PlanetCatfish.com

A number of issues here:-

The statement "if they dont breed natuarally then dont breed them" is really disputable from many reasons (what if they were to die out in nature? Would you resign and let them die out?).

If "they" die out in nature, is can only be for two reasons
man's actions or nature's, either way, if the habitat is destroyed, where would one put them back into the wild?
What species would they displace? Also which happens to be the case with some rift valley cichlids, that may undergo changes in their 'make-up' in a short period of time, which if released back into the wild would mean that they would not be able to compete in their original niche and/or displace another species, as this has become a habitat niche for the another species.

Word of warning, "TRUE STORY" I went to a auction some years ago,one friend was selling sterbai and he couldnt get his reserve,another friend was selling gossei and couldnt get his reserve,, I was selling Paleatus and sold them all, for the reserve price offered on the sterbai & gossei.
Another "True Story" another guy I knew, finished work,set up 300 tanks and sat back to see the money roll in. He left the hobby 18 months later,, and because he couldnt make a living, he now keeps nothing but bad memories of wasted time and effort trying to make a living,

On a more personal note.. I am a member of Corydoras World,
I also breed fish, over the years I have bred fish from Betta persephone to Hara maesotensis, I am not a blood sucker, anyone that knows me well enough will say the opposite
The article in shanes world Breeding Scleromystax prionotus
http://www.planetcatfish.com/shanesworld/281.PHP
Is exactly how I spawned them.You can Believe it or not thats upto you!
Also I have this to say in Ian's defence, I know he has outlayed more money than he has recieved from his endeavours in fish breeding and related matters, I have even visited his fish house and there are no "majic tricks"in evidence
he is just an excellent fish keeper..

Maybe you should think of returning to the hobby and just enjoy the fish! After all is what its all about!!!
And BTW please please forget about hormonal breeding ,, it
cant give anyone satisfaction, unless ,, as some people I know tell people "I can breed fish" and really they havnt a clue, but they are good at memorising other peoples observations so they get a sense of self importance!!

Ian, I have had the melini for 3 years. Their productivity was always worse and worse. It is the same sort of species like duplicareus, but my young duplicareus gave me hundreds of eggs a month.

They are nothing like each other, neither are the conditions to keep them in.

Oh, of course, you got me - I am an idiot, as Eupterus said, and I don't know that barbatus is Scleromystax. But what will it be next year? After Claudio Oliveira et al. from the Universidade Estadual Paulista in Sao Paulo finish their genetic study of 100 Corydoras+Scleromystax+Aspidoras species? I am quite curious!

There will indeed be some changes in genera within the family Corydoradinae but this will have no effect on how to keep or breed them.

But before you close this forum: I would ask you for the description of your procedure before spawning Corydoras sodalis? You fed them, fed them, fed them, and one day "the spawning followed the typical Corydoras 'T' mating clinck pattern. Although a total of eighty-five eggs were laid. All of these eggs were deposited onto the front glass of the tank and were confined to one area of about 40 mm diameter approximately 50 mm from the surface. Once the spawning activity had been completed the adult fish were removed and placed into another tank. The eggs were then protedted from fungal attack by the addition of methylene blue to the tank water at a rate of one drop per gallon."????

Now why on earth would I tell you my husbandry regimes, this is a host of information that I have learned over the past thirty years and do you know who taught them to me? My fish.

A little tip, learn from your fish, note their reactions to the things you do and record them then you will become a real breeder. Leave all that hormone activity to teenagers.

Ian

I believe all you are saying. The taste of people is often hard to understand. I visited one shop and the owner told me that he can sell hundreds of Kryptopterus bicirrhis a month. The same with "ordinary" Ancistrus. I wouldn't buy one.

And as for breeding: I also believe that you could spawn this species almost without any effort, after one water change. There exist species that well react to good feeding and often it is enough. For example, I learned that I don't have to make any water changes or drops of temperature to spawn my Corydoras sterbai. They simply spawn simultaneously if they are heavily fed for about 4-5 weeks. But in other species - I mean the imported ones - it simply doesn't work. Often I think over if the fish are really O.K. and if they didn't suffer from some medication or treatment during the import.

In 1995 I bought a group of 5 large imported Corydoras sterbai, but I couldn't spawn them. In 2002 I spawned a group of "domesticated" sterbai from one breeder (in fact, they spawned quite spontaneously, after several weeks of good feeding). I tried to gave the five imported sterbai to them, if they join them, but they were absolutely cool. Once, after I removed them into a community tank, they chased each other for one day, but later stopped. In fact, until now I actually don't know their gender. I would say that they are all males, because I couldn't "farce" them, their bellies are lean, not plump like in females.

To Ian: So, Ian, in the end you actually confess, what I said? I don't want you to reveal all your "breeding secrets", but if I state that you don't tell everything, why are you angry? I don't understand.

But I think that there is not much to do with the sodalis I have. The fish certainly are not "easy and peaceful", how you describe those you have at home.

By the way, melini and duplicareus are the same sort of Corydoras. Of course, melini comes (almost) from the Andes and duplicareus from the Rio Negro system, but they basically behave like every banded-corydoras. i.e. they spawn spontaneously, irrespectively of circumstances, laying a less number of eggs at once.

To Ian: So, Ian, in the end you actually confess, what I said? I don't want you to reveal all your "breeding secrets", but if I state that you don't tell everything, why are you angry? I don't understand

You did not read the post that well, perhaps I was to cryptic. There's nothing to tell, you learn good fish keeping and the results follow. There's no secret to good fishkeeping the fish will teach you all you want to know, you just have to read the signs.

I think the heat has died down so I will leave the topic open. I am happy to discuss real natural methods of inducing spawning activity but not hormonal. This is not my site, but am pleased to help with moderation. Jools has the ultimate say in what is acceptable but if the hormone argument is perused I will lock the topic.

Ian

Guys, you need to recognise a troll when you see one and we all (should) know how to deal with them.

Cartouche,

Email me if you've a problem with that or don't understand where you've broken rules. Don't do it again.

Jools

I have a problem with Ian
If you want, lock the forum. I am not in the mood to continue in discussing with people, who call me an idiot, only because I try hormonal breeding as the last possibility in fish, in which there seems to be no chance to spawn them naturally. At least in the conditions that I can afford at the moment and in the near future.

cartouche wrote:I have a problem with Ian
If you want, lock the forum. I am not in the mood to continue in discussing with people, who call me an idiot, only because I try hormonal breeding as the last possibility in fish, in which there seems to be no chance to spawn them naturally. At least in the conditions that I can afford at the moment and in the near future.

Which part of "email me to discuss" didn't you understand?

What a self centered view, yes, you may have issue with Ian but perhaps you failed to notice everyone else has issue with YOU.

Well, if you've a problem with Ian that means you have a problem with me. Email me if you want to discuss but stop filling this forum up with inflammatory crap.

Jools