 Basics | ||||||||||||||||
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| Overview | The first spawn was on Saturday 20th of April 2019. The breeding group consisted of 2 males and 2 females. Additionally, there were 1 unknown individual present. The smallest male was at least 95mm SL and the smallest female was at least 95mm SL. The individuals were obtained from Sacramento Aquarium Society auction. | |||||||||||||||
| Further spawns | Saturday 27th of April 2019, Monday 17th of June 2019, Saturday 30th of September 2023, Wednesday 10th of January 2024, Thursday 18th of January 2024, Friday 26th of January 2024, Monday 5th of February 2024, Monday 12th of February 2024, Monday 19th of February 2024. 9 in total. | |||||||||||||||
| Feeding |
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| Water Parameters (at time of spawning) | ||||||||||||||||
| pH | 5.60 to 5.70 | |||||||||||||||
| Conductivity | 200µs to 300µs | |||||||||||||||
| Temperature | 25.5°C to 26.5°C | |||||||||||||||
| Current | Medium | |||||||||||||||
| Other Water Params | Tapwater dechlorinated with Seachem Prime. 80-90% WC every 1-2 weeks. | |||||||||||||||
| Aquarium | ||||||||||||||||
| Dimensions | The aquarium dimensions were 762mm x 330mm x 533mm (30" x 13" x 21") all Length x Width x Height. | |||||||||||||||
| Furniture | Tank is an Aqueon 36gal bowfront. Sand bottom, ceramic and bamboo caves, slate stone shelves, wood, ferns. | |||||||||||||||
| Filtration | Aqueon 75 HOB. Additional aeration using Aquaclear 50 powerhead with venturi. | |||||||||||||||
| Lighting | Fluval 24" LED on a 12L:12D timer. | |||||||||||||||
| Heating | 150W heater set to 78F | |||||||||||||||
| Breeding | ||||||||||||||||
| Behaviour | Details of the spawning can be found here: https://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=47550. Spawning not observed. I awoke in the early morning to find the female in a 1.5" bamboo pipe with eggs scattered loose in pipe and many more eggs outside the pipe and around the tank. She is guarding some eggs in the pipe. In total, I collected or saw about 150 eggs. The fresh eggs were a translucent milky white color. Video of spawn: https://youtu.be/TngMpcTfCWA | |||||||||||||||
| Eggs |  There were 160 amber eggs laid which were 2.0mm in diameter. | |||||||||||||||
| Time to hatch | 5 days Number: 20 Free swimming: 3 days | |||||||||||||||
| Segregation | Video of spawn: https://youtu.be/TngMpcTfCWA. On day of spawn, eggs were siphoned up with turkey baster and transferred to a fry basket for incubation. I don't know exactly how many eggs were laid, but I recovered about 140 from the tank. There were at least 10 more loose in the tank, bringing the total of the spawn to over 150 eggs. About 50-55 hours after the eggs were laid, at least a dozen eggs turned transparent clear in their jelly coat. Each transparent egg had a 2-3mm white embryo wiggling on top of a 1-1.5mm diameter amber yellow yolk, covered with a few black melanocytes. | |||||||||||||||
| Fry sizes | 7 days: 8mm 14 days: 10mm 21 days: 12mm | |||||||||||||||
| 7 days |  | |||||||||||||||
| 14 days |  | |||||||||||||||
| 21 days |  | |||||||||||||||
| Juvenile sizes | 1 month: 15mm 3 months: 40mm 6 months: 70mm | |||||||||||||||
| 1 month |  | |||||||||||||||
| 3 months |  | |||||||||||||||
| 6 months |  | |||||||||||||||
| Fry and juvenile feeding | Eggs started hatching on day 5, and some were still hatching from the same spawn on day 9! Quite a range of hatch dates. Fry were exploring the fry basket on day 8 after egg laying, or = day 3 after the first eggs hatched. Starting on Day 2 after hatching, first foods are finely powdered (using a mortar and pestle) mixture of dry flake food, freeze-dried brine shrimp, and and freeze-dried tubifex worms. Also, I'm feeding them raw (not prepared/gelled) Repashy powder (grub pie or bottom scratcher) diluted in water. After that I'm also starting to add live microworms. | |||||||||||||||
