Gardneri Male won’t breed?

[newmag1659]

Hi!
At the end of June, I purchased 4 killifish: two males and two females. One of the males was larger and more dominant, and so he was the one breeding to the females, and he did so often. Within a week, he died mysteriously. Tank parameters were normal (don’t remember but around 0/0/10-30) so I chalked it up to stress.
Since then, the subordinate male has grown to the size of the previous male, so for a few weeks now I’ve expected to catch him chasing the ladies and trying to breed. I’ve not caught him once. I found a fry or two from the previous male, but this one just doesn’t seem interested. Any ideas? I’ve never heard of males not being voracious breeders, even to the point of killing the females.
They’re in a 10 gallon heavily planted tank and fed frozen thawed bloodworms 6 days a week (one day to fast to prevent bloat). There’s also 6 corys in the tank but everyone gets along very well.

 

[newmag1659]

bump

 

[FishkeeperLinz]

Hi!
At the end of June, I purchased 4 killifish: two males and two females. One of the males was larger and more dominant, and so he was the one breeding to the females, and he did so often. Within a week, he died mysteriously. Tank parameters were normal (don’t remember but around 0/0/10-30) so I chalked it up to stress.
Since then, the subordinate male has grown to the size of the previous male, so for a few weeks now I’ve expected to catch him chasing the ladies and trying to breed. I’ve not caught him once. I found a fry or two from the previous male, but this one just doesn’t seem interested. Any ideas? I’ve never heard of males not being voracious breeders, even to the point of killing the females.
They’re in a 10 gallon heavily planted tank and fed frozen thawed bloodworms 6 days a week (one day to fast to prevent bloat). There’s also 6 corys in the tank but everyone gets along very well.

You're feeding the fish bloodworms six days a week? How long have you been doing that?

Bloodworms are fine as an occasional treat - maybe once a week , or to encourage fussy eaters to start eating, but 6 times a week is way too much. It would be like us eating nothing but chocolate.

They need a good quality flake or pellet food, and other live foods such as daphnia, black worms, white worms, brine shrimp, etc. If all you're giving them is bloodworm, they'll be malnourished.

That aside, cories will probably eat any eggs or fry they come across. This is why killis are usually kept in species only tanks.

 

[Colin_T]

You can feed frozen bloodworms every day but it must be as part of a varied diet.

Breeding fish should be fed 3-5 times a day so they can build up fat reserves and produce good quality gametes (eggs & sperm). If the fish are malnourished they won't breed or produce good gametes. Baby fish should also be fed 3-5 times a day.

One of the best food for conditioning most aquarium fish is raw or cooked prawn/ shrimp. Buy some frozen prawns and keep them in the freezer. Take one out and defrost it. Remove the head, shell and gut (thin black tube in body) and throw these bits away. Use a pair of scissors to cut the remaining prawn into small pieces and offer 1 or 2 bits at a time. Feed until the fish are full.

You should also offer other foods and I used to feed my breeding fish the following foods in this order. These foods were fed each time the fish were fed. The fish were fed 3-5 times each day for at least 2 weeks before they were bred, and I continued feeding them 3-5 times a day while they were breeding. I reduced the feeding to 1-2 times a day a week after they finished breeding.
Dry flake/ pellet food.
Frozen Marine Mix (prawn, fish & squid blended up).
Frozen bloodworms, brineshrimp, mysis shrimp or daphnia.
Live Grindal worms or microworms.
Live newly hatched brineshrimp.
Live mozzie larvae.

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You need to do more water changes and gravel cleans when feeding more often. I did 75% water changes and gravel cleaned the substrate every day or two when feeding more often. The big daily water changes also stimulate fish and encourage them to breed.

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Your male fish might still be young and not ready to breed, or it might have intestinal worms or some other health issue that is weakening it. I would increase the feedings and variety of food for a few weeks and see if it helps. If it doesn't, then remove the male and put him in another tank for a week, then put him back with the females. That will usually encourage them to do the wiggle dance.

 

[newmag1659]

You can feed frozen bloodworms every day but it must be as part of a varied diet.

Breeding fish should be fed 3-5 times a day so they can build up fat reserves and produce good quality gametes (eggs & sperm). If the fish are malnourished they won't breed or produce good gametes. Baby fish should also be fed 3-5 times a day.

One of the best food for conditioning most aquarium fish is raw or cooked prawn/ shrimp. Buy some frozen prawns and keep them in the freezer. Take one out and defrost it. Remove the head, shell and gut (thin black tube in body) and throw these bits away. Use a pair of scissors to cut the remaining prawn into small pieces and offer 1 or 2 bits at a time. Feed until the fish are full.

You should also offer other foods and I used to feed my breeding fish the following foods in this order. These foods were fed each time the fish were fed. The fish were fed 3-5 times each day for at least 2 weeks before they were bred, and I continued feeding them 3-5 times a day while they were breeding. I reduced the feeding to 1-2 times a day a week after they finished breeding.
Dry flake/ pellet food.
Frozen Marine Mix (prawn, fish & squid blended up).
Frozen bloodworms, brineshrimp, mysis shrimp or daphnia.
Live Grindal worms or microworms.
Live newly hatched brineshrimp.
Live mozzie larvae.

--------------------
You need to do more water changes and gravel cleans when feeding more often. I did 75% water changes and gravel cleaned the substrate every day or two when feeding more often. The big daily water changes also stimulate fish and encourage them to breed.

-------------------
Your male fish might still be young and not ready to breed, or it might have intestinal worms or some other health issue that is weakening it. I would increase the feedings and variety of food for a few weeks and see if it helps. If it doesn't, then remove the male and put him in another tank for a week, then put him back with the females. That will usually encourage them to do the wiggle dance.

Thank you so much! I have changed their diet to (including bloodworms still), brinefish and high quality pellets as well. Once I made that change, I've already noticed the male hooking up with the ladies. Thank you for the advice!