs are stripped? And stop breeding? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buccal Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 I'd say its the pressures/stress of the multis pushing in during the Cichlid breeding process, once its continual the Cichlids gain vigilance and become deterred from breeding.I have a male heavy red emp colony that has never stopped breeding at the cats presence.Maybe competition between male red emps keeps desire to keep trying ?? Maybe ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vadnappa Posted March 22, 2015 Author Share Posted March 22, 2015 That's really interesting buccal, Makes sense. when i set them with their next host I will try a male heavy colony see what happens Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buccal Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 Choose fish with large buccal cavities, and egg heavy generaters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buccal Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 Also species with very frequent breeding cycles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spiesie Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 This is all great information from everyone!Can't wait to start this adventure!One question I have though which I can't find a definite answer online is: How old does the Cuckoo's need to be before they start to breed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vadnappa Posted March 23, 2015 Author Share Posted March 23, 2015 Mine started when they were about 7-8cm. They grow quickly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spiesie Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 Can you remember how old they were? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vadnappa Posted March 23, 2015 Author Share Posted March 23, 2015 Wild caught Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spiesie Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 Oh yes! Forgot! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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