Hi Everyone,
I was just curious if there is any special care or requirements for X.captivus "Jesus Maria"? Or are they rather sensitive and not as hardy as other goodeid species? I have some and I love them a lot but they seem to be not as hardy as my other goodeids. I have been losing some and my other goodeids are doing very good and I haven't lost one. I do bi-weekly 25% water changes. I use my tap water which a ph of 8.2. I keep the temperature at 72 and I feed them once a day with either Tetra min tropical fish flakes or Veggie tropical fish flakes. I just wanted to know how everyone else takes care of them and if I am doing something wrong or missing something.
Thank you very much! Take care!
Chris

Hi there Chris. I lost some a few months ago and never did figure out what was wrong. I did my usual when an unknown is harming my fish. I drained over half the water from the tank and refilled with fresh while changing what I was feeding. I don't know what really helped, but the remaining fish recovered and now my tank is full of fry while my Jesus Maria adults are in the summer tub. They have been dropping fry out there too, I have spotted them while feeding the adults.

Hi Gordon. Oh ok! Thank you very much! I will for sure have to try doing a 50% water change and change what I feed them. What food do you use? Wow that's great they are doing much better for you and dropping more fry! I had 3 fry about 2 months ago but haven't had any since then. I have also been wondering if it's the water quality and I wonder if I should get a pure water system for the faucet. Our water really isn't the greatest. Thanks again!

I found these fish to be bullet proof both times that I've kept them - some of the strongest I've ever had. In fact, I couldn't give them away fast enough so I donated them to a school, where they continue to thrive.

I feed a lot of real food - homemade, gutloaded microworms, krill, various frozen, vegies, seaweed, etc. They also got Omega One flakes before I swore off all food containing ethoxyquin, and Dainichi.

While fish survive on manufactured food, we have to keep in mind that all of the naturally-sourced vitamins are wiped out by the heat processing. If you feed that alone, they are only receiving synthetic vitamins, which are subject to depletion from storage, moisture, etc. I've never heard of a fish that didn't improve when real food was added to their diet, be that live, fresh, frozen, or freeze-dried, preferably based on the species' wild diet.

We do need to watch the protein intake of some Goodeids though - not too much. At a guess, mine probably varied 30-50% protein overall. Too much protein produces large fry that can kill the females.

Otherwise, I kept them at room temperature with a box filter. My water supply is soft but I use natural KH boosters (limestone, oyster shell, aragonite, etc) to keep my pH stable and above 7. They were on the same maintenance schedule as the other fish with fry in the tank - every week or two depending on the tank size.

Good luck!

I think they are beautiful and fun fish! I love them a lot! I can't wait for mine to have a tank full of fry and thrive. Thank you very much for the help!

What kind of frozen foods do you feed them? Would brine shrimp, bloodworms, frozen veggie foods,and spirulina brine shrimp be ok?

I have heard that too much protein can cause the fry to be too big and which will kill the females. I have been alternating my foods. I will for sure do a 50% water change and change the foods. I will do anything to keep them healthy and happy and keep them in a good environment. I might even look into filling the tank up with a different water source.

Thank you guys very much for the help!

I been keeping these for some time know. I do weekly water changes on all my tanks about 50%. I feed flake most of the time but I do give them blackworms. I feed high protien flake. I have not had any females kick off do to over size fry yet. However I was keeping java moss in the tank with them and was unable to get fry. I took it out and replaced it with hornworth after that fry was all over the place. I keep my tanks around 70-75 temp which they seem to love.

chris will you be coming down to th masi auction in st louis aug 8.

One of the smartest things I do is shut up when a master is talking...LOL. Jim Langhammer says to be careful with protein intake, and I don't have even close to as much Goodeid experience as he does (who does?), so I take it in and learn from it.

The high 'meat' protein risk is just that - a risk. Processed proteins aren't the same as unmodified proteins and the fillers in flakes would decrease the actual intake, so I can see how it may be a different scenario. The food analysis also includes all proteins in the food, including vegetable/grain protein, so it's not on the same level as the protein content in whole foods. For example, soy is being studied as a replacement for seafood protein in pet food. I should have differentiated between the two, good point.

I'm not a big fan of bloodworms, but otherwise your list sounds good to me, Chris. I'm alergic to bloodworms and they also can be difficult to digest. Some swear by them though and I fed them sparingly before I developed the alergy. I alternate protein meals with vegie meals to balance the diet and ensure proper digestion.

It sounds like these stunning fish have found another caring home.

I say just find out what works for you. That's what I been doing. I feed a meat flake first than some live blackworms than veggie. This seemd to work for me. I have gotten a good list now so maybe if you are still into trading let me know. here is my list
Skiffia “Black Beauty”
Xenotoca eiseni, Rio Compostela, Nayarit, Dibble 2003
Ataeniobius toweri, Anteojitos,
Characodon sp. ‘Amado Nervo’
Ameca splendens, Rio Teuchitlan
Girardinichthys multiradiatus, Maravatio,
Skiffia multipunctata,
Skiffia francesae, Rio Teuchitlan
Xenoophorus variata Jesus Maria
Allotoca dugesii var. ‘Black Sport’, Rancho El Molino, Dibble 2000
Goodea gracilis, Rio San Juan Del Rio, Queretaro, Miller
Xenotaenia resolanae
Allodontichthys hubbsi, Rio Pihuamo, Jalisco
Allotoca goslinei, Rio Potrero Grande
Characodon sp. '27 de Noviembre'
Characodon sp. 'Los Pinos', Rio Canatlan, J.M. Artigas, 2001
Goodea atripinnis luitpoldi, Laguna Opopeo, Michoacan
Goodea atripinnis atripinnis
Ilyodon amecae, Rio Ameca drainage
Ilyodon furcidens, Comala
Ilyodon whitei, Rio Huamita
Ilyodon xantusi
Xenoophorus captivus, var. 'Illescas'
Xenoophorus captivus, Jesus Maria, SLP, Artigas & Kaufman 1997
Skiffia lermae
Xenoophorus captivus, var. 'Illescas'
Xenoophorus captivus, Santa Maria
Zoogoneticus tequila, Rio Teuchitlan
Xenotoca eiseni, Rio Tamazula, Wessel

Wow! Thank you guys very much for all of the help! I greatly appreciate it!

I would love to go down to the auction in St.Louis and I really wanted to go to the CAFE auction but I am not sure if I can or not. I would also love to trade! You have a very impressive list and I would love to have ALL of them lol but I am afraid I can't setup anymore tanks at the moment which means I can't get any more different species of goodeids at the moment. I can get more of what species I have but not other species. What I have you pretty much have except for the Characodon los berros. If you are interested and when my pregnant females drop fry and the fry get bigger I can part with some and give some to you. I have also mentioned this in your thread of Looking for these.

I will for sure watch the protien in their diet and make sure they aren't getting too much! Ok great I will then get the frozen foods that I have listed and hopefully soon my X.captivus will do good, thrive, and have a lot of fry. I care a lot about my fish and any fish. I will do my best to make sure they are healthy, happy, and in a good home/enviornment.

Thank you guys very much again! Take care!
Chris

I am not sure why I have lost some X.captivus but I do have some exciting news! My Characodon los berros just had a drop of 5 fry . I am very happy and excitied.