Biotodoma cupido questions

[Becca]

I "inherited" Sam's B. cupidos during his liquidation sale. They are awesome fish and I don't know jack schitt about them - just that he told me they could cohabit with Discus (not that I have those, but Jeremy swears we will someday) and are substrate spawners.

I've looked up what I can find about them, a video of them posted by Tony is included in the google results, but still haven't found much. At least, I haven't found enough similar information for me to decide any of it might be right, but I have found lots of conflicting information.

Does anyone have any experience with these fish? Any ideas on how to sex them? Based on behavior I think 2 are female, but, according to some, their looks are male... Three are thriving, and one is always stressed and hiding in a corner - he/she/it will only eat grindal worms, small red wigglers, and a specific variety of Hikari sinking wafer. I did get it to pig out on some frozen bloodworms the other day, too.

I'd love to get these guys to a point where they'll spawn for me, but, primarily, I'd like to get them all eating well and happy, first. They are in the planted 150 and, at 4+ inches each, are the biggest fish in the tank. That does not stop our male German Blue Ram from chasing them off his turf, though.

 

[mchambers]

I've never kept them, but I once thought about it, and found this thread on another forum:

http://forums.tfhmagazine.com/viewtopic.php?f=82&t=29814&sid=e4a06814c83220a91b6e461881125652

I think it's very hard to get them to breed.

 

[Becca]

We keep thinking it would be fun to put other laid-back eartheaters in the tank, but haven't because we're hoping they might get cozy eventually. I must say, I don't think our water changes are quite frequent enough... we do 30-50% weekly on that tank, not daily changes.

 

[Becca]

Anybody? I'm starting to think I have a growing collection of under-appreciated, overlooked fish.

 

[dogofwar]

I've never kept them... but they're pretty shy fish, from my understanding.

I'd keep them in a quiet tank with a variety of spawning options (cave, slate, pot, leaves, etc.), feed them well (pellets + red wigglers) for a few weeks...and then do an extra big water change..

Matt

 

[Becca]

I've never kept them... but they're pretty shy fish, from my understanding.

I'd keep them in a quiet tank with a variety of spawning options (cave, slate, pot, leaves, etc.), feed them well (pellets + red wigglers) for a few weeks...and then do an extra big water change..

Matt

They are sort of shy, but it seems to depend on the individual. The dominant 3 come rushing to the front for food.

I do have multiple sites available. I'm in the market for a flattish, rounded rock that I can mostly bury in sand. sort of like a big beach pebble.

 

[DiscusnAfricans]

I currently have 6 or 7 Cupido in a 90g tank with Redhead Geophagus, sterbai corys, and scissortail rasboras.

I bought my juvies at about an inch from Jeff Rapps about a year and a half ago. The biggest is now probably 3", they're very slow growers, at least not when the dominant fish in the tank.

They're fairly shy, but bold enough to hang with the geophagus and get their share of food. I haven't noticed any spawning activity, but I have seen pits dug in the sand, which I think might have been from them.

Don't have much to say about them unless you have specific questions, they're not too aggressive towards each other, and will show "stress bars" at times, similar to discus. They're a neat fish though, something different, but pretty in its own rite.

 

[Spine]

Just keep the water clean(regular water changes) and plenty of hiding places and they should be fine.