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Ophthalmotilapia Ventralis


Pilly

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Once again ,,,, put the fish in the search botton up top right for info.There are a few.

Or try breeder section.

I tried the search function before posting. There is little to no info there...

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A quick search yielded this information for me;

1 x chituta female ventralis 10cm $20

(http://www.aceforums.com.au/index.php?showtopic=46951&hl=Ventralis)

Ophthalmotilapia Ventralis 'Gold Samazi'.....$30.00 each.....2 off (males)

(http://www.aceforums.com.au/index.php?showtopic=47051&hl=Ventralis)

I have a young colony of ventralis for sale (blue variant, possibly from chituta) comprising 2 males and 4 females. They are hitting 7-8cm and should be ready to breed soon (males are coloured up).

(http://www.aceforums.com.au/index.php?showtopic=45394&hl=Ventralis)

Ophthalmotilapia ventralis "Chituta" 4-5cm $15 Picture

(http://www.aceforums.com.au/index.php?showtopic=44744&hl=Ventralis)

So I agree with you there is little information out there but I thought it was worth posting the links incase you couldn't find them. I would contact the sellers of those above fish and see if they have anymore available. It does seem though that they are in limited numbers at the moment which Chituta being the most prominant at least on this forum.

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Over here in the west I've seen

O. ventralis - Chituta, orange cap, Samazi, Chaitika, Kala and Isanga. So there are a few variants around. I had a breeding colony of Chituta's for a while. Awesome fish, and if set-up properly, pretty easy to breed, but they need a lot of space due to aggression, some smooth stones or equivalent for hides for the females and fine lime sand for the males to make their bowers in.

Cheers

James

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Some great advice there from Jimmy.

Be careful Pilly - once you start with the featherfins, you'll find it hard to stop...lol

O. ventralis is a wonderful species to keep, and as mentioned, there are several varieties around for you to select from. Of course, the harder-to-find varieties would be the recommended ones to acquire and breed up.

As Jimmy points out, the intraspecific aggression can be quite full-on. You must keep several (IMO at least 4) females to each male and a large surface area is very important.

You will be able to keep them with Cyprichromis, Julies, and quite a few other Tang gems without too much trouble.

Other Ophthalmotilapia species around are O. boops, O. nasuta, and O. heterodonta. All are kept in similar situations and all can be very rough with each other - but again, if set up properly, all will be absolutely fine!

Once you've set yourself up and consider yourself ready, just place an ad in the classifieds or check out a few shops - it won't be long before you come across some.

Cheers,

Andrew.

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Just need your advise about Ventralis. I have a colony of Ophthalmotilapia Ventralis Chaitika 1m,3f in standard 4foot tank. But they have to share the tanks with 4 small frontosa and few Gold Comps. My question is can the Ophthalmotilapia Ventralis still breeding or not? Or i have to put them in separate tank?

Thanks

Peter

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Hi Peter,

They can still breed in that tank, but the male may kill the females if there are not enough refuges for them. All you'll need to do is make sure they can get safely away from the male.

Cheers,

Andrew.

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I have a colony of Ophthalmotilapia ventralis "Chituta" 1m/3f, 1 female held few weeks ago but the eggs disappeared, I did a 50% water change and that probably gave her too much stress. I have them in a tank with Tropheus K1, Red Moliro, Duboisi and Leleupi Longior

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Thanks for all the responses and question/answers. Made for interesting reading.

So they are around, just need to find some then. I was especially interested in the Black head and half Black varients they have in the US.

Anyone with spare fish/fry or leads to any of these, please PM me.

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Hey Kasm & Peter,

From my experience I found the minimum size colony that worked for me was 2 males: 4 females. The males are relentless chasers and if you only have one then he can concentrate solely on the females, and they tend not to hold for very long due to the continued harassment. Ideally, 3 males is the best scenario as it spreads the aggression out, but also gives one of the males enough free time to breed with the girls. I had my colony in a 6x2x2, comprised of 3 males:7 females, with a pile of rocks at either end and a smaller pile in the middle as refuges for the females. I also planted vallis around the tank as a visual barrier in front of the rock piles and between the males territories, cause the females are aggressive towards each other as well.

I would let the female hold for 2 weeks and then at night in the dark, after they are a sleep gently caught her in a net and moved her into a floating fry saver made out of those cheap $1 buckets you get from Bunnings. These seemed to be the right size for the fish and didn't stress them to the point where they would spit the eggs. I always had an egg tumbler ready to go, just incase she spit during the process. By waiting two weeks the females were more likely to hold the fry when being moved, but if they spat then I got 100% development to free swimming fry in the tumbler, because they were well advanced.

Just some anecdotal info from my experiences. I did breed quite a few before selling my colony.

Good luck in your search Pilly, I hope you find what your looking for. They are awesome fish and still my favourite featherfin Tang.

Regards

James

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No worries Peter. There are lots of resources on the net, but discerning the good from the bad can be problematic. Sites like these provide invaluable info to hobbyists and those interested in breeding. When I first got my ventralis a few years ago there were only 2 varieties here in WA, and Chitutas were the rare ones. Its good to see more getting in the country, but those who can breed should so they stay available. Tangs, which I like, still seem to be rare outside of some species of the Julidochromis, shellies, frontosa and Lamprologus groups. I've had some species on my wish list for years, so good luck and if you do breed them sell them on to others.

J

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The males will chase the female's all day long so if holding they need some hiding space as said.

jimmy's advice is good to save the fry but they still need to hold for the 2 weeks. I think one only male is best in a smaller tank.

Catching them at night is the way to go as well,less stress.Into a lg container.They stress easy.

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from a google search that found an NSWCS species list

have to agree with Jimmy I had silver stream ventralis and yellow nasuta

and both were pretty aggressive so tank size is important and 3 males seems

to be a good number as the odd one will chase the girls while the other 2 fight

Black Boops

Opthalmotilapia boops Msalaba

Neon Streak Boops

Opthalmotilapia boops Nkondwe

Opthalmotilapia hetrodonta

Opthalmotilapia hetrodonta

Tiger Nasuta

Opthalmotilapia nasuta Chimba

Nasuta Gold

Opthalmotilapia nasuta Kachese

Blue Ventralis

Opthalmotilapia ventralis Chaitika

Opthalmotilapia ventralis Kala

Opthalmotilapia ventralis Kala

Orange Cap Ventralis

Opthalmotilapia ventralis Kambwimba

Opthalmotilapia ventralis Kapemba

Opthalmotilapia ventralis Kapemba

Silver Stream Ventralis

Opthalmotilapia ventralis Tembwe

Chris

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