Ok this is weird..... is it possible?

fishboy

fishboy

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#1
Oct 22, 2002
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Hey everybody, I havent been on lately but will probably be on more in the next couple days.


Ok anyway, in my 20 gallon discus tank i had a trio of A. Cacatuoides. The male died for some unknown reason. I tested the water, Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, and Nitrates 10. Ph around 7.4, which is regular. Anyway now one of my females seems to be changing sex. She is now getting more orange on her fins like the male, and growing longer fin extensions like the male. She/He has also been in the flower pot with the female. I'm wondering becuase this is kind of creepy, is it possible for her to change sex?


Thanks,
Daniel
 

mike the zealot

mike the zealot

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#4
Oct 22, 2002
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#4
some people call them cockatoos, but as they're not your normal run of the mill LFS fish, the type of people that keep them are the type of people that would rather call them A. cacatuoides hehe. Or "cacs" for short.

fishboy - I'll ask my friend about the sex changing tonight if I get a chance. He's got hundreds of cacatuoides =)
 

fishboy

fishboy

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#5
Oct 22, 2002
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Yah cockatoo cichlids.... lol however i dont think that i am that type of person. lol Only apistos i have ever had though. lol

But if it is changing sex, thats kinda creepy....:eek:
 

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fishboy

fishboy

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#7
Oct 22, 2002
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Yah, it is really small. I only have a single discus in there though. He is actually almost full grown though, around 4". Another inch or two he will be done though. To keep him more secure though i keep apistos, and tetras with him as dithers. Sometimes it works other times it doesnt. IMO it is small but he was my first discus, and i only intended to keep one in that tank from the beginning. However i do not advise keeping a single discus because without more discus it will be skittish and hide from you when you come to the tank unless you have LOTS of dithers.


Good luck,
Daniel:)
 

tetra girl

tetra girl

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#9
Apr 30, 2003
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yea ive heard of fish changing their sex if theres no males around however ive only ever heard of females changing into males - never the other way around? Maybe its because people usually keep females instead of males? anybody know the answer?
 

W

wayne

Elite Fish
#11
Oct 22, 2002
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#11
There's a lot of fish that do it, particularly marine fish - percuals are famous , wrasse, hamlets, bass.
There are only very,very few mentions of it happening with apistos though. I think it's far more likely that it was a subdominant male that can now become a male safely now the 'supermale' has died. This is very common. Did you ever see this female spawn - if you didn't I think it was just a repressed male. If you're 100% sure it was a female , and that means you saw it spawn, go to the krib and compare notes. Also post this on aquaria central. But I've kept solitary females befroe and never seen this happen.

4" is not fully grown for a discus - how often are you feeding it, how old and so on. Is it round - it sounds a bit stunted, though not too bad
 

fishboy

fishboy

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#12
Oct 22, 2002
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#12
Originally posted by wayne
I think it's far more likely that it was a subdominant male that can now become a male safely now the 'supermale' has died. This is very common. Did you ever see this female spawn - if you didn't I think it was just a repressed male. If you're 100% sure it was a female , and that means you saw it spawn, go to the krib and compare notes. Also post this on aquaria central. But I've kept solitary females befroe and never seen this happen.

4" is not fully grown for a discus - how often are you feeding it, how old and so on. Is it round - it sounds a bit stunted, though not too bad
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Never saw it spawn, but i have gotten eggs out of them so there must be atleast one female. You are probably right though, ohwell atleast i still have a breeding pair and hopefully this male wont be sterile like his brother was, atleast i think.


Yah, he is a bit stunted, got him from a crappy LFS. I think though he will get to 5" if i am lucky. He's probably around 1 year old maybe a couple months more. His shape is actually really good when i look at it, no football or anything, just a good round discus. I feed him every day probably 3 or 4 times a day on bloodworms,color pellets, flakes, and sometimes that jack wattley formula for discus. When i got him i started to do 20% daily wc then up to 50% once i learned more. Now i do about 80% weekly or every couple days. He is a bit stunted but he was about an inch when i got him though so atleast he is growing. :)
 

fishboy

fishboy

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#13
Oct 22, 2002
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#13
Re: Discus Interest

Originally posted by Antwan
It changed sex and hid in the flowerpot with the female? It sounds like its an American cac! LMAO

I like discus but I don't know much. Could you tell me a little about the discus requirements eg. tanks, water, how many, etc. Thanks.
Click to expand...

Discus require a large tank of about 55 gallons. I am breaking the rules though, i really shouldnt keep a discus in a 20 gallon but i soon plan to move him anyway. They need to be in groups of atleast 4, young juveniles especially. Water really doesnt matter unless you are breeding, but you shouldnt worry about that...yet:) Just keep them at what your LFS or breeder does. Contrary to the common rule discus do not need soft water, only in breeding. I keep mine at 8.3 but my breeding pair in a bair bottom 55 gallon at a ph of about 6.8 . Juveniles need massive daily water changes up to 75% at a time for good growth aswell as good filtration, and good quality foods. Juveniles should be fed atleast 3 times a day for good growth, 6 would be better. Adults only need weekly water changes and feedings of about 2 times a day,They need a high temperature of around 83, which sometimes makes it difficult to keep more delicate plants in it. In my opinion they need lots of plant cover, but some will disagree. Mine just seem to do better with lots of plants. They also need lots of dithers such as rummynose tetras, cardinal tetras, and other good schooling ttetras to make them feel really safe. Apisto's are also good tankmates, and will make the discus feel comfortable. In the end discus really are not that difficult of a fish to keep, they just need alot of attention and TLC. If i can keep them anybody can:D I am probably leaving some things out but i just want to give you a great piece of advice: read!read!read! It will make keeping discus a whole lot easier if you research before you buy.


Anway Good luck,


Daniel

:)
 

W

wayne

Elite Fish
#16
Oct 22, 2002
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#16
You might find you have more success with breeding now, my best male ever was one that developed late, maybe because it hadn't wasted all it's energy when young growing long fins.
It's hard to know if you'd call a 5 inch but round healthy discus stunted or not. Probably yes, but it's still a nice fish, and should be good for 10 years or so.
 

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