My first Ancistrus Claro spawn

[jac]

I felt as the most lucky and honored person when I obtained 8 beautiful little Ancistrus Claro from Julian Dignal at the Lwelse days at Hannover last year. Still at the size of around 4-5cm I set them up in a tank to grow them on for at least a year. Good feeding and lots of water changes to keep them going strong and healthy.

Last sunday (12-1) they caught my attention because they were displaying breeding behavior. Here a short video:

The next morning I found my very first Claro eggs They were all outside of the cave scattered around the tank. I collected 12 eggs in total and put them in an eggtumbler.



At day 4 the first wiggler hatched very premature, it died one day later. But this morning (day 7) 2 stronger fry hatched :klt: Still got 2 more eggs that have to hatch. Not bad for me, this is my very first successful attempt at hatching eggs from day 0 myself Tried many times with other species but always failed. So I'm very happy with this outcome so far! But I do hope the males will learn to keep the eggs inside the cave, I think that is the best way.

Video of the newly hatched fry:

To be continued...

[syno321]

I have 2 males and 2 females in a tank with a footprint of 36"x18". When the alpha male is breeding or tending a spawn I have on occasion observed the other male trying to enter the spawning cave. This can be quite a determined battle. I have also had to net eggs (usually only 4-6) that were strewn outside of the breeding cave. My guess is that the spawning actions are not delicate, or, that some of the eggs are ejected while the other male is fighting for access to the spawn. I hope that in your case it's just that this is the first spawn of that male and that he will eventually learn to look after the eggs and keep them in the cave.

[jac]

Thank you for your comment. I was amazed about the short time it took for the spawn. Sunday night I saw the female, that looked like a small hockey puck, cross the tank from one cave to another. She visited two males, they were both fanning and cleaning in a cave. Never seen the actual trapping, the eggs were just there the next morning. The males have left the caves again now, only using them occasionally for shelter. When the males do enter a cave most times there will be some females hanging around the cave entrance.

Here is a picture of day 0, hatching day. I still think a little premature but looking strong enough. In total about 3mm big.

[JamesFish]

Congratulations I hope they provide you with allot of fun growing up

[naturalart]

Thanks for sharing, jac.

[Birger]

This is what I have used for A.claro and have yet to have any eggs kicked out, I suppose they have more maneuvering room within the cave.

[jac]

I could try and use such a spawning cave. Thanks.
Do the eggs stick to the rim of the cave? Looks like it. When I collected the eggs that were outside the cave, they stuck to the bottom of the tank (glass). Never had that with Hypancistrus and Panaqolus eggs. It was just like Sturisoma eggs.

[Birger]

Do the eggs stick to the rim of the cave? Looks like it

Yes, those are stuck, I just flipped it up for a picture, flipped it back then the male just carried on.

Birger

[wijnands]

Going to try this saucer idea. Recently the cave is largely ignored. This is a glazed plant saucer, right?

After the spawn last year mine haven't done anything. Seems a bit of a marital dispute with them. I see the two biggest adults often flare their cheek spines at eachother.

@Jac: Good luck with this spawn. I had issues getting my fry to eat, doesn't seem to be the brightest species when it comes to finding food. If you're interested perhaps we can swap some fry? I got mine via ferrytale who gets them from a breeder somewhere in Germany. I suspect Julian has his fish from a different bloodline.

[Jools]

Jac,

Half of the fish you have from me were bred in Canada by Syno321. It is a small world.

I kept the other half and I shall have to pay that tank more attention!

Cheers,

Jools

[jac]

Good to hear you still have some Claro Jools!!! (Something I was wondering) I was intending to give you my special first 3 baby's back to you, as a big thank you!! They are doing great! It sure is a small world, I noticed that even more at the Lwelse days!

The picture of yesterday isn't very good.. I tried something different today and the pictures were better. I don't have a macro lens so I have to do with what I've got.

Day 1


Day 2




I had 4 larvae but I deleted one of them because it was not well. It had a blood stain at the back of it's head/body and wouldn't survive any way. The 3 remaining fry are doing very well!! It strikes me they have such large sucker mouths.

To be continued..

[jac]

If you're interested perhaps we can swap some fry? I got mine via ferrytale who gets them from a breeder somewhere in Germany.

As are almost all Claro in Holland... So if I can I want to stay well clear of them Keeping my group as a healthy fresh unrelated bloodline.

[Birger]

This is a glazed plant saucer, right?

I use not glazed...

Birger

[wijnands]

If you're interested perhaps we can swap some fry? I got mine via ferrytale who gets them from a breeder somewhere in Germany.

As are almost all Claro in Holland... So if I can I want to stay well clear of them Keeping my group as a healthy fresh unrelated bloodline.

In that case I'll be begging for one of yours in a few months.

I do have a macro lens and some photography skills but if I remember correctly you live a long distance from me, somewhere in the rural parts of the country?

