breeding Entomocorus gameroi

[marcus01]

i have at the moment 15 of these species they are all living off system.
They are filtered with a fluval 3+ internal. they are fed twice a day once in the morning with bloodworms and also just before i go home of an evening with a new sinking pellet i am trying out..
Due to the load on the tank they get water changed every 3 days 50% off the system.
i came in on Wednesday morning and did my usual feeding and discovered there tank was a bit murky due to the filter stopping over night, So i sorted out the filter and gave then a 50% system water change and thought nothing else of it.
the following morning i noticed they had really coloured up they almost glowed a light blue, on further investigation i notice eggs stuck to the side of the filter and many more scattered around the tank..
i have set up a breeding trap and have managed to collect 31 eggs..
the next day i checked the eggs and you can see the babies wriggling around in side the eggs, today (Saturday) the babies are still inside the eggs but you can see a big difference in size....
i have added a picture of the eggs for you to see..
MARC

[Richard B]

Excellent news - well done

Mods - isn't this in the wrong forum?

[pturley]

Moved.

Great work. Keep us posted.

[Martin S]

Hi Marc
Good to see you on here!
I sort of spotted these when catching the tatias, but was so busy trying to get photos and pick my first three specimens, didn't give it another thought. I'll be watching this with interest - will try and pop along at some point and see them in the flesh.
And for everyone else, Marc is the manager at my LFS who managed to get the

Entomocorus gameroi

and

Tatia sp(2)

in for me, and many of the pics I've posted have been of fish Marc has managed to source.
Martin

[Marc van Arc]

Well done indeed. I hope you are able to raise those fry. Also, nice job getting those auchenipterids to your shop. Although I'm unable to obtain the fishes, I've truly enjoyed the pictures.

[Yann]

HI!!

really nice job!!
Congratulation...have you notice any sort of predation on the eggs from the parents??
Cheers
Yann

[Martin S]

Spoke to Marcus today (hope he won't mind me posting on his behalf) - the eggs have hatched. They were too small for a standard breeding trap, so they are in a net.
I am helping out there tomorrow night as they have a late night, and so will take my camera along and try and get some pictures. I know Marc has said sexing should be straightforward, but looking at the fish, I cannot see any obvious differences between them to differentiate between the sexes! Half the problem is getting them to stay still for long enough, as they are so active.
Anyway, will find out more tomorrow and report back, unless Marcus beats me to it!
Martin

[Yann]

Hi!

How the tank is set up... are these more active during the day compare to others such as Centromochlus perugiae, or are they spending the day hidding in driftwood?
Cheers
Yann

[marcus01]

hello all...
first, YANN,,, the tank is very simple quartz gravel a fluval internal filter and a plastic plant( long grass) the eggs were scattered
and the parents did not seem to touch them. OH and the gameroi are out swimming all the time swimming up and down, they go crazy when food is added to the tank. They will except most foods I.E flake, pellets but will almost over eat when bloodworm and brine shrimp is added to the tank to the point were they stomachs are bulging.
I believe all the eggs hatched and they are big enough to eat baby brine..
I spoke to a friend in the trade today who breeds many species and is also trying to breed this fish with no luck up till now,
he was under the impression that they fertilised the eggs internally but as i said to him there was no evidence of this as i would have expected the parents to be pretty fat previous to the laying of the eggs and this was definatly not the case..
I have added a picture of the fry i hope you can make them out
I would also like to thank every body for your nice comments
marcus

[Yann]

Hi Marcus!!

thanks for the informations...
One more questions... what are you water parameters??
Cheers
Yann

[Marc van Arc]

he was under the impression that they fertilised the eggs internally but as i said to him there was no evidence of this as i would have expected the parents to be pretty fat previous to the laying of the eggs and this was definatly not the case..

Hi Marcus,
I think your friend is correct. Besides, I don't understand your argument. Even if they do not fertilize internally, one would expect a female with eggs to be fat. Or perhaps I misunderstand your reasoning?


Edit: repaired quote tags

[marcus01]

Hi Marcus,
I think your friend is correct. Besides, I don't understand your argument. Even if they do not fertilise internally, one would expect a female with eggs to be fat. Or perhaps I misunderstand your reasoning?

may be i am wrong..
when the eggs were discovered they where in a clear round ball. Over the next couple of days the eggs started to develop into small fry which lived in the clear round balls for almost a week.
the more i think about it im leaning towards internal fertilisation mainly because the eggs where completely different to any other i have ever seen before,

[Martin S]

It's been a while, but thought I would add to this thread, and hope Marcus doesn't mind me updating what happened.
Shortly after posting the pictures, the fry were moved to a floating hatchery, solid sides but with a coarse foam at one end, which was made by a customer and seemed an ideal place to try and grow them on. Sadly, the fry managed to escape from the hatchery, and have not been seen since. As far as I am aware, there has been no further spawnings...
Christmas eve I came across some fry in my tank - initially I was unsure of their parentage, but once I had managed to catch 4 on Christmas night, I recognised them as the same as Marcus' picture above...no, not Entomocorus, but

Tatia sp(2)

! Double checking them today, the fry I have are identical to the ones pictured above, and as I do not have any Entomocorus, and the Tatia were in the same tank, can only assume that it was the tatia that spawned, not the Entomocorus. The three (1M/2F) I purchased have gone on to spawn at some point in my tank, I would guess in the past few weeks, and some of the fry have managed to hatch and survice so far without any intervention from me or the parents I guess. The four I have caught so far (I have found them swimming along the surface once the lights are out) are currently in fine mesh net as I only have a standard fry trap and the slits are too wide not to let them escape. The fry are only 2-3mm in length!
I will keep an eye out each night and try to save any other fry that appear with the lights off, as I have no idea how many more are alive...if any!
I'm now off to look up how best to feed them!
Martin