Tank: 3 foot clearseal tank, fine gravel substrate, lots of driftwood and plants
Filtration: Eheim ecco external, Fluval 3+ internal filter
Water parameters:
Ammonia, nitrite = 0
Nitrates = 10-15
PH = 7.4
Temp = 23c
Water changes at 25% 3 times a week using rain water.
Adult Male and Female Whiptail pleco's
Male (notice the impressive beard!)
Female
Both fed on algae wafers, flake food, fresh veg (courgette, cucumber, peas, green beans) and occassional meaty treat like tetra prima or bloodworm
02/02/2009
First spawn, after a cool water change, the pair spawned for the first time, laying about 30 eggs on the glass, the male stays with the eggs and fans to keep plenty of water movement over the eggs.
The eggs at day 3
Day 4, starting to show some developememt
Day 5, huge developements overnight, and the young fish can be made out, including the blood vessels
Day 7, nearly ready, with Male stimulating the eggs to try to hatch them
Day 8, and the eggs start to hatch
Fry on day 1, still with egg sack
1 week old
The fry mainly fed on the algae growth in the tank, but at 1 month old, would start to graze on blanched lettuce leaves and cooked green beans, its at this time that they start to fill out and grow a bit more
and by 2 months, they are over 1" long and taking the same food as the adults, and ready to move on to new homes.
one of the older fry next to a newly hatched youngster
Filtration: Eheim ecco external, Fluval 3+ internal filter
Water parameters:
Ammonia, nitrite = 0
Nitrates = 10-15
PH = 7.4
Temp = 23c
Water changes at 25% 3 times a week using rain water.
Adult Male and Female Whiptail pleco's
Male (notice the impressive beard!)
Female
Both fed on algae wafers, flake food, fresh veg (courgette, cucumber, peas, green beans) and occassional meaty treat like tetra prima or bloodworm
02/02/2009
First spawn, after a cool water change, the pair spawned for the first time, laying about 30 eggs on the glass, the male stays with the eggs and fans to keep plenty of water movement over the eggs.
The eggs at day 3
Day 4, starting to show some developememt
Day 5, huge developements overnight, and the young fish can be made out, including the blood vessels
Day 7, nearly ready, with Male stimulating the eggs to try to hatch them
Day 8, and the eggs start to hatch
Fry on day 1, still with egg sack
1 week old
The fry mainly fed on the algae growth in the tank, but at 1 month old, would start to graze on blanched lettuce leaves and cooked green beans, its at this time that they start to fill out and grow a bit more
and by 2 months, they are over 1" long and taking the same food as the adults, and ready to move on to new homes.
one of the older fry next to a newly hatched youngster
and well done on spawning
