davez104 Posted May 29, 2005 Share Posted May 29, 2005 Teflon, you said that if you where lucky you might see IT swimming, does this mean you only kept one? They are gregarious by nature so a group will always feel more comfortable than an individual. Merjo, How did the dolphins go as hosts? Didn't wise up too quickly? Just bought an adult colony and have some 12 month old cuckoos in with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Posted May 29, 2005 Share Posted May 29, 2005 G'day I think I remeber reading somewhere that they need to be a older. For some reson I think it was something like 18 months or two tears? Can anybody offer up their experience on how old they need to be? Thanks Matthew... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anchar Posted May 29, 2005 Share Posted May 29, 2005 Dave I can't really say either way how great the dolphins were. My group "mysteriously" stopped spawning when I did a huge water change one day (they were happier with older water maybe??). The male dolphin did a pretty good job at keeping the cats at bay though. My Ps. elongatus were much better hosts. Also, Matthew is correct about age. My cats were at least three years old before they had kittens. I also found that they needed to be in groups of (preferably) 8 or more before they spawned. It's a long term project. Andrea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DFishkeeper Posted May 31, 2005 Share Posted May 31, 2005 In my personal experience, cuckoos will start breeding at around 2 years of age. I have used dolphins as hosts in the past with some success, but my most consistently successful hosts have been Protomelas "Fire Blue" and Copadichromis " 3 spot eastern". I have two colonies of cuckoos currently breeding consistently, one has 1m3f and the other 3m4f. I have found that replacing the male in the host colony with a younger male every 6 months or so will often stimulate cuckoo production, possibly as the older male becomes more aware of the cuckoos and better able to keep them away, while the younger male is just keen to finally get his chance to breed. Merjo, try putting some sort of elevated breeding platform in the tank with your dolphins, as I have found this will often stimulate breeding with these guys, I use a ceramic wall tile supported by a couple of rocks. Cheers, Doug email : anitajoy@bigpond.net.au Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anchar Posted May 31, 2005 Share Posted May 31, 2005 Cheers Doug, but I have moved the dolphins out and into the frontie tank. The new hosts are G. acei as they are prolific spawners, have large mouthfuls and small egg size (plus they aren't the sharpest tools in the shed ). I have only just moved them so I'll let you know how long till I get some kittens. Andrea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.