Peat & Notho. hatching

[hobbit6003]

Today, I just learnt an important lesson in Notho hatching.

I was due to wet the 70 plus eggs of my N. melanospilus Machimboni Tan 98/2. However, as I thought that I don't want too many frys around, I decided to take out 40 eggs into another container just to wet them.

The container (Container A) I use is a small shallow dish of about 10cm in diameter. In this, I placed the eggs and some of the peat that came with them, and topped up water up to 2 inches high. Thus, by volume, it is approximately 95% water and 5% peat.

However, after 5 hours, I managed to get only 1 belly sliding fry. Something told me that perhaps my setup is wrong.

Thus, with the remaining peat containing 30 odd eggs, I decided to dump the lot into another similar container(Container B) and added water till it is 2 inches tall. By volume, it is approximately 40% water and 60% peat.

Lo and behold, after only about 30 minutes, nearly 30 frys were hatched in Container B! They were all free swimming after I waited out 2 hours.

Encouraged by the result, I decided to do the same to the eggs in Container A. I added moist peat into Container A till I achieved similar peat-water ratio as Container B.

This time round, after another hour, 30 plus frys hatched out from Container A and they became free swimming after 2 hours as well.

Thus, this little accidental 'experiment' tells me that some ingredient in the peat is facilitating the hatching of the notho frys.

Can I hear some comments from those experienced ones please, as I don't think I've enough experience with them to dare to come out with my own hypothesis, as I don't think there is any secret in this peat-hatch relationship. I'm sure the experienced ones would know the reason.

Or perhaps can I hazard a guess that the organic acids from the peat helped to dissolve the chorion of the eggs away and thus help the frys to hatch out?

Darn, what am I going to do with nearly 60 fishes should most of the frys grow out?

Kenny

[stormhawk]

I think the humic acids released by the peat does in a way, aid in helping the fry to break free of their shells. The acid might soften the chorion of the eggs just enough so that the fry are able to break free on their own with lesser difficulty.

The use of peat "tea" in wetting the eggs of some species has been discussed previously on the SAA mailing list. I don't remember which of the posts it was but I'll have to check the archives of the list group.

Probably Tyrone might remember which of the discussions it was.

[whuntley]

Today, I just learnt an important lesson in Notho hatching.
snip...

Thus, this little accidental 'experiment' tells me that some ingredient in the peat is facilitating the hatching of the notho frys.

Can I hear some comments from those experienced ones please, as I don't think I've enough experience with them to dare to come out with my own hypothesis, as I don't think there is any secret in this peat-hatch relationship. I'm sure the experienced ones would know the reason.

Or perhaps can I hazard a guess that the organic acids from the peat helped to dissolve the chorion of the eggs away and thus help the frys to hatch out?

Darn, what am I going to do with nearly 60 fishes should most of the frys grow out?

Kenny

First. Don't give that big tank away. You need it.

Hatching is sometimes a fairly subtle result of the O2/CO2 balance. Higher CO2 seems to induce a hatch, and sudden deep reduction of available O2 is almost certainly involved in most annual hatches. [This is one reason for my amazement at reports here that O2 tablets are useful.]

The extra peat may have just provided a little more CO2 than when it was sparse. It will grab some Ca++ and Mg++ ions from the bicarbonates in your tap water, and the extra acidity may have some role in turning them into water and CO2, IDK.

I have often taken a CO2 line from a planted tank and bubbled some gas into a hatching container to induce a strong, simultaneous hatch.

The dissolving of the chorion is probably more an internal enzyme-type reaction, and I think we are discussing what triggers that reaction and whether the eggs are healthy enough to sustain it.

I also tend to use RO, distilled, or rain water for hatching, with as little KH as possible. Maybe that's the wrong way to go?

Wright

[keehoe]

Kenny, some interesting material for you to read.

http://www.killies.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2430