# Ophthalmotilapia Ventralis Chituta Breeding



## beachtan (Sep 25, 2008)

I have a pair of Ophthalmotilapia Ventralis Chituta in a tanganyikan community 75gal with a large open sand area and the male is chasing her around all the time and makes somewhat of a pit in the sand but the female just isn't interested. Anything I could try to trigger her to spawn? Are these considered difficult to breed?

Also in their tank: 3 julidochromis marlieri, pair of caudopunctatus, group of cyp leptosoma.


----------



## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I was advised to give them the bottom to themselves in a 72" tank and they are harem breeders so removing the other species and adding females may help.


----------



## noddy (Nov 20, 2006)

I would imagine that the male is stressing the lone female out enormously. 
A 75g tank is too small for such an aggressive fish IMO, and will eventually end with only a single male left in the tank.


----------



## beachtan (Sep 25, 2008)

yeah, bigger is always better, but this tank is not a 48" 75g. The footprint on my tank is 60" x 18" so I think a pair would be ok in that area. There are no tattered fins on any of the fish in the tank. I've been looking for more females, but its hard to find a specific collection point for featherfins here. I dont really want to have a large tank with just two or three fish in it, so I dont need to breed them if thats the only way to do it. I was hoping for some aquascaping or feeding tricks to get them breeding, but if a ginormous tank with no tankmates is the only way, then they'll just have to be celibate. lol

New Development: the julies were acting up, so with a flashlite, I now see the tiniest fry skitting along the rocks in the julies pile - so exciting!! I was planning to move the julies rock pile over more towards the corner to give the ventralis more open sand, but now I'll have to wait.

Noddy: what kind of featherfins do you have?

Thanks for all the advice!!!


----------



## Floridagirl (Jan 10, 2008)

I agree. More females is crucial if your goal is to breed. The male will likely stress her. One trick is to move her to another tank, and reintroduce her in a few weeks. After they spawn, move her in a 20 gallon to hold and spit babies.


----------



## beachtan (Sep 25, 2008)

Floridagirl: great idea!! Thanks! i just bought a new 20gal long at a local $1/gal tank sale so I'll set that up this coming week


----------



## noddy (Nov 20, 2006)

Sorry beachtan, just saw your post (I was on holiday). Your 60 x 18" tank is definitely a better footprint than a standard 75g but I still think you will have problems with such low numbers. I know how hard it is to find extra females for featherfins. Female Ventralis are impossible to tell apart from each other and someone could easily sell you Kalambo as Chituta.

Right now I'm keeping Kipili gold Nasutas. I have kept Kalambo Ventralis (which look very much like Chituta), Kigoma Furcifers and a group of Foai that were supposed to be Moliro but ended up being mixed once grown out. The Ventralis were, by far the most aggressive of the bunch.


----------

