# Am I asking for a Fish divorce?



## MalawiLover (Sep 12, 2006)

I have a pair of EXTREMELY prolific J. regani. In the tank with them is currently is

8 fry @.75"
15ish fry @.5"
15ish fry @.25" 
They just brought out a new spawn of about 20 tiny ones. And it looks like there is some wrigglers in one of the breeding eggs.

Too many babies!!

Would I permanently mess up their pair bond if I removed the male for a while and let these all grow up to sellable size then let them start up again?

I cannot accomodate them in my fry tank as it is currently filled with .75" Gold head Comps who just love the little sausage shaped juli fry.

Another tank, even temporarily (they always end up being semi perminant) is out right now.


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## Neolamprologus Marco (Jan 14, 2008)

You might try lowering the temp of the tank.


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## gordonrp (Mar 23, 2005)

Great excuse to get another tank :-0


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## renegade545 (Jul 4, 2008)

An option is to just take out the new broods and feed them to your comps. Nice high protein food. And just go back to your regular methods when you want fry again.


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## Floridagirl (Jan 10, 2008)

Or, can you undivide your 30 since they already have established territories, and let nature take its course. Much easier than actually feeding the babies to them :wink: 
I just had my first batch of Regani babies. Maybe I shouldn't get so excited...lol


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## Multies (Mar 9, 2007)

if you really want to get rid of the fry, feed them to the comps. if not, get another tank


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## triscuit (May 6, 2005)

Removing either parent will likely cause problems. Just up your filtration and water changes, and then begin removing the larger fry when the parents start chasing them.

What size tank is this?


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## daniel4832 (May 8, 2004)

The only addition I would add to Triscuit's advise would be to add a sponge filter to your tank, if you already have one add another, but DO NOT break up the pair!!!  
Good Luck,
Daniel


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## MalawiLover (Sep 12, 2006)

I can't "undivide" the tank. The julis beat the snot out of my comp adults.

Plus, I don't want to get rid of the babies, just stop more broods from happening for a while so I can catch up.

No sure why all the comments about the filtration, there is no issue there.

This is the 30g divided tank. Trio of Gold Head comps on one side, juli pair on the other. Everything has been smooth for tha last year, but for some reason, the juli pair has seriously stepped up their production in the last 4 months. More than doubled it.

Think it would help the issue if I removed the ceramic breeding eggs and made the decor sparce? I can take out the eggs and the two smal rocks and just put a couple of fake plants in.

this what it looks like now


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## renegade545 (Jul 4, 2008)

MalawiLover said:


> Plus, I don't want to get rid of the babies, just stop more broods from happening for a while so I can catch up.


Im not saying get rid of the previous broods, just any new broods that come about.


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## MalawiLover (Sep 12, 2006)

How would I get those broods out? The newest ones are too small to net, they go right through.


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## Chris2500DK (Feb 15, 2006)

Can't you siphon them out?


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## MalawiLover (Sep 12, 2006)

I can try. If guess if I sucked up any on the older ones, I could just net them back into the tank.


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## renegade545 (Jul 4, 2008)

Chris2500DK said:


> Can't you siphon them out?


That is how i remove my newborn fry, works great. The larger ones are a little better at getting away from the siphon.


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## Charlutz (Mar 13, 2006)

misread


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## triscuit (May 6, 2005)

Removing the structures that allow julies some cover and privacy will stress them out. Also, in the long run, you will need a bigger tank for these guys. If they are regani, they will grow huge. The reason we keep asking about filtration is in part because this space is so small, and more fish equals a higher bioload, and your filter may not be able to keep up. Sure, it's fine now, but how much biomedia can you fit in there?

I think you need to look for a long term solution, particularly if breeding j. regani is your goal.


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## MalawiLover (Sep 12, 2006)

*triscuit*

These regani are full grown. The pair have been breeding for me in this tank for about 18months now and I have had them for almost 2 years. The only permanant residents of this tank are the juli pair and the comp trio. The comps are quite small (the male is just over 2 inches now). I run an XP2 and with 50% weekly water changes, the nitrates have yet to go over 20ppm. Once the fry cross the 3/4 inch mark, they are moved out. I know the space is smaller than ideal, but I can't help to believe that with this production rate they are rather happy fish. As long as I can maintain the water quality they will likely stay put. Of course as the comps get larger, they will definitely have to move.

