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Try add some methylene blue to the water. It helps with oxygen exchange. This may boost your egg survival rate. Monty Leuhman (spelling?) of the AKA swears by it (but for different reasons than mine).
All the best.. you luck fish!
Hi, folks,
Just thought I let you all know how the A. elberti's that Wright brought to Singapore are doing. Here's a picture of the fish in my tank. Jianyang snapped the picture when he was in my house a few weeks ago.
Wright gave me 2 males and 3 females. I've been collecting eggs but my success rate so far is pretty low. After collecting more than a hundred eggs, I have only 6 fry to show for all my efforts. Most of the eggs were unfertilised. Either that or the fertilised eggs refused to hatch. I had a pleasant surprise yesterday though. I found a fry swimming in the elberti tank. Hurray!!! If there's one, there must be more.
In any case, I think I'm coming close to discovering a good method to breed plenty of the elberti's. I'll let you all know later in detail what I've been doing recently. Can't tell you now because I'm not certain if my method works. Can only be sure in another few days when the eggs are due for hatching.
Loh K L
Try add some methylene blue to the water. It helps with oxygen exchange. This may boost your egg survival rate. Monty Leuhman (spelling?) of the AKA swears by it (but for different reasons than mine).
All the best.. you luck fish!
Thanks for the tip, Tyrone. But actually, I've tried adding some anti-fungal medication to my tanks but it didn't seem to be of much help. Anyway,
I found that more eggs were good (fertilised) when I separated the elberti's into different tanks. I orginally had all the 5 in one tank but I later took out a trio and placed them into another tank. The other thing I noticed is that the pair produced more eggs than the trio. It seems like it's better to have just one female than to have 2.
My rate of success was still pretty poor though. Initially, I stored the eggs on top of damp peat but many eggs turned bad. The other problem was that many of the good eggs refused to hatch when I dunked them into water. And among those that hatched, many of the fry had problems swimming and didn't live beyond a day.
So I decided to store the eggs in water, together with some mosses. But many of the eggs continued to fungus until I put a shrimp into every container. It worked like a charm.
A few hours ago, the first few eggs that were incubated in water (with a shrimp in attendance) began to hatch. I'm using Cherry Shrimps, the juvenile ones. As you can see from the picture, the shrimp will not harm either eggs or fry. Take a close look; there are 2 unhatched eggs on either side of the fry.
Loh K L
Great news!!! Kwek Leong, I guesstimate we still have a few weeks before Monsoon 2006 passes and so will the nice cool weather. Condition the breeders and collect as many eggs as you possibly can... I'm in queue
ELB's eggs are unlike australe or gardneri, with a lower tolerance for damp peat incubation and also needs more oxygen to develop well. They behave very much like diapteron eggs. Not clear why this is so but others might be able to explain better.
I'm back & keeping 'em fingers wet,
Ronnie Lee
This a most interesting report! I use red cherry shrimp in my fry tanks as a precaution against overfeeding, but have been afraid to use them with eggs. I will now try this. Thanks for the report.
Duane
Hey, Ron,Originally Posted by RonWill
Great news!!! Kwek Leong, I guesstimate we still have a few weeks before Monsoon 2006 passes and so will the nice cool weather. Condition the breeders and collect as many eggs as you possibly can... I'm in queue
ELB's eggs are unlike australe or gardneri, with a lower tolerance for damp peat incubation and also needs more oxygen to develop well. They behave very much like diapteron eggs. Not clear why this is so but others might be able to explain better.
This is a warm-water strain and should like your normal "hot" water. That's why I got them from Monty for your group. Production should be good, well after the monsoon season.
Glad to hear they are reproducing even if it is a bit chilly for Ntui.
European breeders have used aquatic Amphipods as egg cleaners, so why not small shrimp? I have long used a sprig of Java Moss, to introduce the infusoria that will also eat all the bacteria that want to grow on eggs. Seems to work, if I don't kill the critters with Amquel o/e.
Most elberti collections are from the highlands, so cooler or more oxygenated water is mandatory. The Ntuis should do better in warmer water and need less oxygen, according to Monty Lehman, our resident expert on the group.
Keep us posted, KL, as this is an interesting thread.
Wright
01 760 872-3995
805 Valley West Circle
Bishop, CA 93514 USA
Tell us more please,
I read about shrimps and small snails earlier but obviously missed the writing about Amphipods...
Erik Thurfjell
SKS 138, BKA 838-05, AKA 08998, SAA 251
Erik,
I'm not too up on Amphipods, but we got some in BAKA a few years ago that were very similar-looking to our native scuds. I think they came from the Netherlands, but my memory is my second-shortest thing, so????
Here in CA, our most common Amphipod is the terrestrial Sow Bug*, that rolls into a protective ball and has a jillion legs. Apparently the aquatic kinds are detritovores that clean up their environment by eating anything they can. I guess eggs are just too big and tough.
Bill Gallagher knows much more. If I see him at the meeting on Sat., I'll ask.
Wright
___________________
*They look like a micro-armadillos. In Texas those Armadillos are known as "Hard-Shell 'Possum."
01 760 872-3995
805 Valley West Circle
Bishop, CA 93514 USA
You don't have to queue, Ronnie. The rest of the eggs in the container hatched today. I have another 8 new fry. Drop over anytime. They are yours.
The thing that's bothering me is the number of eggs I collect from the mop each day. I've been collecting everyday for the past few weeks. On most days, there are eggs in the mop. On average, I get about 6 eggs per day from the pair. The highest I ever got was 18 days in a single day. But there were also quite a few days when there wasn't a single egg in the mop.
I wonder why egg production fluctuates to such a great extent?
Loh K L
Congrats, KL! That's a handsome strain and it looks as though they like their new home!
Well done KL. From my previous experience with EXO's egg. It is best to leave the eggs in shallow tank water from the same tank and airrate.
I was able to get quite a number of healthy fry using this method.
For shipping, i would keep them in wet spaghnum peat and cover with a layer of filter floss. Filter floss will suckup the extra moisture and making sure that the whole egg surface remain moist through out the incubation period.
The eggs love acidic water too.
KeeHoe.
Loh that's really interesting! Just watch the shrimp over time some can become egg eaters. RCS juvies are pretty safe bets though.. Don't even bother with Amano the eggs will be gone in a few mins lol!
Ahh, sooner or later I'll need to get some killies... You guys are a bad influence!
-Andrew
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