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Chromaphyosemion splendopleure

  • #21
Just a quick update.

Only 1 egg I put on the peat fungused. If any eggs in the water incubation fungused I can't find them(some duckweed and java moss in there). From what I remember peat incubation should really slow down how fast these eggs develop? My guess is that once they eye up I'll remove them and stick them in the water and hope for the best.

One of the KAF males looks just like a mini of he photos I've seen. Early bird. They seem to grow every time I look at them!
 
  • #22
DSCN0455.jpg
 
  • #23
Hi N,

Nice. On the eggs, when they are ready you can see the fry turning around in the egg and the eye gets a bright ring around it. Just look closely. 2-3 weeks in the normal incubation.

Bobby
 
  • #24
Bobby: Right now(or last time it was checked) the egg had definite eyes but they were not golden yet. Maybe a few more days for this one. Can hardly wait for for some fry from these fish!

I think the eggs that I'm getting are good ones as they are no longer all fungusing
smile.gif


~Joseph
 
  • #25
Glad to hear your having better luck on the eggs - thats a great shot!
 
  • #26
Well now I've got two fry in the water incubation container! Lots of cyclops and whatnot swimming around.

One looks much smaller than the other...don't know if it is normal or not or just younger. They don't seem to be eager "hunters" as the Nothos were. Seem content just to stay in one spot and perhaps wait for food to pass by. I haven't seen them eat yet but added a couple BBS just in case.

Eggs on peat are doing well
smile.gif
 
  • #27
Hi,

Good job. The peat eggs should be about ready too so you might want to put them in water. Chromos grow slower than Nothos so they don't have to be such pigs as fry but they will eat. Keep them clean with plants and snails. Once they are strong in a few days you can slowly change them over to harder water if you are using RO but do it slowly a little bit a day. If you breed and incubate in soft water you will get more fry.

Bobby
 
  • #28
Well, it appears that I waited a bit too long on the eggs on peat.
smile_h_32.gif
I checked this morning and found one obviously eyed up egg-the others were nowhere to be seen. It seems that unlike Notho eggs these eggs don't develop the golden iris to let you know they are completely eyed up. Even the eyes of the fry look completely black right now.

Looks like until I collect again the # of fry will be set at 3 for now.

The parents appear to be taking a little break from spawning despite the plumpness of the females. Either that or they are hiding those eggs real well! They are currently in normal tapwater. I heard that recently our source of water is surface water which is said by the water company to be soft. Unfortunately no test kit around to confirm this one. I've been scanning the surface of the adult tank for fry but so far haven't seen any. Theirs lots of duckweed so they would probably be missed by my eyes anyway. I'll keep you guys updated.


~Joseph
 
  • #29
Hi N,

If your water is soft call the water company and get the reading on the calcium and the reading on the total dissolved solids. A good lfs should also know this so you could call them. Also ask the water company what the pH is. Northern California can have very soft acid water and this is why the area has always been a good breeding area for fish. If you have soft acid water out of the tap that is great but then you should keep a tsp of non-iodized salt per 2 gallons of water with the Nothos and think about harding the water for the swords -- that might be why they are dying or not producing as much as they can. Swords hate soft acid water. Take water to a lfs and have them test it for you. It is usually free. Just tell them you are loosing fish and think it may be the pH and hardness. You need to know your basic numbers here as basic water chemistry is crucial to breeding.

Bobby
 
  • #30
Bobby: I'll definetly be taking some water in for testing. From what I can decipher from the brochure we are one of the maybe 1000 or so homes which are receiving water from this source...everyone else is getting well water. Only a test would allow us to find out. Not too sure but I feel this change was pretty recent. I remember a few months ago that I got lots of water deposits on the glass when I allowed the water to evaporate.

