You paraphrased me very well!! The oldest dwarfs I had in my care were just over 2 years old, since they were adult size when I got them I estimate they had to be at least 2.5 to 3 years old when they died.
The next oldest group were just about 1.5 years in my care, when a malfunctioning heater took out the tank a few months ago. There is only one survivor, and she is also in my care 1.5 years.
Of both groups, and all the ones of various ages in between, I had very few if any fry from any male that was in my care over a year. All the dwarfs were plump and happy - didn't lose any to disease or such. Really no explaination as to WHY they stopped breeding really. Since others have experienced the same issues, and when comparing notes the only common thing is the food. Perhaps it's enough to keep them happy and healthy, but just isn't enough to trigger them to breed after a certain point.
Or, perhaps, dwarfs only breed during their first year? Or, perhaps, temperature and lighting needs to be something specific? Or, perhaps, dwarfs breed to make sure their species continues and after you have a tank full of 50+ dwarfs they no longer feel the need to reproduce?
Some have reported by thinning out the herd and even by adding new pairs, it triggers the older dwarfs to reproduce again. I've never tried that, just repeating what I have been told.
I fed, and still feed, newly hatched bbs, 24 hour old bbs enriched with various items, tisbe pods and occassionally tiger pods. Tiger pods are ok for adult dwarfs - too big, IMO, for fry or small juvies.
The diet of dwarfs in the wild would be shrimp nauplii of various species along with various pods and such. We cannot really duplicate that diet in captivity. Some have tried harvesting fry from peppermint shrimp and the like, and feeding those out. But, you'd have to have a ton of peps reproducing to feed them as a daily diet for the life of the dwarfs.
I have no answers, honestly. What you are feeding is the most widely used foods - newly hatched bbs and/or enriched bbs along with supplemental feeding of pods. That's really all there is out there that is available.
Many, many people try keeping dwarfs. No offense to anyone - very few have the same dwarfs past the 6, 8, 12 month mark. So, it's hard to learn from others or form theories when many haven't had their dwarfs in long-term situations. Most dwarf keepers switch to the larger horses when theirs perish, especially if they've had them only 6 months or less. Figuring, they lived their life and they were successful so it's time to jump to the big horses.
What is really needed is a group learning session comprised of hobbyists that have the same dwarfs 1+ years to get together, compare notes, and find out if we are all having the same/similar things happen as the dwarfs age in our care. But, there aren't that many hobbyists out there that fit the mold on this website or others.
Tom