I would be interested to hear your experiences in getting the fry to eat once the yolk is gone. Mine were extremely slow on the uptake when it came to food.

[jac]

I will share my experience when I get there I'm enjoying and taking each day at a time.

Day 3



And a good shot of that enormous suckermouth..

[jac]

Day 4



Day 5

[jac]

Day 6

[saor alba]

Jac Ive currently a few hundred plus off these Anc Claro F1,s growing on from sizes batches of eggs to half inch maybe slightly bigger ,ive found that a tetra earthworm and spirulina homemade putty works a dream on conditioning the adults and feeding the young from during yok sac stage and fry as it breaks up and covers stones etc for them to graze on .
U,ll see in the picture from yolk sac stage that they consume"The Dark part" spirulina only that I fed to all kicked out spawns in a fry saver this seems to give them a good start before I put them back in the adult tank not long after they use yolk sac up

[jac]

Thank you for your advise! I put in half a walnut leaf in the fry saver two days ago, it's sinking to the bottom now. This was something that was advised at the Lwelse days so I'm going to give that a try also.

I guess on what Jools told me, I must have some Claro from you also then But I could be wrong.

[wijnands]

A few 100????

Can you be a bit more specific on this feeding?

[saor alba]

Not much to feeding them wijnands I use pestle & morter a bit of tetra then crush some earthworm sticks and crush a few scoops of spirulina using "The blue spoon from kusuri worming stuff" crush/mix together add tank water till it like a thick slime paste let it settle and then add to tank.(Youll get a feel for how much of food to use to make the paste up ) .
I use straight spirulina from a scoop into fry tank if batches have been kicked out this also helps coats the glass etc of the algae based food for adults and young wen it flows back into main tank from fry tank
the paste It sinks and covers the tank by means of the exernal filter power disturbing it all it then colours water green ie spirulina and coats everything, then all can graze .
Only down fall off fedding like this is sponge filter coggin quicker than normal but routine cleaning should help it and pair of womens tights over external filter outlet saves that getting gudged up .

[jac]

Day 7


Day 8


I find it hard to see when the yolk sack is dissolved.. It's belly is colored dark. With Hypancistrus you can see the belly is soft yellow or white, but with the Claro is much darker, browner. But looking from the top it's still round.

[saor alba]

Sorry Jac I forgot to say yes you can get Claro when ready if needed but I usually give a certain shop in Uk first chance on most fish I breed, they prob could post to yourself as I wont post via air anymore to Europe.

[jac]

I got mine from Jools. He said that the fry came from Canada and some were from Scotland. I'm guessing that the ones from Scotland will be yours

[saor alba]

Jac im afraid not never dealt fish with Jools these are totally new imported adults .
Currently 13 females and 6 males in a 4 x18x18 and basically females line up everytime theres a spawn in place to spawn themselves at 2 males caves one out one in sort of thing its like clockwork just now.
One male currently has roughly 4 different aged spawns in his cave ,hes actually got that many he cant fully go in cave sort of thing .
Ill take pics of more young in fry saver later and post roughly 28 plus in there growing well due to be released tomoorow into big tank again.

[Jools]

I'm guessing that the ones from Scotland will be yours

Wrong guess. I don't know "saor alba" (free scotland in case our international visitors were wondering) and the fish are from another breeder who is offline.

Jools

[jac]

A, got it wrong then sorry. It was a long shot and a wild guess, I should be more careful.

Nice to hear your doing so well with breeding A. Claro saor alba I'm just as happy with my first 3 as you will be with your hundreds

[wijnands]

The tips on feeding are appreciated. I've made something like this mix with agar as a gelling agent but always fed it in blocks, never thought to scatter it.

I'd still be interested in getting one or two fish from this bloodline but I think that will involve a lot of begging

While I''m in the company of experts, any tips on getting mine to do another round? The Barry White CD didn't help. ;) Is it the common scenario of raising the temp and the TDS for some days and then do a big water change with soft cool water? Or do these guys also spawn in stable water?

[Ashley_1988]

Just picked up this thread, congratulations on your first spawn! The little guys seem to be growing well. I'll be sure to keep an eye on this thread to see how they progress.

I picked up, what were sold as 'wild caught' Claro from a shop in the UK at the end of last year. I noticed a large male go into one of breeding cave the recently, and I thought he might be getting ready for a spawn, but he left the next day to return to his usual spot underneath the large piece of wood in the tank.

I was wondering though, did you change the conditions within your tank to encourage breeding? Feed differently etc?

[syno321]

I have not had to do anything special to "trigger" my adults to spawn. They are fed twice a day and get 50% water changes twice monthly. The tap water that I use is of medium hardness, with a pH of ~7.8. I separate the fry from the male within a couple of days of hatching, and add some algae scraped from the underside of a sliding glass top to the brooding container so that it takes the guess work out of when the young start to feed. As soon as I see that they're eating the algae they get hatched BBS and tableted food.