 Basics | |||||||||||||
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| Overview | The first spawn was on Sunday 22nd of March 2015. The breeding group consisted of 4 males and 3 females. The smallest male was at least 60mm SL and the smallest female was at least 55mm SL. The youngest adult was approximately 11 months old. The individuals were obtained from Private person. | ||||||||||||
| Feeding |
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| Water Parameters (at time of spawning) | |||||||||||||
| pH | 5.00 to 6.80 | ||||||||||||
| Conductivity | 400µs to 700µs | ||||||||||||
| Temperature | 21.0°C to 24.5°C | ||||||||||||
| Current | Medium | ||||||||||||
| Aquarium | |||||||||||||
| Dimensions | The aquarium dimensions were 616mm x 318mm x 425mm (24.3" x 12.5" x 16.7") all Length x Width x Height. | ||||||||||||
| Furniture | Sand substrate, driftwood, live Elodea, few slate stones. | ||||||||||||
| Filtration | Aqueon quietflow 30 with a sponge prefilter on intake. | ||||||||||||
| Lighting | Fluorescent light in standard hood, set to a 13L:11D photoperiod using a timer. | ||||||||||||
| Heating | A 100w submersible heater is in tank, set to 65F, but water stays at room temperature, about 75F on day of spawn. | ||||||||||||
| Breeding | |||||||||||||
| Behaviour | Spawning occurred in the late afternoon under daylight conditions. The fish were courting and mating up against the front glass of the aquarium, so their activity was plainly visible. Three males pursued one female around the tank, in the vicinity of a piece of flat slate rock, which was located directly under the outflow from an external HOB power filter. There was a strong water current in this area of the tank. One by one, the males were able to mate with the female in a typical T position, then the female deposited the eggs on the slate rock, and then later on the glass nearby. | ||||||||||||
| Eggs |  There were 15 cream to pale yellow eggs laid which were 2.0mm in diameter. | ||||||||||||
| Time to hatch | 5 days Number: 2 Free swimming: 0 days | ||||||||||||
| Segregation | The eggs were immediately removed and placed within an egg tumbler, in a separate 2 gallon aquarium with a sponge filter, a large bunch of Java moss, and a thin layer of playsand on the bottom of the tank. I used SeaChem's Discus Buffer and Neutral Regulator to lower the pH in the hatching tank to about 6.2-6.4. | ||||||||||||
| Fry sizes | 7 days: 5mm 14 days: 7mm 21 days: 10mm | ||||||||||||
| 21 days |  | ||||||||||||
| Juvenile sizes | 1 month: 24mm 3 months: 37mm 6 months: 47mm | ||||||||||||
| 1 month |  | ||||||||||||
| 6 months |  | ||||||||||||
| Fry and juvenile feeding | I use a mortar and pestle to pulverize a mix of Aqueon color-enhancing fish flakes, New Life Spectrum Thera A+ 1 mm pellets, and a generic spirulina pellet; these are all mashed together to form an extremely fine dust. I feed the fry 2x day. | ||||||||||||
