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I got a Lasiancistrus spawn as of yesterday and I noticed something different from all of my other spawns. The male sits in the cave with his head pointing OUT and fans back towards the eggs. Every other fish that I've spawned normally points their head TOWARDS/facing the eggs and fans that way. A buddy of mine who previously spawned these fish says they did the same thing for him. David

Interesting observations. Also my congratulations on the spawn and I hope it yields many fry. Not a species a lot of people have bred.

Interesting. Which species?

Definitely very interesting observation...

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Mats

Thanks Larry ;)

The species is L092
They're a neat little fish with large spawns. David
p.s. eggs are still there today, and the male is still pointing outwards fanning the eggs "backwards"

The eggs hatched..A short fry video..they are quite a bit larger(and longer) than ancistrus fry of this age..David



[Mod edit: Add youtube tags --Mats]

Great work, looks like they are very lively little fry...

--
Mats

David,
Pretty cool.
A question, what is the container you are using? I like it better than the net breeders I have used.

http://www.jehmco.com/html/nets___breeder_boxes.html

scroll down the page to 'picture window breeder boxes'

I like these a lot too-they come in two sizes-3 sides(and the bottom) are mesh, and one side is solid(the picture window side) I just throw an airstone in them, or hang them above a sponge filter. David
p.s. thank-you for the edit Mats..I always forget to add the tags.

Dave,
Thank you.

managed to fluke a fairly clear picture of two of the fry.. David

Loricariidae eggs and larvae are such great subjects for watching embryological and larval development since they are such large eggs. That and because the development occurs over a fairly long time compared to some tiny eggs like those of some Tetras which hatch in less than 24 hours but are almost microscopic.

5 days since the last picture-the fry have almost completely absorbed their eggs..David

My, what long pleco fry those are.

The fry in the floating basket are doing really well-eating zuchini and wheat-based pellets. The rest of the fry that are loose in the tank-i can't tell how well they're doing..they all seem to hang out in the upper corners of the tank.
Larry: you've mentioned a few times that you raise sturisoma fry in shallower water/tanks. Is it possible this species prefer to be in shallower water when they're young re:pressure of being in the deeper water maybe? And that's why they seem to congregate near the top? David
p.s. I know it's not water conditions-It's a 90 gallon tank and all the other adult fish in the tank are active, healthy, and look overjoyed to be there

I wrote about about the needs of Sturisoma fry at Shane's and Jools' request because although my methods are tedious, I get good survival rates.
I only raise enough for myself these days because in the USA, many on line fish dealers sell wild adult for less than $15 each. The fry are just too hard to raise and the wholesale price for them is too low a price for me to be able to justify raising them for sale.
I just raise some to keep them going in my tanks.
I do not think water pressure is the problem. I think the different age classes are adapted to where they find life easier and safer. Here are all my ideas and the assumptions I make to get a satisfactory survival rate. I expect to raise most of my fry when I follow my own advice given in this article.
http://www.planetcatfish.com/shanesworl ... cle_id=412
Others may find a better way to increase their fry survival rates even higher but I haven't seen anything that has changed my thinking.

Nice job on the article ..Gave me a few things to think about/put into use, not necessarily for these fish.. David

Pleco fry, even those of the more delicate species like H. zebra, are much easier to raise but trying to conceptualize their environment does help you fine tune your techniques.

Update: the fry are doing well-both the ones in the basket and the ones loose in the tank.. the items in the pics are an airstone, and a standard rubber band holding the remains of a small piece of zuchini to give you an idea of scale..David

Almost 3 weeks old, and growing quickly.. David



[Mod edit: Youtube tags... --Mats]

Just beautiful!!