Firstly, I think Cary's theory regarding there being two strains of
peakocks is not likely since I just had some of his offspring spawn, and
a few hatch and live in the tank with the adults for 4 days or so before I
removed them. I think that it may be a density thing. I seem to
remember you had a fair number all living together, thus, in order to
regulate their population size they munch up the young, if they are less
densely populated then perhaps they won't. I have two males and a female
in a 20 litre tank that get fed reasonably well.
On the sex stuff (and some of you folks say I'm always the one who starts
that topic) a friend in the BA (Butt Area) (Bay Area for those who don't
know--it just looks and smells like a Butt and you have to watch your's
when there too) has messed with Ca/Mg ratios with a variety of killies
and some sicklids and found that the quantity of each ion was not that
important, but the ratio between the two. If it were near 1:1 you get
an even sex ratio, otherwise things get scewed. And yes, he could
accurately measure Mg concentration. He also said that the sex ratio
could be altered for up to 20-30 after hatching. No doubt these things
vary, but will probably follow phylogenetic groupings (ie, species
relatedness) to a degree.
Tootles
Peter J Unmack peter.unmack at asu.edu
---------------------------------------------------------------
DESERT FISHES RULE: To boldly thrive where no other fish can make it!
Check out the Australian desert fishes pages at
http://www.utexas.edu/depts/tnhc/.www/fish/dfc/
just click on the Australian portion of the map