Gambusia Sexradiata Problem

[damianhucker]

i have been keeping the more unusual livebearers for only 6 months or so having kept central american cichlids in the past , ive always been fascinated by livebearers but lack of availability became a turn off . im manager of a branch of maidenhead aquatics now and it annoyed me that i couldnt get hold of many livebearers so i bought myself some species on ebay and at my aquatic society's auction and wanted to breed some to take into my shop , ive got into it a lot more now and it aint about the shop any more . ive been breeding several types but gambusia sexradiata are being difficult . at 1st i just kept them all in a community and let them breed themselves just like i did with guppys many moons ago when i was a beginner , this didnt work after introducing the gambusia as all the fry of any fish were gobbled up pretty quickly . ive this time put her in a breeding trap and all but 1 fry have been in curled up balls , ive seen this with guppys before but wondered what could cause this . have i done anything wrong . one thing to point out is that assuming ganbusia sexradiat has a gestational period of around 28 days would mean my fish was 10 days late giving birth and then left me with the fry prob . any help would be greatly appreciated . also whilst im here any one know where i could get any of the following species or anyone that may be selling some (uk only) . Xiphophorus birchmani , Xiph. Pygmaes , Brachyrhaphis Roseni , Brach. Holdridgei , Brach Terrabensis .

 

[OldMan47]

That curled up ball is usually the sign of an early delivery where the fry has yet to fully develop. It can be brought on in livebearers in general by things that stress them such as confinement in a breeder trap that is too small for the fish. No idea where to get fish in the UK, if you were in the US there is aquabid but I don't know if any of those folks ship to the UK. There are vendors on there from asia but customs rules can have a big impact on where people will ship.

 

[dunchp]

Hi Damian,

Gambusia sexradiata and many of the wild Gambusia are an easy species to breed, but a difficult species to keep going for a long period of time. IMO There is only really one solution for the problem which you have pointed out and that is to separate the females from the males and keep them in isolation. Feed them as much mosquito larvae as they can eat (free at the moment) and keep an eye on them.

I have never had much joy in trapping them.

Don't assume 28 days, not all wild livebearers are like that. You will need to work out your own gestation period, but don't be surprised if you are looking at 45 days per brood.

I have your e-mail regarding the species you want, but at the moment I am in a little bit of a hiaitus with DIY and getting the BLA magazine out. I will be able to sort you out with some of the fish in the next week or two but if you really want to get into livebearers then you will need to join the BLA.

 

[helterskelter]

Defo BLA is the way to go.

www.britishlivebearerassociation.co.uk

Or you can check out my site

www.viviparous.org.uk

BLA have regular meeting and auction's and well worth the fee for just the fantastic magazines that are produced.
Also as a last note i had Gambusia sexradiata about 15 years ago and also found the fry very hard to save.
The females are very predatory and if the fry dont get away to some where safe with in 2-3 seconds they are eaten.

Best of luck though with these fun fish.

 

[dunchp]

BLA have regular meeting and auction's and well worth the fee for just the fantastic magazines that are produced.

Flattery will get you everywhere

 

[helterskelter]

lol

 

[damianhucker]

hi thanx for that . just to point out though i have sent off the form already to join BLA yesterday.

 

[helterskelter]

Thats good then, sure ur be able to find all sorts now and some things may of never seen befor.

 

[damianhucker]

hope so . to be honest whenevr i ask if anyone has any particular fish it usually is the case ive only seen them in books or on net , not easy to get any livebearers other than the usual commercial ones . i manage a shop and personally import the fish but theres never anything of note . theres a supplier in czech republic that occasionally has some on their list but when i order nothing turns up , and im not talking mega rare things , just alfaro cultratus of which i already have a pair , hetandria formosa , of which i had 2 gold pairs from an auction that seem to have vanished (all but one female) , and humpback limias which ive already got in the shop and got 2 pairs of , everything else is the usual standard stuff . i just got rid of my goodieds to the shop to free up a tank as you never know what you might see somewhere . so my shop has ameca splendens , xenatoca eiseni and illyadon xantusi , they just dont float my boat so maybe someone else will buy them and get some enjoyment , in fact weve got loads of ameca splendens as they seem to breed in the shop faster than were selling them lol. i might tke the last trio of belenesox to put into what was my goodied tank.

 

[dunchp]

hope so . to be honest whenevr i ask if anyone has any particular fish it usually is the case ive only seen them in books or on net , not easy to get any livebearers other than the usual commercial ones . i manage a shop and personally import the fish but theres never anything of note . theres a supplier in czech republic that occasionally has some on their list but when i order nothing turns up , and im not talking mega rare things , just alfaro cultratus of which i already have a pair , hetandria formosa , of which i had 2 gold pairs from an auction that seem to have vanished (all but one female) , and humpback limias which ive already got in the shop and got 2 pairs of , everything else is the usual standard stuff . i just got rid of my goodieds to the shop to free up a tank as you never know what you might see somewhere . so my shop has ameca splendens , xenatoca eiseni and illyadon xantusi , they just dont float my boat so maybe someone else will buy them and get some enjoyment , in fact weve got loads of ameca splendens as they seem to breed in the shop faster than were selling them lol. i might tke the last trio of belenesox to put into what was my goodied tank.

Well done Damian, it will be good to have you on board. Good timing as the magazines will be going out next week.

 

[helterskelter]

Czech republic fish are usually from Blower, cant remember his first name. He has a few things there all which u have stated.

Belenesox are an interesting fish but difficualt to feed, you can get them onto frozen food but they dont do well, they need live food. However to breed it's take a large amount of food.

 

[damianhucker]

you say the belenesox are difficult to feed but ive honestly never had a prob in shop tanks , i even have them accepting flake.

 

[helterskelter]

but how long did they live though?

To breed and rear Belonesox they need live foods. they may take flake food as a last resort but i've never feed mine with it.

An article i did around 15 years ago on them.
http/www.livingfish.co.uk/forum/article.asp?art=332

 

[damianhucker]

well obviously i cant comment on how long the ones weve sold lived but i can say nobody has come back telling me they died , also the trio in shop at moment have been in for around 6 months and seem to accept anything offered , of course thay prefer frozen food to dry stuff but obviously from a customer point of view if we can get them eating everything commercial then it make s the customers life a little easier , but i will ask if any of my customers had any probs to see what they say , one of neighbours bought 3 pairs a while ago so ill start with him . also ive just ordered the ATLAS OF LIVEBEARERS OF THE WORLD for the shop but will probably be buying it for myself as soon as it arrives , anybody read this/own it to give me their opinion , i read it when i borrowed it from my local aquarist society but that was about 7 years ago when i wasnt keeping anything other than central american cichlids , all i can remember was that the book was huge .

 

[dunchp]

well obviously i cant comment on how long the ones weve sold lived but i can say nobody has come back telling me they died , also the trio in shop at moment have been in for around 6 months and seem to accept anything offered , of course thay prefer frozen food to dry stuff but obviously from a customer point of view if we can get them eating everything commercial then it make s the customers life a little easier , but i will ask if any of my customers had any probs to see what they say , one of neighbours bought 3 pairs a while ago so ill start with him . also ive just ordered the ATLAS OF LIVEBEARERS OF THE WORLD for the shop but will probably be buying it for myself as soon as it arrives , anybody read this/own it to give me their opinion , i read it when i borrowed it from my local aquarist society but that was about 7 years ago when i wasnt keeping anything other than central american cichlids , all i can remember was that the book was huge .

Hi Damian,

I have this book, it is a good book, but perhaps a little outdated now. The only book on slavishly use is the Aqualog Livebearers and Halfbeaks book. All these books are good to have.