farlowella cats

[mostanks]

i got these guys about a month ago,this is my second attempt at keeping them my first expirience w/them didn't last very long(about 6 months)for whatever reason they just died i'm hoping this trip they'll be w/me for a long time so does anyone have any exp w/them and care to share it?

btw-one is about 9"s the other is about 7"-the 9"er had long trailers on it's tail,does that help determin the sex of these fish coz the 7"er didn't have the trailers?


thanks




sam

 

[CFC]

Ive kept them for a while now and have found them quite easy to keep but they do need supplements to their diet rather than algea only,i feed mine frozen mussel;cockles and catfish pellets.
Sexing is easy,the males have a wider snout that is covered in small bristles,the females is shorter and narrower and has no bristles the trailers have nothing to do with it.
They need a tank that is high in oxygen with a gentle current they will let you know if oxygen levels fall by swimming to the surface and sitting with their noses protruding the water.

 

[mostanks]

why am i not surprised you have these cats lol thanks for the info CFC i believe i have a m/f pair,i read somewhere about the snout thing and pointed out which ones i wanted hoping it was true and it IS!!

They need a tank that is high in oxygen with a gentle current they will let you know if oxygen levels fall by swimming to the surface and sitting with their noses protruding the water

and now i now why the others died i didn't know that i wasn't using an air pump i was relying on the movement from the filter to bring oxygen to the tank.

oh well i know now
how about breeding..?can they be bred in an aquarium?


thanks a bunck CFC

 

[CFC]

They can be tank bred, i havnt done it myself yet because of lack of space and breeding anything in the tank theyre in would be impossible.
But heres what i could dig up for you;Spawning pairs are conditioned in the normal manner,a period of fasting followed by heavy feedings of live foods followed by large regular water changes.The spawning is done over night and 40-60 sticky eggs are attached to the glass which the males guard,in multiple spawnings the eggs are always stuck in the same spot.The eggs have a low yolk content and fry hatch within 10 days.The male helps the fry from the egg casings and will care for the brood.Raising the fry is difficult, water needs to be soft (5-10 dGH) and pH neutral,fry will eat algea and liquid fry foods.

Hope this helps,i plan to try this out my self one day (if i can get a bigger place than our tiny flat) so let me know how it goes if you attempt it

 

[mostanks]

i'm proly in the same boat as you CFC(don't have the room)right now i'm just trying to absorb as much info as i can til i get a bigger place but i'm sure i'll give a go in the future they'r geat fish.


thanks again,really appreciate the info,keep me in mind if ya run across anything else


sam