Pamelajo
Dec 2nd 2008, 03:08 PM
Ameca Splendens or Butterfly Goodied
By Pam Danyluck
http://www.canadianaquariumconnection.com/pd-pics/Pamelajo-3a.jpg
Male
In the spring of 2008 I won some of these on the Canadian auction site. They were still quite young when they arrived from Alberta. One of the reasons I bid on these fish is because they may be extinct in the wild. I wanted to breed them and pass on to friends here to help keep them thriving, if only in aquariums. They are a family of at least 40 species all from Mexico. The Ameca splendens were previously found in Rio Ameca drainage in Mexico. These fish prettily couloured fish are a lively bunch also curious and hungry. Great algae eaters, they even eat Black Beard Algae. I would recommend a 40 gallon tank as a minimum requirement as they are strong swimmers. I have heard various reports of these fish being fin nippers and in the beginning I had them in my 75 gallon with smaller fish and they were very nippy. I then placed them in a tank by themselves with the exception on one lone female endler. There was no evidence of fin nipping on them or the endler. So after some time when the occupants of the 75 gallon were all adults I moved them back to the big tank. They have been in it for a few months and all is going well. These fish are very pretty for wild type livebearers. Males have a noticeable intense yellow rim on their caudal fin. The body colour is grayish with both sexes and both have black spots. Both sexes have a band from gills to the tails of black spots. Males can reach 8 centimeters and females 12 centimeters, some aquarium raised males can reach grow as large as the females.
Ranking of males is determined by fighting. The males position themselves beside each other and open all their fins and hit the other with fast tail blows. Some times biting occurs, but serious injuries are few. The low ranking males do not display their colours and seem to be smaller.
The Ameca’s courting and the competition of males is worth watching. The females start the courting by shivering gently in front of the male. The male joins in when the shivering gets more intense, they then swim to each other and mate. Females can not store sperm like guppies and must be inseminated for each and every pregnancy. Gestation lasts 55 to 60 days. The Amecas become sexually mature at 3 months. By then the males have grown into their full coloration. Females deliver their first young at about 5 months when they are approximately 5 centimeters. Batches are small at first and will increase as the female matures.
I started seeing fry appearing 3 – 6 at a time, but never in large drops. On October 31 I was doing a water change and noticed one of the female looked extremely very big as if she was ready to drop. I transferred her to a 5 gallon drop tank and hour later started to see fry. These fry were huge in comparison to other livebearer fry, some almost an inch long. It is no wonder she looked so huge. In approximately an hour she had dropped about six and an hour later 4 more. The final count was 12. When born they have the remnants of the umbilical cord called trophataenia which I was able to see with the last batch born. This disappears in a couple of days. After the females have given birth they look so emaciated, that you think your going to loose them. They quickly recovered with good food and a couple of extra feedings. While pregnant the females need to be fed more often and with quality food as the fry are getting nutrition directly from the female through the trophataenia.
Keeping these fish is fairly easy. They tolerate a wide range of water parameters.
I keep them in water with a ph of 7.6 and temperature ranges from 72 – 79 depending on the season. Some say that warmer temperatures bring out their colours more. I feed mine a variety of vegetable or spirulina based foods and occasionally protein flakes.
Hope some day you will give these a try and help keep them in the hobby.
http://www.canadianaquariumconnection.com/pd-pics/Pamelajo-3b.jpg
Female
By Pam Danyluck
http://www.canadianaquariumconnection.com/pd-pics/Pamelajo-3a.jpg
Male
In the spring of 2008 I won some of these on the Canadian auction site. They were still quite young when they arrived from Alberta. One of the reasons I bid on these fish is because they may be extinct in the wild. I wanted to breed them and pass on to friends here to help keep them thriving, if only in aquariums. They are a family of at least 40 species all from Mexico. The Ameca splendens were previously found in Rio Ameca drainage in Mexico. These fish prettily couloured fish are a lively bunch also curious and hungry. Great algae eaters, they even eat Black Beard Algae. I would recommend a 40 gallon tank as a minimum requirement as they are strong swimmers. I have heard various reports of these fish being fin nippers and in the beginning I had them in my 75 gallon with smaller fish and they were very nippy. I then placed them in a tank by themselves with the exception on one lone female endler. There was no evidence of fin nipping on them or the endler. So after some time when the occupants of the 75 gallon were all adults I moved them back to the big tank. They have been in it for a few months and all is going well. These fish are very pretty for wild type livebearers. Males have a noticeable intense yellow rim on their caudal fin. The body colour is grayish with both sexes and both have black spots. Both sexes have a band from gills to the tails of black spots. Males can reach 8 centimeters and females 12 centimeters, some aquarium raised males can reach grow as large as the females.
Ranking of males is determined by fighting. The males position themselves beside each other and open all their fins and hit the other with fast tail blows. Some times biting occurs, but serious injuries are few. The low ranking males do not display their colours and seem to be smaller.
The Ameca’s courting and the competition of males is worth watching. The females start the courting by shivering gently in front of the male. The male joins in when the shivering gets more intense, they then swim to each other and mate. Females can not store sperm like guppies and must be inseminated for each and every pregnancy. Gestation lasts 55 to 60 days. The Amecas become sexually mature at 3 months. By then the males have grown into their full coloration. Females deliver their first young at about 5 months when they are approximately 5 centimeters. Batches are small at first and will increase as the female matures.
I started seeing fry appearing 3 – 6 at a time, but never in large drops. On October 31 I was doing a water change and noticed one of the female looked extremely very big as if she was ready to drop. I transferred her to a 5 gallon drop tank and hour later started to see fry. These fry were huge in comparison to other livebearer fry, some almost an inch long. It is no wonder she looked so huge. In approximately an hour she had dropped about six and an hour later 4 more. The final count was 12. When born they have the remnants of the umbilical cord called trophataenia which I was able to see with the last batch born. This disappears in a couple of days. After the females have given birth they look so emaciated, that you think your going to loose them. They quickly recovered with good food and a couple of extra feedings. While pregnant the females need to be fed more often and with quality food as the fry are getting nutrition directly from the female through the trophataenia.
Keeping these fish is fairly easy. They tolerate a wide range of water parameters.
I keep them in water with a ph of 7.6 and temperature ranges from 72 – 79 depending on the season. Some say that warmer temperatures bring out their colours more. I feed mine a variety of vegetable or spirulina based foods and occasionally protein flakes.
Hope some day you will give these a try and help keep them in the hobby.
http://www.canadianaquariumconnection.com/pd-pics/Pamelajo-3b.jpg
Female