I witnessed 2 male multipunctatus chasing a female around the tank, upon closer observation I could tell the female was swollen with eggs. The chasing went on for over 3 hours. As this went on all I could think about was how I was probably going to miss out on the spawn because all but 3 females in the tank were currently holding. About an hour passed, I was walking by the tank and I noticed a host fish spawning and the catfish were present! The male host fish immediately chased the catfish away from the spawning site. I now had hope. This particular female has had a history of spitting/swallowing eggs so I caught her and put her into a breeder net to keep an eye on her.
Day4:
I stripped the host fish, and to my surprise I had 3 wigglers. The host fish had about 18 eggs of her own, they were just starting to develop eyes. I immediately placed all the host fish eggs and the 3 wigglers into a tumbler. The multipunctatus wigglers had a very bright yellow egg sac as opposed to the host fish which was orange.
Day 5:
The multipunctatus wigglers have used up their own egg sac’s and have started to feast on the host fishes eggs. The growth rate of this catfish is amazing, you could literally sit by the tank and watch them grow. The catfish have also started to develop whiskers.
Day6:
The remaining host fish eggs have made it to the wiggler state, but the catfish are devouring them fast.
Day 7:
The catfish have managed to eat all but a 4 of the host fish’s eggs. Only 1 remains a wiggler. The catfish are still transparent and their bellys are so fat and full. They are also starting to get a little pigmentation and can swim around the tumbler with no troubles.
