mickgibbo Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 I have a Trio of Gold comps 6-7cm and am wondering how to try and get these guys to spawn. I have provided shells for them but they dont seem to be the slightest bit interested in the shells. They do seem more interested in the ag pipe floating in the top. Any tricks of the trade or suggestions would be great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eddie Salita Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 They dont always go for shells. Mine breed in a shell, but it is the size of an orange. A nice single opening cave with a decent interior which the female can fit into, but not the male is often preffered. A shell would have to be large enough for her to fully hide in, as they like to get totally out of view ime. maybe block off one end of the pipe and pin it to the substrate, or a right angle bend with one opening? Some females just dont like the males getting in with them. Some more info such as tank size/layout, diet, tankmates, water conditions, etc... would be helpful also. Alto's can take a while to establish in their tank too. Have they been in there for a while... hth, Jason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickgibbo Posted February 20, 2006 Author Share Posted February 20, 2006 The tank size is a standard 4 footer and the tank mates Are Aul Flame tails. They have a veggie flake mixed with orca flake and are very healthy in the gut area. Ph is 7.5 The tank layout is rockie bottom with pass throughs, with Large turban shells at the top I have ag pipe where 2 of the fish always stay. I have an aqua clear 300 with an internal 1200 l p/h as well. Also have a big aie stone in the tank. Hope this adds some more info. They have been in the tank size small. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrontyKing Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 your Ph needs to be 8 and 8.5 and a Kh of 17-18. Try doing 40% water changes 3 days in a row and you might see a difference. After that water change about 30% weekly. That's what got mine to spawn. HTH Nick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickgibbo Posted February 20, 2006 Author Share Posted February 20, 2006 Great I will give that a go, were the changes cold water changes or just normal changes?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrontyKing Posted February 21, 2006 Share Posted February 21, 2006 I did mine with aged, preheated water. Nick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eddie Salita Posted February 21, 2006 Share Posted February 21, 2006 Good idea to up the ph and hardness as mentioned. They are cave/substrate spawners so you will need a suitable cave on, or near the bottom. They wont spawn near the surface. If the male is being dominated by the flametails, the females may not spawn for him. He needs to be able to protect the cave while she is inside. You could try adding some mysis shrimp or something to their diet also. Its a long shot, but another male might give the exisiting one a bit of hurry up too. I'm not sure about the flametails. Maybe someone else would have more experince on how they go with Alto's. HTH, Jason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Link2Hell Posted March 5, 2006 Share Posted March 5, 2006 Aulonacara are omniverous but Alto's are piscevours so increase the protein content in the diet Live food like mossie wrigglers, freshwater shrimp, chopped earth worms and fish fry make good suppliments to high protein pellets and flake that are used as staple foods Try making a frozen mix with prawn or marinara mix blended and frozen in thin slabs there plenty of recipes around so just make a small trial batch and see how things go Give them more than one choice of spawning site as the females usually like a cavity in a rock tight enough for her to cover the eggs after spawning or a shell, inverted small terracotta pot but they should have a small opening that her and the male can guard and feel secure I have spawned Alto's using all these types of spawn sites As far as water chemistry basically Sydney tapwater with some buffer to hold it at about 7.4pH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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