mostlydave
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I’m thinking about switching to bare bottom on my breeding and grow out tank. I have some java moss in both and I’m thinking about putting it in something like a small mug with some gravel to make cleaning easier
I’ll be doing the 80%-90% water changes on my newest batch of fry which are just hatching this week!
Do you have more uniform growth in your batches?
I usually keep my fry in a 5/12 gallon tank for the first month, do you keep up the daily water changes for a month? after that I move them to a grow out tank (20 Gallon) that gets weekly water changes, I only had about 20 fry in my last batch.
I finally go fry!!
Kind of an accident to!! I had 12 new CPD in a 20 gallon breeder with all of my java moss for about a week while I set up my 5.5 breeding tank. I took most of the moss out of the 20l and moved it into the 5.5 breeder (its enough to cover the bottom) and a week after adding the moss I have about 15-20 fry! I’ve had the fry start appearing about a week ago and they seem to still be appearing. I also took the small piece of moss I left in the adult tank and swapped it into my breeder setup.
I’ve been feeding them liquid fry food and sometimes a mixture of yeast and spirulina. I also have walter, banana and micro worms, when should the fry be big enough for micro worms?
I did my first 50% water change in the 5.5 setup after a week I read in the marble breeding thread that you do a 90% water change everyday, should I start doing a large water change everyday, Why is such a large water change required?
I’m really please to have fry after so many attempts at breeding! I’m going to be giving this first batch away to friends and family, but I’m hoping to eventually make a little extra money on the side!
I recently added some new CPDs (Thanks Dennis!!) to a 20 long with 2 big pieces of driftwood and some java moss, its been about a week and they are very timid as described above. Will these fish breed in a smaller breeding setup, or should I try to get them acting a little bolder first?
I didn’t see any eggs like that so I guess I didn’t get any fry that time. You can actually see the fry in the eggs like the picture you posted pretty easily? That will make it a little easier to tell whats going on
I’m assuming that I’ll also be able to just tell when I have fry because I’ll be able to see them with there little eyes like they appear in the eggs?Could you take a guess at what is swimming around in that video? I’m now convinced its the kind of tiny organisms that the fry will be able to feed on, I only seem to get it when I have java moss in a tank.
Thanks for all your advice Dennis, I am getting a little frustrated, but I’m not going to give up just yet. I’ve already learned a lot and I think if I keep trying I’ll hit the magical combo that works for me! I am going to stick with the egg trap for now because I’m thinking it is probably the easiest way to view some unhatched eggs.
I may try the trap in my 5.5 Gallon tank with just a few adults, maybe 1 male and 2 females just to simplify things and see what happens. I’ll post here again with results!
Well I had my egg trap in my community tank 2 days and now it’s been in my fry tank about 2 days I now have some activity in the tank this morning and I have a link to a short video:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1426326/Fish/Fry%20Maybe.MOV
If these are fry they are extremely tiny!
Well, I’ve had no luck so far.
I’ve had my adults 4 female and 2 male in a 5.5 Gallon breeding tank for two attempts and so far no fry. for my latest attempt I had the adults in the tank for 7 days, Its bare bottom with about 3 inches of java moss, and some floating baby dwarf tears, about 70 degrees and sponge filter gently bubbling.
It’s been about 10 days since I moved the adults back to my community tank and I haven’t spotted any fry yet. I do have some kind of tiny critters that are hanging out in my floating plants so I guess thats a good sign that the fry will have something to eat if I get any.
I did notice that my CPD’s seem pretty shy while they’re in the breeder tank. There’re wild caught so I don’t know if that has anything to do with it or not.
I picked up a 3 Cup Pyrex container today to make into an egg trap to try out in my community tank 55 Gallon Lightly Planted, I’m hoping my fish are more at ease in there and may actually breed more.
a few questions: Since I haven’t seen any fry in my 5.5 breeder yet I don’t need to add any food? I don’t want to keep putting in liquify with no fry to eat it, and do I need to be doing water changes since I haven’t seen any fry?
I’m going to be checking the trap every day, what’s the best way to transfer eggs or fry to the fry tank? is it better to use a turkey baster or to just dump all the water from the trap into to fry tank?
I’m hoping I have better luck with the egg trap in the community tank and I’ll post my results here again!
Unfortuneately whatever i’ve got doesn’t look like your picture. They look to be about the size of just the heads. I’m going to clean the tank and start over this week.
What would be the best way to clean the tank and plants to get rid of anything that might be in the plants? I’ve read 1 part bleach to 20 parts water followed by rinsing and dechlorinator. Anyone know a better method?
Is there anything else I should do before I try breeding again?
Progress report:
I’ve removed the plastic canvas even though it was a tight fit, fish kept getting under it. I now have the bottom about half covered with java moss, and I’ve orderd some more. I’m hoping I still get some fry, but if not I’ll try again with more java moss.
Dennis,
Thanks for all the great info! Here is a link to my breeding setup:
http://www.celestialpearldanio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1167If all goes well I’d like to try to start selling some CPD to create a self funding hobby! My petco is currently having a 1$ per gallon sale so I’m going to pick up some new 20’s and maybe another 5 to use as another breeder.
If the CPD breeding goes alright I want to try to breed my ember tetras, I currently have 6 and would like to try that next, but judging from all the research I’ve done it should be easier to breed the CPD!
@BallAquatics wrote:
Hi wirralbull, welcome to the forum!
There are probably as many ways to spawn these fish as there are hobbyists spawning them. Over the past several years this is the method I’ve been using…
I put 2 males and 3 or 4 females into a 5.5 US gallon tank. The tank is unheated and has a small sponge filter with just a bit of water movement. I use a generous portion of Java or Christmas moss as a spawning site, the moss takes up around 1/4 of the tank volume and I push it down so it is in contact with the bottom of the tank. I have used bare bottom tanks and tanks with gravel substrate with equal success.
I leave these adults in the breeding set-up for 7 days feeding live foods the entire week. At the end of the week, I remove the adults into another breeder set-up and wait for fry to appear. Depending on the age and condition of your brood stock you can expect anywhere from 15 to well over 100 fry in the next couple of weeks.
I feed my fry green water and 5-50 micron sized Golden Pearls prepared food for the first week to 10 days. After that they move on to micro worms for another week to 10 days and finally on to baby brine shrimp. I normally leave the fry in the breeder set-up for the first 30 days doing daily water changes. At the end of 30 days I move groups of 65 fry into 20 US gallon long tanks for the grow-out process.
With quality water and food your fry will be sexually mature at around 12 weeks of age. I like to keep my water parameters around neutral pH 6.8 – 7.2 and hardness around 8 dH, but I don’t fuss with it too much. These fish are very hardy and will spawn under a variety of conditions.
Best of luck with your breeding project!
Dennis
Dennis,
Would mind describing your 20 gallon grow out tanks? What do you use for filtration, lighting and canopies? Is there any significant advantage to using long tanks as opposed to regular? I have a large metal shelf and I’m thinking about picking up some 20 gallon tanks on sale to use as you described. Thanks for any tips you can give me!
One more question, once I get my culture going how is it sustained? Do you just add new water to replace what is used? How long will a culture last?
Thanks for the info, I’ll check out the link, the lfs I had been using thought they cold get some but didn’t seem interested in ordering any for some reason, I’m trying to find somewhere local (Altoona PA) area to get some and thoght maybe some members here might have some.
Thanks, That sounds great! I’m definitely interested, PM, or just reply to this thread again when there ready and let me know!! :mrgreen:
