Breeding Journal, Species: Cypho Purpurascens 2

General
Species:  Cypho Purpurascens
Social Structure:  Pair
Size of Individuals:  3"
Age of Individuals:  Not known
Date added to Tank:  10/18/11

Broodstock Tank Details
Size of Tank:  10 gallon
Substrate Details:  none
Filtration Details:  Central Sump
Water Changes:  Rarely
Water Temperature:  80f
Lighting: Ambient fish house lights
Lighting Cycle:  14 on
Other Tank Inhabitants:  none

Broodstock Feeding Details
Food Types:  Mysis, Brine home made mash
Feeding Schedule:  3 times daily

Spawning Details
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Hatch Details
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Hatch Time of Day: 
# Days after Spawn: 
Larvae Description: 


Larval Tank Details
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Size of Larval Tank: 
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Other Tank Decor: 
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Lighting: 
Lighting Cycle: 
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Larval Feeding Details
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Metamorphosis/Settlement
Date of Settlement Start: 
Days after Hatch: 
Date of Settlement End: 
Description of Fry: 

Grow-Out Tank Details
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Size of Grow-Out Tank: 
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Lighting: 
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Grow-Out Feeding Details
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Additional Information

(No Pictures or Videos in the Section Please)
Miscellaneous Information: 



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Managed to get another pair of these today! There even bigger than my last pair and the male is stunning. They wholesaler had them i seperate tanks so they are in perfect condition and ate immediately in tank. I have the female in a breeder net until I can sort out a divider.
Couldnt get a shot of the male as he is hiding in the pipework (until I put mt camera away!), but here is a front shot of the female.
 

very cool.   Best of luck with these guys!

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Well the female didn't fare too well for an unknown reason, but the male is doing great. I picked up a very large female today to see if the larger size would help. I placed her in the tank to judge what level of aggression the male would dish out and to my suprise, he didn't attck her at all. She is very big at 3" long and about 1/2 " bigger than him. I watched them for 15 mins and the female seemed to chase the male rather than the usual male dominance I have witnessed before. I went to get some food and when I returned the female was on full attack mode! She had already taken half his caudal fin, so I scooped him up in a plastic tank and floated it in the tank with the female........Seems like I have got a real feisty female on my hands! Dont think I will be letting the male out until she is gravid. Here's a couple of shots. The male looks a bit battered but he seems to be fine now seetled in his plastic tank.

 

very nice fishes good luck

Well this pair have been in the tank four weeks now. The male is in a plastic tank floating in the tank with the female. I let him out two weeks ago and he had to be rescued after 10 mins. She was dragging him around the tank by his tail tearing big chunks off. I gave him a further two weeks and tried it again today, but rescued him after about 10 seconds. This females a real bruiser and at 3 1/2 " she also packs a bit of power. I'm all out of ideas.....She looks gravid, but is so aggressive the male doesn't have chance to display before she nails him.........Any suggestions? Maybe put a large dither fish in to see how she reacts?

Switch it around.  If sequestering the male is failing, sequester the female.

such a simple fix that only experience would think of. Great idea Matt!

RLTW

180 Gallon Mixed Reef

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!" Isaiah 6:8

Duh!
 
Thanks Matt.

Learned this trick working with the Lightning Maroon and other maroons.

The simple solutions are always the best one's. Just can't see what's in front of your face sometimes!
 

Update on this pair. Well switching them has done wonders! The male has grown back his caudal and is displaying frequently. The female is much more relaxed and doesn't ram the side of the tank now at the first sign of the male. Will give it another week or so before putting them together agian...Here's some pics
 

 

 

 
 

Very pretty!  Good luck.

Another trick that sometimes works is to create a reef for each.  I pile of rocks/pvc pipe parts stacked on opposite end of the tank with a clear divider down the tank.  They each will get use to there own 'reef' and feel comfortable there yet see each other through the divider.  You can then remove the divider and they should slowly get use to each other.  If not yet ready, place the divider back.  Seemed to work for grammas for me, only I didn't need the divider.  Just having open water in between seems to do the trick for them.  They would always meet in the middle in the open water section, then retreat back to their own rock pile.

Seriously thinking about giving up with this species. Put them together this week and added a 3" Clarkii to the tank as a bit of a distraction for the female. Seemed to work quite well, but the male stayed in a pipe refusing to come out with the female free to roam. Watched them for a few hours with nothing happening so went and had dinner. On returning the male had been brutally mauled by the female. Most of his fins torn and virtually no caudal fin at all. I placed the female back in the floating tank, but the male lay on the bottom hardly moving and looked close to death. Today he is up and swimming again, and more importantly feeding! I am really glad I decided to keep them seperate for so long to condition them or I don't think the male would have made it.
Should I give up with these? I don't want to kill a fish for my own selfish ends, but equally would love to see these available captive bred. The only thing I can think of is a very large tank with enough room for the male to escape and hide when threatened.
 
Anyone got any thoughts.

Try to see how they react to a mirror.  If the female goes after the female in the mirror, that might distract her enough to allow the male to exist in the same tank.  A larger tank with separate reefs for each would also be helpful.  Sounds like this species does not pair, but may spawn then go their separate ways.  Either that, or she doesn't find the male suitable for her purposes, maybe she wants a larger stronger male.

Will struggle to find a bigger male I think. These are the largest cypho's I have ever seen. My first pair were half the size and the male was dominant. It's the other way round with this pair. I have a feeling she has been around the block a few times! Not sure whether to buy any more......

Ok, after keeping these aprt for a few months to allow the male to recover, they finally had a little soiree today! No fighting, no biting, just rushing and displaying. I'm very happy with that! 
After using the pipe method in the divider, I found the female had great difficulty getting back into her side of the tank, so I removed it. Found her in the male's side of the tank this morning but made sure I put her back before leaving the house. Now she stares through the hole in the divider and rushes through to capture food when I feed them.
 
Looks like we might have game on!