~Joseph
 
  • #31
Hi N,

Good as that hard water will keep the Chromo production down but probably not the Nothos as they are more adaptable. That's the only draw back with killies. They can grow and live well in reasonablely hard water but for really good breeding results they need the soft slightly acid water. Peat will drop it some and if you buy the bushels of peat and research the company's acidity number for that peat -- call their 800 number -- you can get a peat that will acidify hard alkaline water. It takes a peat that reads 4.5 to 5 pH from the company's tests. They know that information. Be careful though, boil it in an enamel pan first for an hour and rinse well in hard water and then use -- as the real acid stuff can plunge the water chemistry and kill the fish. Might be good to get a pH tester and dry run the effect of peat on your water. You can put the peat in a corner filter between floss layers or in an old nylon of your Mom's or a nylon filter bag or just the peat from the breeding container. It is best not to use real acid peat for breeding -- read Morenski's article in the latest JAKA -- as it kills the eggs but acid peat is great for water conditioning. RO is safer and easier though -- usually a 85% RO/ 15% hard tap water mix down slowly over several days is this best. It's not real expensive when you just use some for small breeding tanks. You will see egg production climb in Chromos. Don't let the stores trick you into buying products to make hard water soft. It's either peat, rainwater, RO water or DI water -- unless you have soft tap water.

Bobby

Bobby
 
  • #32
It would be great if my tapwater came as naturally soft. Of course that would create problems for a few of my fish(swordtails). How would I go about making the water harder? Seems like you'd need certain minerals added. I've seen mixtures marketed for adding minerals to RO water(RO right etc. etc.) but they seem very expensive for what they do considering that most people get hard water out of the tap.

The peat article was a good one. I never would have thought the peat would make such a big difference in your breeding efforts.

Do you have an RO unit at your place by any chance? One of those seems like it would be a very useful thing for keeping soft water fish.

~Joseph
 
  • #33
Hi N,

No RO unit here as Houston is a very rainy place and I can usually collect all I need. I should get one though as they make life so easy. Use the RO water for the soft water fish and the waste hard water for livebearers, cichlids, grass watering etc... I wonder if your small perch don't need soft water to breed.

Peat is a great thing but has very specific things to be aware of -- like its potential high level of acidity and its quick effect on eggs and water chemistry as well as boiling it in a acid safe enamel coated or glass container and rinsing it out in harder water. Dolomite and/or crushed coral or oyster shell in a corner filter are great water hardeners and cheap. Just add a cup or so and see how it slowly effects the hardness. Gravel with limestone does the same thing. The RO products are a waste of money -- $15 for calcium! I don't think so.


Bobby
 
  • #34
What type of RO Unit do you suggest? I was looking into one of those several months ago. I never could get any good advise so I stopped looking for the moment. haha 15.00 for calcium ;) thats like buying water at the lfs (no offense to all those that do)
 
  • #35
Hi M,

There is a man in the AKA Ron Harlan who started RO units for aquariums. I'd look him up as he is very nice. He sells them at a fair price. He does not have a website but his address should be in the AKA online roster at the aka homepage. He's in Los Angeles. SpectraPure ( I think that's it.) in Arizona is another popular company with a good product. Get at least a 50 gallons a day unit. Jehmco.com is another helpful company.

Bobby
 
  • #36
I sent Ron an email. Thanks for the sources ;)

So the RO water runs into a water barrel or something? And the 'waste' water gets sent to the sump, right?
 
  • #37
Hi M,

Not sure but sounds right.

Bobby
 
  • #38
Still haven't gotten a chance to test the water but I do have some news on the splendopleure.

While feeding the "imaginary fry" in the ten gallon I spotted a grain of rice size juvenile! Must have escaped detection for quite a while. Right now it looks just like a mini female including the two stripes...I hope it is a female but we'll see.
 
  • #39
Hi,

I bet there's more but don't rip it apart looking for them!
Plant spawners are so much easier. With the right water they are like guppies.

Bobby
 
  • #40
Took some update photos on these guys.

The 2nd largest of the 3 males. Note missing top streamer. I suppose the largest guy did that.
DSCN1100.jpg


DSCN1108.jpg


One of the females
DSCN1102.jpg


Hanging out.
DSCN1093.jpg
 
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