Tank set up
Size 20: gallon long
Substrate: Mainly bare, did have some sand in there but gets syphoned up with water changes
Decor: Slate caves, bogwood
Filtration: Tetratec EX600 external filter with spray bar, sponge filter
Heating: 150 watt heater set at 26 degrees
Maintenance: daily 10-25% with room temperature water from butts containing bogwood
Tankmates: None at present, used to have swordtail juvies in with them but they bothered the fry
The Fish
One male approx 3" total length plus 2 females one same size as the male the other is a little smaller. They have been in the set up since August last year. They are believed to be wild caught and had not spawned for their previous owner in the 6 months he'd had them. They are fed on Tetra prima, bloodworm flake, brineshrimp flake with garlic, frozen foods and occasional fresh veggies and algae wafers.
Spawning
I didn't try and trigger a spawning, just left them to it really. The females were pretty gravid when they arrived. The male got very hairy and one day I noticed he had the larger female trapped in his cave. They remained that way for two days and when she left a lot slimmer I could see a small pile of eggs in the back of the cave being fiercly potected by dad.
A few eggs were fanned out of the cave so I put them into a breeding trap under the outflow of the spray bar to keep them moving and they hatched a few days later.
Slowly but surely the others came out of the cave but died within hours of leaving. I was worried a film had built up on the tank floor so added a nice layer of sand but still they continued to die. I got so frustrated finding little stripey bodies everyday and not knowing what to do :cry: The three in the breeding trap continued to thrive.
Very soon I had lost all but 4 fry (25 eggs in total), 3 in the trap and one that managed to survive in the main tank.
2 months later the male spawned again but this time with the smaller female. The eggs however never fertilized. He spawned again 2 weeks later with the larger female again after a 5 day trapping and another good batch of eggs were laid. After a week we had the same problem, fries leaving the cave and dying. I hastily made a fry saver complete with its own filter for water movement which was designed by Russell aka SmithRC and popped the cave complete with male and fry in.
After this I didn't lose another fry. The male spawned with the larger female again a month later and I only lost 3 fry out of this and now have 27 healthy juvies :woohoo:
The fry are moved to their own grow-out tank set up exactly the same as the breeding tank at 2 months old.
Size 20: gallon long
Substrate: Mainly bare, did have some sand in there but gets syphoned up with water changes
Decor: Slate caves, bogwood
Filtration: Tetratec EX600 external filter with spray bar, sponge filter
Heating: 150 watt heater set at 26 degrees
Maintenance: daily 10-25% with room temperature water from butts containing bogwood
Tankmates: None at present, used to have swordtail juvies in with them but they bothered the fry
The Fish
One male approx 3" total length plus 2 females one same size as the male the other is a little smaller. They have been in the set up since August last year. They are believed to be wild caught and had not spawned for their previous owner in the 6 months he'd had them. They are fed on Tetra prima, bloodworm flake, brineshrimp flake with garlic, frozen foods and occasional fresh veggies and algae wafers.
Spawning
I didn't try and trigger a spawning, just left them to it really. The females were pretty gravid when they arrived. The male got very hairy and one day I noticed he had the larger female trapped in his cave. They remained that way for two days and when she left a lot slimmer I could see a small pile of eggs in the back of the cave being fiercly potected by dad.
A few eggs were fanned out of the cave so I put them into a breeding trap under the outflow of the spray bar to keep them moving and they hatched a few days later.
Slowly but surely the others came out of the cave but died within hours of leaving. I was worried a film had built up on the tank floor so added a nice layer of sand but still they continued to die. I got so frustrated finding little stripey bodies everyday and not knowing what to do :cry: The three in the breeding trap continued to thrive.
Very soon I had lost all but 4 fry (25 eggs in total), 3 in the trap and one that managed to survive in the main tank.
2 months later the male spawned again but this time with the smaller female. The eggs however never fertilized. He spawned again 2 weeks later with the larger female again after a 5 day trapping and another good batch of eggs were laid. After a week we had the same problem, fries leaving the cave and dying. I hastily made a fry saver complete with its own filter for water movement which was designed by Russell aka SmithRC and popped the cave complete with male and fry in.
After this I didn't lose another fry. The male spawned with the larger female again a month later and I only lost 3 fry out of this and now have 27 healthy juvies :woohoo:
The fry are moved to their own grow-out tank set up exactly the same as the breeding tank at 2 months old.
