 Basics | ||||||||||
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| Overview | The first spawn was on Monday 14th of July 2014. The breeding group consisted of 1 male and 1 female. The youngest adult was approximately 8 months old. The individuals were obtained from Aquajardin - Import. | |||||||||
| Feeding |
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| Water Parameters (at time of spawning) | ||||||||||
| pH | 6.40 to 6.60 | |||||||||
| Temperature | 24.0°C to 25.0°C | |||||||||
| Current | Medium | |||||||||
| Other Water Params | Exact pH 6.4 kH <1 Ammonia 0ppm Nitrite 0ppm Nitrate 50ppm 20-40% water change fortnightly. | |||||||||
| Aquarium | ||||||||||
| Dimensions | The aquarium dimensions were 810mm x 360mm x 500mm (31.9" x 14.2" x 19.7") all Length x Width x Height. | |||||||||
| Furniture | Juwel Rio 125. Moderately planted, lots of mopani root wood. | |||||||||
| Filtration | CristalProfi700 and Fluval 205. | |||||||||
| Heating | Aquaone Heater, 100w. | |||||||||
| Breeding | ||||||||||
| Behaviour | The male and female were usually on opposite sides of the tank. The night before spawning, they both spent several hours on the same patch of glass, furiously cleaning it. 12hrs later, I had missed the spawning but the male was led on top of the eggs fanning them. The female returned to the opposite side of the tank and was no involved any further. The male guarded and fanned the eggs, of which all but 4 survived to hatch. 30/9/14. Male and Female had spent several days cleaning the glass. During spawning, the female will choose her area to lay the eggs and the male will clean just before she lays. When laying, the female shakes and vibrates from side to side and uses her pelvic fins to direct the eggs into the correct spot. The male will then fertilise them, clean them and begin to fan them whilst the female prepares to lay the next few eggs. Around 3-5 eggs are laid each time. | |||||||||
| Eggs |  There were 84 clear eggs laid which were 3.0mm in diameter. | |||||||||
| Time to hatch | 7 days Number: 78 Free swimming: 3 days | |||||||||
| Segregation | Eggs were left with the male until the evening of day 7. The eggs were then removed from the glass and collected into a net below, and transferred into a 3L breeding net situated in front of the external filter outlet. Most of the fry hatched during this process, however the remaining 10 hatched 2 days later. | |||||||||
| Fry sizes | 7 days: 7mm 14 days: 0mm 21 days: 0mm | |||||||||
| 7 days |  | |||||||||
| Juvenile sizes | 1 month: 0mm 3 months: 0mm 6 months: 0mm | |||||||||
| Fry and juvenile feeding | Free swimmers feeding well on fresh Courgette slices, Brine Shrimp and Hikari Algae Wafers. | |||||||||
