how would you feed Pseudacanthicus sp "black" babies ?

[ElTofi]

the question is in the title...

I have a few Pseudacanthicus sp "black" babies, found in the 1600 liters... I moved them into a 54 liters together with Hypancistrus sp L66 juveniles... if I'm fine with the feeding of L66, I never had L320 babies to feed... I'm a bit desapointed... How can I feed them properly ?

Actually, I started with the same feeding as for the L66, sinking JBL Tablets. The L66 are doing fine, but I have still not seen the Pseuda babies eating... And as they are so small (< 20 mm), I can't assume they do eat...

any idea ?


EDIT :
ID confirmed on the base of this picture !


It's a L65, with a adult coloration. Key points : size and shape

[apistomaster]

I have had good success with different Loricaridae fry feeding them earthworm sticks. They contain Spirulina and shrimp in addition to earth worms. They soften and stay fresh for many hours allowing grazers to eat at their own pace. They were developed for conditioning channel catfish breeders for commercial aquaculture. http://www.aquaticeco.com sells them. Cat # F128A.

[ElTofi]

Thanks to your advice...

here a few pictures (this morning) of the babies... they begin to fight eachother as soon as there is something to eat in the nursery... little devils !!!

http://forum.aquagora.fr/index.php?acti ... 4618;image





enjoy...

Tofi

[Jon]

Very nice--

In my opinion, fry of this subfamily, as a general rule, are simply very easy to feed with most starter fry foods. Anything you offer the L-66 of comparable size will likely be accepted as well.

It is not often that you get a pseudacanthicus spawning. Excellent work--maybe write up a little article one of these days .

[ElTofi]

Hi Jon,

this would be very presumptuous from me to write an article on it, as it was a "hazardous spawn"... I haven't done anything else than "normal" keeping conditions in the big Xingu tank (rain water changes, heavy feeding for the Panaque, the Baryancistrus, the Ancistrus, the Scobinancistrus and the others...

I discovered them in a spawning tube by removing a few roots and stones managing place and space for my new 40 cm G. gibicepps and they were already 2 cm big (I guess about 4-5 weeks old). I would have nothing to say but generalities in a potential article... But, this time, knowing that they are mature, I challenge to make them do it again, and believe me, this time, I will note every single move or behaviour... and picture them, of course... maybe in a few months...

thanks..

[ElTofi]

Hi everyone,

just one more shot of the Pseuda babies... I can't help but sharing it with you sorry if it's too much



Tonight, I clearly counted up to 21 babies in the nursery, without removing the shelters... I'm quiet glad.

bye...

[plecoboy]

Awesome pics, keep them coming. How big are the adults?

[andywoolloo]

yeah, def keep them coming! they are amazing! So cute and small! Are they eating well? Looks like it!

[ElTofi]

Hello all,

it seems they love Sera Viformo, they come out to eat it even in full light The adults are not that big... for the female, she's a tiny bit more than 5 inches (14 cm). The male is at 9 inches (23 cm). For the moment, all is going fine... the little Pseuda are taking advantage on the Hypancistrus, which are twice bigger I wonder if I'm not going to move the Hypancistrus in another nursery.

[Jools]

In regards to a much anticipated article, bear in mind you would be writing for the web and not a magazine or book. What you write can be changed at any time on the web. While the initial spawn and circumstances would be of great interest, there is nothing at all adding more information at a latter date as your experience grows. As long as it's relevant and readable, I would say it's better to have some information than none at any stage.

Jools

[Carp37]

Chance spawning or not, I'd love to read an article on your experiences.

[ElTofi]

ok, Jools, if you don't mind reviewing my text, I'll write something relevant and interesting within the next weeks. I already have pictures, I have some information on my main tank (which could be part of the success), so I can do something worth... I'll let you be the judge about the pertinence of publication or not.

May a word document be sufficient ? or is there another way to submit it directly on the site ?

[Jools]

ok, Jools, if you don't mind reviewing my text, I'll write something relevant and interesting within the next weeks. I already have pictures, I have some information on my main tank (which could be part of the success), so I can do something worth... I'll let you be the judge about the pertinence of publication or not.

May a word document be sufficient ? or is there another way to submit it directly on the site ?

Yup, a word document is fine and we edit all articles before publishing for errors/readability etc. No rush, take your time to get it all down!

Cheers,

Jools

[ElTofi]

hello all,

the first spawning was certainly a "lucky one"... but this time, it seems they found the way of their tube with pleasure Yersterday I saw the male defending its entrance against the big G. gibbicepps... and when trying to watch from closer, I saw the female inside... I guess they are not exactly ready... but that will be in the next few days... I'll give you news as soon as I have any...

Tofi too excited...

[Birger]

Tofi too excited...

Make sure in all the excitement you are taking notes as well

Birger

[Fantasticfins]

Nice pics of some wonderful looking fry. Nice work.

[Carp37]

Excellent news- keep us updated

[soltarii007]

how big were your L65 parents?

[ElTofi]

... The adults are not that big... for the female, she's a tiny bit more than 5 inches (14 cm). The male is at 9 inches (23 cm)...

