Breeding Ilyodon Cortesae "freckled Splitfin"

Hi everyone,
I got a hold of some Ilyodon cortesae a few months ago. They are very beautiful fish! I thought I would make a thread on them and give updates on them. I have found and learned from these guys that they are somewhat aggressive when kept in small numbers and in a small space. I have mine in a 30 gal tank and they are doing very well. Thought I would also share my current list of fish I have.

Ameca splendens ,
Ataeniobius toweri ,
Chapalichthys pardalis Lake Chapala in Michoacan Province of Mexico ,
Goodea gracilis Rio San Juan Del Rio, Queretaro, Miller,
Ilyodon cortesae Collected by David MacAlister of the BLA. Listed on the C.A.R.E.S. list as Vulnerable. ,
Xenotoca variata "Zacapu" and "#93### Maria" ,
Xenotoca eiseni Rio Compostela, Nayarit, Dibble 2003 ,
Xenotaenia resolanae ,
Zoogoneticus tequila Rio Teuchitlan ,


F2 Cryptoheros cutteri "Rio Monga" ,
Limia melanogaster.

Thank you very much! Take care!
Chris

They are very nice looking fish and easy to care for the Ilyodon family can grow about 5 inches long they do best when kept in large tanks with plenty of swimming space. when kept well fed the adults leave there young alone.they can be left to flock breed. will except all foods offered to them and will always appreciate some live foods in there diet. not fussy about temperature when breeding them they do well between 70f-74f

I notice that all your fish are from Mexico. Any special reason for this? And how have you obtained them? Did you catch them yourself or through other hobbyists? I do sometimes pick up feeder fish in Mexico, the so-called 'charales' but in reality they are a variety of different species like wild platies and swordtails or poeciliae species.

Chris is a goodeid enthusiast Biulu. The goodeids are almost exclusively found in Mexico, with a very few found in the adjoining area of the US.

I am also heavily into goodeids since, as a group, they are being threatened mainly by agricultural use of their native waters. When you drain a creek or river for irrigation, it makes things tough on the fish that naturally live there, even if they are easy to care for and breed. They IUCN red list contains many goodeids that do not belong in the safer ranges. Both Chris and I keep Ameca splendens, as an example, that was thought extinct in the wild until very recently. In fact I got my Amecas from Chris.

Would be great to see some pics, I'm currently growing a group of eight Ilyodon xantusi (that came from Tim at TDC Aquatics) at the mo in a 48x12x15, some lovely colour developing on the biggest male who is ~6cm.

Something I've noticed but been very unsure about is some rocking side-to-side every now and again. Is this some sort of displaying to either other males or males flirting with females, or something I should be worried about (looked up "shimmering" but thankfully that looks different to what I'm seeing)?

OldMan47 said:

Chris is a goodeid enthusiast Biulu. The goodeids are almost exclusively found in Mexico, with a very few found in the adjoining area of the US.

I am also heavily into goodeids since, as a group, they are being threatened mainly by agricultural use of their native waters. When you drain a creek or river for irrigation, it makes things tough on the fish that naturally live there, even if they are easy to care for and breed. They IUCN red list contains many goodeids that do not belong in the safer ranges. Both Chris and I keep Ameca splendens, as an example, that was thought extinct in the wild until very recently. In fact I got my Amecas from Chris.

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Interesting! I know a livebearer enthusiast here in Montreal, actually there are several of them, but for one I bring these 'feeder fish', last time it was P. gracilis. I can't identify them, but he can... I buy a mixed bag, I let them grow out a bit and then bring the nicest ones over to Canada. Luckily Canada has good regulations for importing fish for aquarists; as long as you don't bring commercial quantities you are fine.

Ilyodon cortesae

Sorry for the delay in replying! My interest is in freshwater fish from Central America (Mexico and other countries in this area). I am into Goodeids and Cichlids from Central America. I have some interest in cichlids of other areas like South America and Africa. I obtained them from other hobbyists. I would love to go collecting someday! Goodeids are beautiful,fun, and in my opinion underrated fish! As Gordon has stated majority of the Goodeid family is threatened and in need of survival and help. It is very important to pass these guys around and get more people interested in keeping Goodeids. When I have enough of these and all of my Goodeids I plan on sharing them around.

Thank you very much Gary for the pictures and how to care for them!

I can make up a video of mine and share it on here. I am not good with pictures. I.xantusi is also a very nice looking Goodeid! Would love to get a hold of them someday!

Thank you very much! Take care!
Chris

Great Chris! My friend Gary has loads of livebearers as well and is knowledgable (has been keeping fish for mnore than 40 years!). He recently became a member of this forum under GaryE, maybe you want to contact him for sharing and maybe obtaining some more fish....

Lovely looking goodeids, the I. cortesae have an understated colouring.

Are my I. xantusi likely to breed in the spring given they are about 4-6cm now, or will they spend the next year or so reaching their ~12cm potential before signs of youngsters?

Has anyone looked at the Ilyodon at Wildwoods via "Tropical Fish 2 Your Door" an dwondered if they might not be the smaller I. whitei species? Given that I received a Synodontis congica rather than a young S. notata earlier this year, a misidentification would not surprise me.

i. xantusi can breed at that size brood size usually less then 9 fry. adults produce a average of 20.
when buying Ilyodons from a lfs there is no guarantee it’s the true species.

all 6 types of the Ilyodons have very similar features and they can be very difficult to identify . The only way to know if it is a true species is if you can get the collection details from who collected the fish and the location of were the fish come from

Ilyodon whitei with new born babies
Chris It'll be nice to see a vid of your fish
Thanks
Gary

Ilyodon Ameca 5cm in length had a total of 7 good size fry today.
female is looking a bit on the fin side will soon recover after a good feeding of live food

A better photo Of a female Ilyodon Ameca