trewavsae breeding?

[fshfrk]

i have 6 petro trewavsae in a 200 gal tank.5 females between 5 & 7 inches, between 2-4 yrs old. added 1 yr old male 3 months ago. biggest female is going nuts. digging a pit. swimming around all crazy. acting agresive,dancing. other petros doing the same thing.before they just hung out low key, almost timid. this big female has 3 huge egg spots, so i always thouht she was a male. but Alex swears it's a female. her fins are not as long as the 3 1/2 male. he's acting very agresive to and starting to dance. is this what i think? am i going lucy? is the male to small to breed?

[eklikewhoa]

Re: trewavsae breeding?

From the way you describe it....sounds like a male....I don't believe in the eggspot thing too much.

[bethesdaboy]

Re: trewavsae breeding?

I have a petro with some nice eggs spots holding right now.

[geoff_tropheus]

Re: trewavsae breeding?

Petrochromis Trewavasae males will turn solid brownish black, have long finnage, and always have eggspots.

Female Trewavasae generally keep their spots, have a brownish color, and SOMETIMES have eggspots.  They will have eggspots sometimes just not as many or defines as the males.  The females I have none of them have long fins they taper off short of the caudal fin.

The only true method to determine sex is to vent them.  As a general rule for Tropheus and for Petrocrhomis, if the vent is the exact same size or smaller than the anus it is male.  If the vent is shorter, wider than the anus it is female.  If the vent is bigger than the anus it is female.

In Tropheus you cannot determine sex under about 3.5" because unspawned females will have a smaller vent that could be confused as being male.

Petrochromis I cannot tell you at what size they can be vented properly.  I can tell you that Trewavasae males will get over 8" and females about 1" less overall.

I will tell you that all Petros are Petros.  They are unpredictible in most cases, but what I have read and experienced is always the largest 2 will fight for dominance.  Does not matter if it is male or female, almost always the two largest Petros will fight, EVEN if they are not the same species of Petro.  The only time I did not witness that was with a Blue Giant that was well into 10" and a smaller Famula Male that was around 6-7"

If you can, I would pull the "Bull" Female and check the vent to see if it is the same size or smaller than the anus.  The Anus is the hole nearest the head, the vent is the hole closest to the tail.

That would be the only way to know for sure.

Best of Luck man!!

Hopefully you'll start to get some fry soon.  I would have to say that first of all, it is going to be difficult for a smaller male rto dominate such larger females as you have.  Contact Jonathan (screenname: JWS-6) he has a large 6" male that he needs to cull out because of agression issues that might be a good solution for you in order to start producing fry.

Take care,

Geoff

[fshfrk]

Re: trewavsae breeding?

i for got to mention that the big female has somthing going on with the vent. swollen and sticking out. also another female has the same thing. i keep thinking bloat. but she keeps going back and digging the pit. shimmy's and takes off after another petro.small pc's crushed coral stuck on bottom lip and gills flared out.they are all crazy. fun to watch. i wish they always acted this way. think i'll take the day off and hang out with them.

[eklikewhoa]

Re: trewavsae breeding?

Have not witnessed with petros but my male and female trophs/fronts would drop their tube or their vent would swell when they were in their breeding moment.

[fshfrk]

Re: trewavsae breeding?

just went and looked at the fish again. this so called female has no spots on body. solid dark color. maybe i got 3 males & 3 females? if spots on the body determine sex? what do you think geoff?

[geoff_tropheus]

Re: trewavsae breeding?

Lets review....you added a definate 3.5" male to the tank, and now (2) supposed females are acting all crazy and digging pits, fighting, and have dropped tubes?

It can be very difficult to integrate new fish.  The fish may just be acting very territorial right now, but the dropped tubes is definate sign that some "action" is going on or about to start.

Did you by any chance re-arrange your decor?  If they agression gets out of hand, go quickly to a Lowes or Homedepot and get eggrate for dividers.  The eggcrate can be found in the lighting section it is used for dispersion plates in hanging flourescent light fixtures.  Typically comes in small 1/2" x 1/2" squares.

Good Luck!

Geoff

[geoff_tropheus]

Re: trewavsae breeding?

In mature Trewavasae, the males will loose all their spots and be a solid body color no doubt.

I can only guess at this point because I dont have a lot of Petro experience, but I believe just like Tropheus the sexual mature age is about 9-10 months for males and 12-14 months for females.

If Petros have the same growth rate potential as Trophs, then in a year I would suspect that a 8" MAle if given proper nutrition and tank space, he should be atleast 6" at 1 year.

Geoff

[fshfrk]

Re: trewavsae breeding?

i got to figure out if the big one is male or female. dark body,no spots. egg spots bigger than my other males. but it does not seem to have long enough fins. Alex always swore that it was a female. the little male has never had a problem with aggression from the other fish. they accepted him from day 1, no problem.

[geoff_tropheus]

Re: trewavsae breeding?

Did you vent this guy?

GEoff

[fshfrk]

Re: trewavsae breeding?

no. but if you go to ulimate fish,call me a couple hours in advance. i will meet you up there.I live 4 minutes away. maybe you could help me out and sex this fish. I hate netting fish. you could probably just look at it. or if the tour swings by here somebody can. thanks to everybody helping out.

[geoff_tropheus]

Re: trewavsae breeding?

I will do so.  I am planning possibly going there on Sunday.

Geoff

[Delock]

Re: trewavsae breeding?

I will do so.  I am planning possibly going there on Sunday.

Geoff

What time Sunday?

[geoff_tropheus]

Re: trewavsae breeding?

I forget what time Alex opens on Sunday, but if it is 10am then I will be there at that time.

I have to be at Trinity's Aunts house at Noon, and that is located in Kleinwood about 15 mintues away.

Do you know if he opens at 10 on Sunday?

Geoff