As you can see right here above the parents are not that big... My impression of a second spawning was right... the female laid around 40 eggs (which seems to be a very poor egglay for this genus, but not that bad for such a small female). Unfortunately, it seems that Mr Pseuda wasn't in the right mood... he stayed venting during just one night and on the second evening, I found the hole empty, the male back in his second "favourite" place, deep inside a driftwood... I tried to see if he took the eggs with him, but nope... no venting any more, no "suspicious" activity... nothing at all Anyway, I guess it was just the stress due to the first moving of the hole (when collecting the first spawn)... after all, it has just been around 20 days between the discovery of the juveniles and the 2nd spawning...

All I can say is that the babies are going well and are fast growing... they have almost reached the same size as the L66 juveniles, which are much older... I guess I'll soon have to move the two populations in 2 different nurseries... I'll try to take good pictures this week-end and post a few to make you see the evolution...

see you...

Tofi

[ElTofi]

hi everyone,

fresh news about my "almost identified black Pseuda"... the juvenils are exactly 3 months old so I took a shooting session this evening... here are the best shots







around 4 cm and very hungry...

[Loracidlover]

Wow, those are some stunning little fish! How many did you get in the end? Also, are there any signs of another spawn from the parents?

Congratulations on spawning by the way, there can't be many people who can claim to have spawned pseudacanthicus species!

Cheers, Conrad

[apistomaster]

Congratulations from me , too.
I am really happy to see more of these reports of spawning of the med to larger sized plecos like yours and L128 and L200.
Given another decade and I would say that most of the more desirable pleco species will have aquarium raised strains available and we won't be subject to to vagaries of the Countries' governmental agencies cutting off exports of popular species. Cultured fish may cost more than wild fish for some species but having fish used to life in captivity and free of the parasites common to all wild fish easily makes any price difference worth it. Then too, the history of most tropical fish is that the aquarium strains just get easier to breed over time until even the prices come down enough so more people can afford to buy and enjoy them.
Aquaculture of currently rarer species of tropical fish also takes pressure of wild populations. It's a win/win scenario all the way around.
If you are the first to breed a species you even gain a dash of immortality since there can be only one first breeder. It will be recorded in the literature as long as you publish in some venue.

[ElTofi]

Wow, those are some stunning little fish! How many did you get in the end? Also, are there any signs of another spawn from the parents?...

Hello,

I have count 21, but without removing the hiding places of the nursery. I guess about 30, not more... From the first spawn, I had 2 other egglays... but...

I discovered the first one removing a Ancistrus from under a stone (stucked under and dead) in the immediate proximity of the Pseuda hole... it was 20 days after the first. I guess the male was disturbed : the next morning, the egglay was gone

the second was 25 days later and this time I had a doubt because I saw the female approaching the male site a few days earlier... the male did the job right during 6 days (I didn't disturb him this time). On the 7th morning, I found the tube burried under sand, probably by a G. gibbiceps during his "night cucumber meal"... The Pseuda male was in this state, after I "desengaged" his tube



I have good hope for the next days, cause from Monday, the female is around the tube again... and last week I started a "rainy days" stimulation... wait and see...

[ElTofi]

Congratulations from me , too.
...If you are the first to breed a species you even gain a dash of immortality since there can be only one first breeder. It will be recorded in the literature as long as you publish in some venue...

it sounds great for my ego But actually, I thing I'm not the first for Pseuda... Udo (Catleya on L-welse) had big success last year with L114 and in Germany L65 has been bred a few times... my only hope is that my Pseuda are not L65 but L282 or L320... which I can't actually be sure... this summer, a few "L-addicted" will come home to see my installations and we'll have a talk "in situ" to try to ID these fishes...

till then...

[Cattleya]

Hi

In Germany Martin Mauritz and Volker Degusch bread Pseudacanthicus leopardus (the real one)
lg Udo

[ElTofi]

a few pictures of the "black unidentified Pseudacanthicus Babies" at 4 months old :






by the way, there are 32 babies, between 40 and 55 mm... they will leave for a friend of mine http://www.aquafarm-paradise.fr/ in France in October.

[I_Xeno]

Very nice baby !

[Loracidlover]

Those are beautiful little pseudas, I'm very envious of your achievement, congratulations again! Your 1600 litre tank sounds very impressive- you should post a photo!

Cheers, Conrad

[ElTofi]

I suggest you go to this link if you want to know more about my 1600 liters... It's in French, but there's a lot of pictures (delivery, set up, materiel, fishes, etc...).

http://forum.aquagora.fr/12/il-tait-une ... litres/80/

If you want to know more, I could maybe open another topic, translating and summerizing the french topic.

just to give you an idea of the tank, here's a picture in April 2008, right after the Pseuda spawning :


In 2007, after one year :


late 2007 :

[ElTofi]

Hi everybody,

I'm always not sure about their ID, but what's sure is that they did it again... and this time, I was very careful. So I'm glad to tell you that 180 Pseuda babies are actually in 2 nurseries, waiting to get bigger...

here's a picture of Mr. Dad, right after the catch



and here's the fry (first part of it)



I have collected a few informations in the last 2 weeks... I'll post them here this next days...

for those who can read French (or at least want to see pictures) :

http://forum.aquagora.fr/les-repros-des ... -'noir'/0/

Bye