[Simon]

Thanks Dennis.
That’s certainly better than it being a nasty disease such as fish TB!
I have just this moment been watching one of my CPD populations spawning in a bed of hairgrass in a small (230 litre) outdoor pond where I keep them. They are an interesting population as I intervene minimally in their upkeep other than to provide occasional food and small water changes – otherwise they seem to thrive on the natural aquatic fauna that such a pond develops. It is spring time here and the warmer temperatures has them being very lively indeed. Over winter they are so still and quiet that at times I wondered if they’d died off. They’ve bred in there before and although you obviously get much smaller numbers of fry in a “natural” environment than in an intensive aquarium breeding set up, I suspect that the fry that do survive are the most robust and healthy.
Anyway – thought you’d find that interesting.
Regards,
Simon.

[Simon]

Hello Dennis –

Thanks for your reply. I raised the temp to 86f about 48 hours ago now and I did add some sea salt at the rate of 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons. I am wondering if the infection is possibly more of a fungal one and am going to give it another 3 or 4 days to see if there’s any improvement. All fish seem fine and even the “sick” ones are vigorous and eager to feed. My local aquarium store sold me a product called Wardley’s Promethyasul that I will try if there’s no improvement in the next few days.

I’ll keep the forum posted as to what happens.

Cheers from Sydney,
Simon.

[Simon]

Hi Romica –

I use only a small air powered sponge filter with a fairly low rate of airflow.

Since my original posting I have had better success with a subsequent batch of fry. In this instance I have been doing a daily water change of around 30%. The majority of these fry have survived now for a couple of months and are probably big enough to be put in with adult CPD’s without incident.

I’m about to embark on my next breeding effort in the next day or so which I’m looking forward to.

As we are entering summer here in Sydney I am also about to stock an outdoor 140 litre pond with CPD’s. It will be planted with a variety of pond plants both rooted and floating. I imagine that it won’t be long until I see some fry appearing in there as well (I hope!)

Cheers,
Simon

[Simon]

G’day Dennis –
Great to get your reply!
I test ammonia and nitrates along with pH and at the time of the fry dying both were in the lowest band of their respective Sera test kit charts.
I agree that larger/more frequent water changes might be the answer, but if ammonia and nitrate are both very low, what is it that accumulates in the water of a fry tank that is so harmful to them?
I subsequently have a new batch of around 30 fry (hatched in a 20 litre plastic bucket) that I’m hoping to have better results with.
Cheers,
Simon.

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