Breeding pigmy's

[sebae09]

I know that most pigmys are breed in captivity but how would i pair them up?

 

[xdave]

That pretty hard without seeing a tank with several in it. Males are basically just bigger. The only thing I could say that would apply to getting them from the lfs would be if they look and act like a pair. In a small store tank they will just look like they like each other. If your lfs sells them in pairs then they might order pairs and maybe the warehouse guy actually picks pairs for them. They always made me do it.

 

[sebae09]

what if i get a big one and a small one?

 

[xdave]

Well, thats no garuntee, if they dont act like a pair then that could just be an old and young male.

 

[sebae09]

would i have better results putting more than 2 in the tank? to see which dont fight or whatnot. im not going to let them get hurt its just to find out which one is male/female

 

[xdave]

Yeah. Look up their breeding habits. I think they chase eachother real fast all over. When males fight they face off. Dont know what happens with multiple females. I think I'd get 4 and see what happens. At work with a lot of them in 1 tank the pairs would look almost glued together.

 

[sebae09]

so if i get alot it will limit the aggresion. am i correct? also what will they do to the females? will they pair up intsantly?

 

[xdave]

Well sort of. The more you get the better the chances of a more even % of each, with an even number the pairs will pair up. They do pair up pretty quick under those circumstances. They wont show actual breeding rituals, just kinda get cosy with eachother. If you have 6 or 8 and two stay real close to eachother that are different sized, very likely a pair. Two different sized ones of the same --- will face off.

 

[sebae09]

Successful breeding of Dwarf Angels is extremely challenging. These fish are hermaphroditic, born as females with the dominant fish changing --- to males. Although males are generally larger than females, it is difficult to tell the difference between the sexes
I found this.

 

[xdave]

I cant look at one and tell it's ---, nobody can. I can tell you if 2 are, or going to be a pair. It was my job. If they were easy to breed they wouldn't cost so much.

 

[sebae09]

well are pigmy's reef safe?

 

[dogstar]

When you use the term " pigmy " are you refering to all Centropyge sp. Or a particular one species ? In general none are guaranteed to be safe with corals but some species tend to be safer than others....IMO. I think the Coral Beauty is one of the safest....

 

[sebae09]

Centropyge argi

 

[dogstar]

Every fish and system is different and may act other than expected but IMO the C. argi , Cherub, is somewhere in the middle as far a risk with corals and clams. Not a risk with crustations.

 

[crox]

Can a Centropyge bispinosus aka Coral Beauty and a Centropyge heraldi aka Yellow Pygmy Angelfish pair up?

 

[crox]

I have those two and they always follow each other all over the tank.

 

[xdave]

Are you going to try to breed in a populated tank?

 

[crox]

No.

 

[xdave]

Crox, I wasn't refering to you best friends forever scenario, I was directing that at the author of the thread inquiring as to the reef safeness of the fish he said he wanted to breed.