Hi all, i thought i would do a quick breeding log on how i bred and raised the fry of Sturisoma Panamense. First of all i'll give a bit of background info on the tank.
Size: Juwel vision 180 (180l methinks?)
Temperature (celcius): 26-28
Filtration: two Fluval 205 external filters
Heating: Hagen 150w
lighting: two daylight T5's.
Decor: granite bolders, bogwood, slate, the usual plec stuff
Planting: mainly javafern and anubias with a few echinodorus ozelots.
water parameters as follows;
pH 6.8
Ammonia: 0 (of course)
Nitrite: 0 (of course)
Nitrate: between 10 and 15mg/l
GH and KH: :dk:
i managed to get an adult pair of these back in february and up until april i have been conditioning them for breeding by feeding a mixture of tetra prima, hikari algae wafers, bloodworm, new era algae wafers and a huge amount of various veggies mainly comprising of courgette (zuccini).
By april they have had thier first spawn of around 40-50 eggs. prior to this the female became very fat and gravid with eggs so i was planning on doing a cool water change the following day but before i knew it she'd layed them all so no triggering was needed.
the eggs (2-3mm) themselves took only six days to hatch mainly because the tank was slightly warmer then they really be in, and the eggs were layed right next to the heater, thankfully not on it. the eggs developed rapidly and by two days the outline of the fry inside could be made. as before, after six days the majority of the eggs had hatched and the fry could be seen at the top of the tank at around 4-5mm.
At this point i used a very small net to scoop the fry into a fry saver (one of those plastic Boyu ones). it took 1-2 days for the fry to fully absorb their yolk sacs and by then i was feeding a variety of veggie based foods. mainly consisting of blanched lettuce for the first few days. i did this as i've found that with previous batches, too much protein too quick kills the fry off rapidly. so from now on i always feed veggies for the first few days.
After 3-4 days i start to feed a special mixture of food i have made up for the fry. ingredients as follows;
15 crushed up hikari wafers (powdered)
1/4 teaspoon of egg yolk powder
1/10 teaspoon tetra prima (powdered again)
I crushed up the algae wafers and the prima using a mortar and pestle until they were a very fine powder then added the egg yolk powder to form a pale green powder. I've found this to be incredibly good for feeding the fry inside the fry catcher and in the main tank because the fine powder spreads amongst the floor of the tank etc thus making it easier for the fry to get to the food. i've found the mixture i use is just right in the sense that there is not too much or too little protein for the fry thus giving a steady growth rate.
i left the fry in the fry catcher for two weeks until they got .75"-1" and then released then into the main tank with the parents. by then they were taking whole new era plec pellets, hikari algae wafers, veggies and so on.
With the multiple batches of fry in the fry catchers and the parents still going at it i was doing a 10-15% water change every two days and taking partial amounts of waste out of the fry catchers using a piece of airline. then adding fresh food as appropriate, and repeated this 2-3 times a day if i had time.
After around 1 1/2 to 2 months the fry were at a reasonable size to rehome and sell.
i was repeating this process from april up until now with getting a batch of eggs every 6-10 days.
no pics at present as i'm finnicky about taking photos of fish and disturbing them but i'll try a get some to add as a few shouldn't hurt.
if i've missed anything or you would like to ask me something then post up i'd like to hear it.
thanks for reading,
Tom
Size: Juwel vision 180 (180l methinks?)
Temperature (celcius): 26-28
Filtration: two Fluval 205 external filters
Heating: Hagen 150w
lighting: two daylight T5's.
Decor: granite bolders, bogwood, slate, the usual plec stuff
Planting: mainly javafern and anubias with a few echinodorus ozelots.
water parameters as follows;
pH 6.8
Ammonia: 0 (of course)
Nitrite: 0 (of course)
Nitrate: between 10 and 15mg/l
GH and KH: :dk:
i managed to get an adult pair of these back in february and up until april i have been conditioning them for breeding by feeding a mixture of tetra prima, hikari algae wafers, bloodworm, new era algae wafers and a huge amount of various veggies mainly comprising of courgette (zuccini).
By april they have had thier first spawn of around 40-50 eggs. prior to this the female became very fat and gravid with eggs so i was planning on doing a cool water change the following day but before i knew it she'd layed them all so no triggering was needed.
the eggs (2-3mm) themselves took only six days to hatch mainly because the tank was slightly warmer then they really be in, and the eggs were layed right next to the heater, thankfully not on it. the eggs developed rapidly and by two days the outline of the fry inside could be made. as before, after six days the majority of the eggs had hatched and the fry could be seen at the top of the tank at around 4-5mm.
At this point i used a very small net to scoop the fry into a fry saver (one of those plastic Boyu ones). it took 1-2 days for the fry to fully absorb their yolk sacs and by then i was feeding a variety of veggie based foods. mainly consisting of blanched lettuce for the first few days. i did this as i've found that with previous batches, too much protein too quick kills the fry off rapidly. so from now on i always feed veggies for the first few days.
After 3-4 days i start to feed a special mixture of food i have made up for the fry. ingredients as follows;
15 crushed up hikari wafers (powdered)
1/4 teaspoon of egg yolk powder
1/10 teaspoon tetra prima (powdered again)
I crushed up the algae wafers and the prima using a mortar and pestle until they were a very fine powder then added the egg yolk powder to form a pale green powder. I've found this to be incredibly good for feeding the fry inside the fry catcher and in the main tank because the fine powder spreads amongst the floor of the tank etc thus making it easier for the fry to get to the food. i've found the mixture i use is just right in the sense that there is not too much or too little protein for the fry thus giving a steady growth rate.
i left the fry in the fry catcher for two weeks until they got .75"-1" and then released then into the main tank with the parents. by then they were taking whole new era plec pellets, hikari algae wafers, veggies and so on.
With the multiple batches of fry in the fry catchers and the parents still going at it i was doing a 10-15% water change every two days and taking partial amounts of waste out of the fry catchers using a piece of airline. then adding fresh food as appropriate, and repeated this 2-3 times a day if i had time.
After around 1 1/2 to 2 months the fry were at a reasonable size to rehome and sell.
i was repeating this process from april up until now with getting a batch of eggs every 6-10 days.
no pics at present as i'm finnicky about taking photos of fish and disturbing them but i'll try a get some to add as a few shouldn't hurt.
if i've missed anything or you would like to ask me something then post up i'd like to hear it.
thanks for reading,
Tom
