I love my Ameca splendens. They are a great fish when kept in a single species tank. The first thing I would do with them is unplug the tank heater. They seem to work better if you let the tank move around with room temperatures. The adults work best with varying temperatures and are very much vegetable lovers. At one time they were sold as an alternative to other algae eaters but never became popular that way. The fish are not the best community members but do very nicely in a species only tank. I have mine in a lightly planted 45 gallon long tank and they are growing their numbers quite well with no heater. When they reproduce they do not get into the typical livebearer pattern of having 6 months of sperm packets in storage nor of having a 28 day turn around between drops. Instead the females are only able to carry one drop at a time and it takes about 60 days for a newly impregnated female to bear young. For an average livebearer breeder this will seem a bit strange but so be it, that is how these guys work. When letting the temperature follow room temperature, the fish will not produce fry at low temperatures but are better off with that pause in their production of fry. I find the challenges of goodeids quite satisfying and am a strong proponent of doing what is needed to preserve this "extinct in wild" species of fish. These are some very common fish of the ones that need help to survive habitat destruction, but are easy to keep fish that should not pose a real challenge to any livebearer breeder. The more the merrier when it comes to Amecas, they are one of my favorites and will have a place in my summer outdoor tub arrangement.
/www.youtube.com/watch?v=jefCMT9xqUE