I do believe I have solved my problem though. I pulled one of the 3/4 icnh comp juvies from my grow out tank and popped him in with the julis. He is too small to eat the older fry, but small enough that the adults don't seem to notice. I have had comp babies get over the divider and live quite happily with the julis for a good while before I moved them to the grow out. After the initial shock of being on the otherside of the divider, he got down to business and snapped up a few of the small juli fry.


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## thetim6 (Jan 24, 2003)

I hope your solution works.

If it doesn't though, you might try removing the eggs and feeding them to your other fish. I took the eggs away from my Julidiochromis dickfieldi and let the eggs hatch in a 2 gallon nursery.

I've done it with convict cichlids, jewel cichlids, and I have even stripped peacock hybrids and fed their eggs to my other fish. Never had any problems with aggression from doing this, but you might in such a small environment.

It's worth a shot, but It might be hard to feed them to other fish with the eggs being in those breeding caves you have. I use mostly slate and lace rock in my tanks.


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## triscuit (May 6, 2005)

You have healthy beautiful fish. :thumb: But you have asked for advice/opinions, and you can chose which are applicable to your situation. :wink:



MalawiLover said:


> These regani are full grown. The pair have been breeding for me in this tank for about 18months now and I have had them for almost 2 years.


The photo, and the ones in your profile, seem to show sub-adult fish. Adult regani that I have seen are nearly the size of a small banana: an inch in diameter and easily 5 inches long.



> I run an XP2 and with 50% weekly water changes, the nitrates have yet to go over 20ppm. Once the fry cross the 3/4 inch mark, they are moved out. I know the space is smaller than ideal, but I can't help to believe that with this production rate they are rather happy fish. As long as I can maintain the water quality they will likely stay put.


Good! But make sure you don't get ammonia buildup... that's what will happen when you max out the bioload.


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## alicem (Jul 26, 2007)

> Adult regani that I have seen are nearly the size of a small banana: an inch in diameter and easily 5 inches long.


Holy smokes! You mean something like an inch in diameter?? I had no idea. :-? 
I'm curious, would you happen know the life span in years?
Alicem


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## MalawiLover (Sep 12, 2006)

triscuit said:


> You have healthy beautiful fish. :thumb: But you have asked for advice/opinions, and you can chose which are applicable to your situation. :wink:


That is true. I hope nothing came across as snotty, just stating the facts as they stand now.



> The photo, and the ones in your profile, seem to show sub-adult fish. Adult regani that I have seen are nearly the size of a small banana: an inch in diameter and easily 5 inches long.


The photos are a bit out of date. The female is just under 5 inches, and about as thick as my index finger (about 5/8" thick), the male is about 2/3 her size. Neither have really grown much in about 6 months so I figured they were done. These are the Kilipi variant, so maybe its not the most jumbo.



> Good! But make sure you don't get ammonia buildup... that's what will happen when you max out the bioload.


I check ammonia, nitrites and nitrates each week before the water change. So far so good.


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## Razzo (Oct 17, 2007)

Are your regani... kipili? I've been looking to get some.

Thanks,
Russ


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## giannifish (Apr 6, 2008)

Hello, I am interested in purchasing some of your regani fry. How much are you asking for them. I am in Brooklyn, New York. You can e-amil me at [email protected].

Aslso if I can see some pictures.

Thank you kindly.

Gianni


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## cerissa (Mar 18, 2008)

I suggest you don't transfer the pair of Julies to another tank. Sometimes when their environment changes such as a new tank, they lose their bonding and end up killing each other in which case, you'll end up having to put the pair in a community tank so that they pair up again.

Secondly, you can probably move the larger of the Julie juvies into a separate grow out tank and when they have reached a good size (usually around 1" to 1.25"), sell them to your LFS. You may get around $1.50 to $3.00 per juvie....ofcourse you'll be selling to them at wholesale price but at least you get rid of the fish and at the same time, get a little back from them.

Good Luck! :thumb:


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## MalawiLover (Sep 12, 2006)

The comp juvie has been in with the julis since Friday (6 days) and the swarm of new fry are gone. The adult julis are completely ignoring the comp and he does not seem stressed at all. Soon as I move the mbuna juvies from my grow out tank, the rest of the juli fry can go in there and I can move the comp back with his siblings.


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