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Tricoti, how many people have them?


jmendy89

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Hi all,

Its been a while since I've posted, but I'd like to start an open discussion on Tricoti.

I have found information on the internet is sparse and good information is far between. In general, people refuse to discuss them with me too. My partner says no one wants to spill their 'secrets'. He also says there are things that he thinks has been the 'key' to our recent success that I should absolutely NOT share, which I think is ridiculous.

So I'd like to start this topic, with firstly finding how many people have these gorgeous fish in their tanks?

My colony is currently 4 males and 5 females. They live in a 6 foot long x 2.5 foot wide x 2 foot high tank.

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Hi all,

Its been a while since I've posted, but I'd like to start an open discussion on Tricoti.

..... My partner says no one wants to spill their 'secrets'. He also says there are things that he thinks has been the 'key' to our recent success that I should absolutely NOT share, which I think is ridiculous.

So I'd like to start this topic, with firstly finding how many people have these gorgeous fish in their tanks?

Nice topic. Can I assume your recent 'success' means breeding successfully? Post pics would be good.

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They have been around for years in small numbers in the hobby. I do know they have been bred here, but no fry have ever been raised to my knowledge. I have also never seen anything but wild caught fish offered for sale, so I am guessing that they have rarely been bred in captivity anywhere in the world.

If you have bred them, then well done. I hope you have success in raising the young.

Josh

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Yes they certainly are expensive! But even without the breeding success I think they are well worth it as the males are just stunning. 1 of my males is a show off and parades around his rock anytime you sit by the tank to check up on them. We love them, the breeding has just been a bonus!

Yes, we are currently having great success breeding. Raising not so much... White spot and mysterious death for no apparent reason (no signs of distress etc). We just lost the last of the initial 14 eggs we stripped. They were a bit over a month old and around 2 cm.

1 I nick-named Big Bertha, as she is our largest female,she has bred twice this month, with 14 and 13 eggs... we didn't think that soon was possible. Another tiny brood of 2 came from another. The 15 eggs we have now are only a few days old and have only just started popping out their heads and tails.

Im disappointed with the loss but excited that I have the opportunity to try again.

Big Bertha doesn't like me anymore cuz we've taken her eggs twice lol, she hides when I go near the tank.

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That is great jmendy89 to hear. Bang up some pics would be good to see, eggs and fry should be easy. I must say that is a super fast development rate you have, might be onto something...

Two guys up here I know have had inadvertant success with tricoti, but with a short lived juvenille growout and only single or few fry.

A good source told me they are bred overseas successfully, again no information on techniques.

Here are some pics of mine with no guesses as to what they are up to ;)

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* I recently saw these magnificent fish again at South Mvuna Island. Surprisingly in a pretty big school of around 20 to 30 females to a few sparse males. A very wary fish initially, but we were told we made the wrong approach and they are in fact pretty curious fish. I had taken some footage but viz was poor generally, not to mention at 30m - 35m depth. Unfortunately I wiped that SD card so no pics available. One of the other guys did get a photo, but again nothing spectacular. All in all great to swim with them again, this time the mid Tanzanian location.

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Ok found it saved on the hard drive - lucky. You get the idea of the working conditions that we had to deal with. A couple of strong lights would have made the difference though. Females schooling above had long gone by now...

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Came across this fat Lates lurking down there too. Most likely eying off them as food!

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Wow!! We hope to go to the Lakes one day and see their natural habitats! They definitely are NOT shy fish! Very curious and bold!

I have found in contradiction to most people telling me to keep the tank dark and covered that they don't mind light at all once they settle in.

I agree with a large colony and few males. I have 4 as I mentioned which I don't like. 3 show colours every day and 1 does not, so Id like to find him a new home.

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Post up some photos of your fish / fry please (no need to give away your 'secrets'). Pretty straight forward, but if you are not sure how, do a search on how to post up photos - it has been asked many times before.

Curious to know what size your eggs are compared to other mouthbrooders you have bred?

Much appreciated, Ian :)

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Were all of those 14 eggs from one female or a few females coming into a breeding at once ??

I had 1m and 1f and these spawned three times and every time they only produced 3 eggs.

But every single fry were always deformed (the tail was always curled downwards into a circle touching the nose).

Jeez, must have been frustrating to get as far as you did,,, then not to have them pull through. (almost bellywomper stage)

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Thank you Josh, for posting the photos, I still have no idea how you did it...

14 from one, 13 from the same the second time she bred, 2 from another.

Ive been looking for someone who had/has them to talk to!

Question: Because of the sudden interest in breeding, I was wondering if it is the season ie coming into spring, or if they have just finally settled in and are happy. Did you notice if your tricoti bred at a certain time of the year or whenever they felt like it?

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I do believe that it's when they feel like it.

And obviously you have a number of things in line that serves them correctly,, like water perameters, food, temp and so on.

So I think if you got all that right, then I'm sure it's when ever they are in the cycle and mood.

In discussion with other people,,, some people refer some tang fish as being annual breeders, maybe this is what your wondering.

Often I've heard people say their E.melanogenys are annual,,,, but my E.melanogenys spawn 3-4 times a year same female,,, as my colony prior to that one did also, and including the past kilesa I've kept.

The tricoti did spawn for me the three times in same year,, but I gave them away to a display tank when I noticed deformity 100%.

I don't believe there to be any annual breeding fish if their conditions are kept in various particular ways.

Maybe people's set ups that are subjected to influences of winter,, like temperature,, is what may appear to fish being annual.

In the wild some species may perform annual breeding congregations,,, but in the tank if breeding season conditions are constant and males and females are in each others face and abundant food to keep conditioned they'll breed on a more constant basis.

Something I've always thought of also is the species stomach size in relation to body size.

A fish with a small stomach in relation to over all body size, takes longer to condition.

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Now that is excellent work there! I was going to ask if were using the Ziss tumbler.... You can see they have a small yolk, such tiny eggs, fast absorption.

How long was it after your fish settled in that they spawned? I would not be surprised that incoming adults are already roed up (like other imports ie. gibberosa, Cyps) so are keen to spawn.

Agreed with buccal that you influence breeding, so no reason not to trigger them all year round.

Again congrats on the success, now just a bit of tweeking with weaning them onto growth foods.

Keep us posted.

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From our previous experience, the new batch in the photos are 8/9 days old. They loose the sack by day 11/12.

ummmm.... how long have we had them...? Less than a year, I think, but Im not sure, we got 3 imported, we ordered 5 but 2 died :( in January or February. Bought the other 6 from someone in Sydney a month or so after that. So 5/6 months.

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I think luck in obtaining particular individuals good for breeding plays strongly.

For some time I've also wondered about species that live deep and the effects on captive bred fry in shallow water having no pressure on them unlike the deeper depths.

But seeing the Petrochromis red bulu having no issues (while also being a deep level specie), with breeding in captivity proves this as not a problem,,, but still,,, maybe still could be a issue being a different specie with a different evolution string.

If I had got to this well done stage of 14 bellywompers, I'd tend to focus on the lake Tangs composition,,, especially looking at GH, KH.

Magnesium and sodium are the higher percentages,,, but even though in low amounts being calcium and potassium, these two are also important for development.

So I'd say Tang lake salts and separate formula trace elements would cover nearly all the requirements.

Usually water perameters are a final stage for the aquarist to perfect his/her skills many years down the track when the passion persists strong and long term. :).

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