Procatopus aberrans Help!

[KillieOrCory]

Hi all,

I managed to get some P.aberrans sight unseen and got them shipped to me. Unfortunately I have only one female in the lot. In total I got 6 males and 1 female. So the question is;

Should I keep them as a group? or keep the female seperate with a single male?

Currently I have the female in with only one male.

The things we do for fish! I got a phone call at 10:30 pm last night informing me that my box of fish are at the airport!!! So I get out of my pj's and drive over and pick the box I was expecting today up! Drive back home and spend the next 3 hours putting the fish in their tanks!!! It was about 2am when I finally got back to bed!!!

The exciting thing though is that I now have as well as the P.aberrans, Epiplatys sexfasciatus and Simpsonichthys constanciae too

[whuntley]

I would keep them as a group, at least initially. They are a semi-schooling species, usually happier with numbers, IME.

Provide a spawning egg trap that is placed in the current from a filter outflow o/e.

I like to roll an 8X11" sheet of plastic mesh (used for stitchery) into a cylinder, capped at both ends with a 3" PVC pipe end cap. Stuff it full of polyester pillow stuffing, and stand on end in the mild current. You will need to pin the overlap near the middle to keep the cylindrical shape, probably.

If the holes in the mesh are about 1mm or a bit bigger, the female will inject the eggs into the floss, where the males and snails cannot get to them.

Collect the eggs every week or so, and let them develop in a highly oxygenated environment. I used to make egg bubblers from a pilsner glass with rigid airline running to the narrow end at the base. You can also let an airstone bubble up beneath a fine plastic strainer that holds the eggs. The air tends to slide out around the strainer, but oxygenated water is pushed up through the mesh to keep the eggs in good shape.

Other egg traps that work for fish that are crevice spawners include some filter inserts with narrow slots, stuffed with floss, or even coarse filter sponges. The latter make egg collection hard, so I avoid them.

I have also found aberrans placing eggs at the junction of leaf and stem of floating hornwort. Just move the plants to a tank with vigorous aeration.

HTH.

Good luck with them. They are an attractive species.

Wright

[KillieOrCory]

Thanks Wright

They are doing quite well at the moment. I now have them all together in one tank. All are feeding well and are readily taking anything I feed including flake.

I also have 2 Poropanchax normani males in that tank. Yesterday I witnessed the most amazing display. A young P.aberrans and a Poro.normani male were sparring. Fins fully erect, circling each other with extended gill plates. I couldn't stop watching the display to go and get my camera. Great entertainment

Hopefully all will go well and I'll get some eggs out of them.