Fish Folk Posted July 25, 2021 Share Posted July 25, 2021 I’ve got two Threadfin Acaras (Geophagus heckelii) that were amazing g buddies… until they weren’t. Basically, when they grow old enough to spawn, they go into high gear every once in awhile and start digging a hole to China through the substrate. Plants come up… everything gets shoveled around. One began abusing the other, so I separated them. I’ve got in mind selling them both. But I’d like to learn more. Anyone have experience breeding these? Raising them? Heres a video where I ask some questions and show what’s going on more… 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jungle Fan Posted July 25, 2021 Share Posted July 25, 2021 I just made a phone call to a friend I hadn't talked to in a few years to get this info, so what I know is second hand from a friend who breeds them in Germany but he says the sexes are hard to tell apart and the only way to do so is to look at the mature fish; the female's body is generally more rounded. The best way to get a pair is to start with a larger group of them and see who pairs up. To breed them he places them in what would be the equivalent of a 30 gallon tank with soft, acidic water, with flow from a pump and an airstone and a heater, with soft substrate and several piles of river rock and Amazon swords plants, or Helanthium quadricostatus. He keeps the tank lit very low and feeds bloodworms, and brine shrimp. The Acaras dig in the substrate for the bloodworms and after spawning it keeps them from eating their own eggs. After a day or two he does 50% water changes and replaces the tank water each time with rain water a degree, or two colder than the tank water. He repeats this every day until the Acaras spawn, then he turns off the light and the pump keeping just the heater and airstone running. Cutting the light is because he says the fry is very light sensitive. The female lays the eggs on the rocks, or leaves, and the fry hatches after three days. Once the yolk sacs disappear he feeds the babies brine shrimp until they are large enough not to be eaten by adult fish and adds them to his other tanks until he can sell them. I hope I didn't miss anything but this is what I wrote down in my notes. From what you describe with your two fish they might be two males. Hope this helps. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted July 26, 2021 Author Share Posted July 26, 2021 On 7/25/2021 at 6:39 PM, Jungle Fan said: I just made a phone call to a friend I hadn't talked to in a few years to get this info, so what I know is second hand from a friend who breeds them in Germany but he says the sexes are hard to tell apart and the only way to do so is to look at the mature fish; the female's body is generally more rounded. The best way to get a pair is to start with a larger group of them and see who pairs up. To breed them he places them in what would be the equivalent of a 30 gallon tank with soft, acidic water, with flow from a pump and an airstone and a heater, with soft substrate and several piles of river rock and Amazon swords plants, or Helanthium quadricostatus. He keeps the tank lit very low and feeds bloodworms, and brine shrimp. The Acaras dig in the substrate for the bloodworms and after spawning it keeps them from eating their own eggs. After a day or two he does 50% water changes and replaces the tank water each time with rain water a degree, or two colder than the tank water. He repeats this every day until the Acaras spawn, then he turns off the light and the pump keeping just the heater and airstone running. Cutting the light is because he says the fry is very light sensitive. The female lays the eggs on the rocks, or leaves, and the fry hatches after three days. Once the yolk sacs disappear he feeds the babies brine shrimp until they are large enough not to be eaten by adult fish and adds them to his other tanks until he can sell them. I hope I didn't miss anything but this is what I wrote down in my notes. From what you describe with your two fish they might be two males. Hope this helps. This is amazing!! Wow… totally nailed it. I thought they’d require a much larger tank to spawn in. Now you’ve got me dreaming…. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jungle Fan Posted July 26, 2021 Share Posted July 26, 2021 Glad I could help, also got me to talk to an old friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HH Morant Posted July 26, 2021 Share Posted July 26, 2021 Beautiful fish and very interesting spawning info. I don't know much about threadfin acaras, but I want to have some albino ones someday in an aquarium with a black background. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted July 26, 2021 Author Share Posted July 26, 2021 On 7/25/2021 at 6:39 PM, Jungle Fan said: I just made a phone call to a friend I hadn't talked to in a few years to get this info, so what I know is second hand from a friend who breeds them in Germany but he says the sexes are hard to tell apart and the only way to do so is to look at the mature fish; the female's body is generally more rounded. The best way to get a pair is to start with a larger group of them and see who pairs up. To breed them he places them in what would be the equivalent of a 30 gallon tank with soft, acidic water, with flow from a pump and an airstone and a heater, with soft substrate and several piles of river rock and Amazon swords plants, or Helanthium quadricostatus. He keeps the tank lit very low and feeds bloodworms, and brine shrimp. The Acaras dig in the substrate for the bloodworms and after spawning it keeps them from eating their own eggs. After a day or two he does 50% water changes and replaces the tank water each time with rain water a degree, or two colder than the tank water. He repeats this every day until the Acaras spawn, then he turns off the light and the pump keeping just the heater and airstone running. Cutting the light is because he says the fry is very light sensitive. The female lays the eggs on the rocks, or leaves, and the fry hatches after three days. Once the yolk sacs disappear he feeds the babies brine shrimp until they are large enough not to be eaten by adult fish and adds them to his other tanks until he can sell them. I hope I didn't miss anything but this is what I wrote down in my notes. From what you describe with your two fish they might be two males. Hope this helps. I do wonder… is it the _female_ … the _male_ or both that initiate digging? Only one of my two does that, and it’s also wider / thicker… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted July 26, 2021 Author Share Posted July 26, 2021 On 7/25/2021 at 8:19 PM, HH Morant said: Beautiful fish and very interesting spawning info. I don't know much about threadfin acaras, but I want to have some albino ones someday in an aquarium with a black background. Oh wow! Didn’t even imagine albinism in this fish… interesting!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick_G Posted July 26, 2021 Share Posted July 26, 2021 The Albinos that George Farmer features on his channel are incredible. They’re definitely on my to buy list. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted July 26, 2021 Author Share Posted July 26, 2021 On 7/25/2021 at 8:42 PM, Patrick_G said: The Albinos that George Farmer features on his channel are incredible. They’re definitely on my to buy list. Could you drop one of your favorite videos of his featuring them here in this thread? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HH Morant Posted July 26, 2021 Share Posted July 26, 2021 The albino threadfin acaras all seem to have a red spot on their eyeball. I don't know why I like that. Here is one of the more outrageous looking images. They don't all look like this, but I think they are stunning fish. . 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jungle Fan Posted July 26, 2021 Share Posted July 26, 2021 (edited) @Fish Folk from what i understand the digging is not necessarily part of the breeding process just something my friend noticed that happens when he delivers live food before spawning ensues. He offers it because as he said he noticed that eggs don't get cannibalized by the parents at that point because they dig for worms instead. He also noticed that with the offering of live food the resulting fry seem to be healthier, and more of them survive. Edited July 26, 2021 by Jungle Fan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick_G Posted July 26, 2021 Share Posted July 26, 2021 On 7/25/2021 at 6:10 PM, Fish Folk said: Could you drop one of your favorite videos of his featuring them here in this thread? Sure and my mistake but it’s Oliver Knott not George Farmer 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HH Morant Posted July 26, 2021 Share Posted July 26, 2021 It is interesting that we are discussing a digging problem and the substrate in the video looks like astroturf. I am not sure it ever moves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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