My new L201, first spawn!

[jac]

Today the eggs have started hatching. And it seems like dad is freeked out by it, al those wiggly tails He has started to kick them out again. I saw one baby and one egg outside the cave. I've put them in a seperate nursery again.
I never disturbed dad in the last few days, so it can't be me. I put a blacket over the tank when I saw he was mating. I did take a look after I saw the first 2 outside the cave because I whated to make sure if he had anymore left. He had and so I'm hoping he will keep these in the cave. Today will tell......

Cute little wigglers

[jac]

Yesterday he kicked 4 eggs/baby's out of his cave. I think he is doing it by accident because I saw how he did it. He creeps slowly out to the entrance of his cave and then moves back in. While doing this he gets a baby or egg behind his fins and so the baby's fall out of the cave.
After rescue them I have got 4 baby's in my nursery. He still has at least 1 baby in his cave but could be more. Over night he kept his fry in the cave so he is doing way better then last time

[Jools]

Just a quick question as I too have baby Panaque fry at the moment. What are you feeding them, how often and how are you cleaning that clever looking nursery tank?

Jools

[jac]

Just a quick question as I too have baby Panaque fry at the moment. What are you feeding them, how often and how are you cleaning that clever looking nursery tank?

Jools

Hi Jools,

I feed the L201 baby's with Artemia (brine shrimp) dust/powder. They have taken it very well and I see full tommies. I put a "knife tip" of powder in a seringe, mix it with the water so it sinks to the bottem.

The baby nursery is very easy to make. I bought 2 (kitchen utility) boxes from Ikea (they come with a lid). I drilled 6 holes at one end for water flow and covered it with some sponge so the fry can't escape. On the other side you can put and airfilter like I've done. That way the water in the container stays clean eventho you feed a lot. Farid gave me the idea to brush the bottem of the container with a small brush, in my case a paintbrush. This to keep the bottem clean of bacteria karpets forming. I use a seringe to hover out the old food. I find it great because the water quality stays exactly the same for the fry

Nice to hear about your Panaque fry. Good luck

[jac]

Picture taken today, 2,5 weeks old

[jac]

I am nearly to embarresed to tell you

The 2de spawn of baby's has only just left home or the next female is already with the male in his cave
The baby's were not even 2 weeks old, saterday they would be 14 days. Yesterday I saw them just inside the cave near the entrance so I expect them to have left last night.

Is this ok for dad?? Can he keep this up, he has not eaten anything I guess since 2 weeks.

Guess he is a ladies man

[MatsP]

I'm pretty sure the dad would not breed if it wasn't OK for him.

Congrats on the second lot.

--
Mats

[jerry58]

Hi
Thats good news just keep an eye on the general condition of the fish over a few days but I bet my bottom dollar he is finding food at some point prob night time.

Well done keep it up.


Jerry

[jac]

Hi
Thats good news just keep an eye on the general condition of the fish over a few days but I bet my bottom dollar he is finding food at some point prob night time.

Well done keep it up.


Jerry

Thats just it I'm not doing anything He's just going on, full speed ahead, all by himself

But will he leave the eggs unprotected to go and feed? I didn't think they would...but he could be when it's dark and quiet maybe.

[jac]

I'm pretty sure the dad would not breed if it wasn't OK for him.

Congrats on the second lot.

--
Mats

Thanks Mats

[jerry58]

Hi jac

He probably just collects the food around his cave and any that drifts in the cave,only when it is safe to do so ,so don't worry.
Also when my 46s have been spawning and between I put a vitamin additive in the water after water changes Its called Trace Elements,Vitamins and Minerals made by eSHa Minarol . I believe this will help the fish while spawning and keep their health up and if not being able to eat properly and help the fry. You might be able to get something over where you are there must be some sort of equivalent in your LFS maybe worth a try can't do any harm.

Hope this helps
Jerry

[jac]

Photo update of the L201 baby's:

At the rightside is the males cave (not seen on the picture). A female laying next to his cave waiting to get in.... They seem to mate very time the youngsters in the cave are about 10-14 days old So now again there are baby's, the male and a new female in the cave at the same time!! They have done this for the past few spawns.... The two active females just tend to cue up beside his cave waiting to get in with him Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining I just hope my male can keep up with the females demand

In the picture are 3 generations of youngsters (and the female on the right). At the left side is one of the first spawn (about 3cm) in the middle one of the second spawn and at the right are 2 of the forlast spawn. The last baby's are still in the cave......with the love pair....... I don't know how many I've got exactly, I think there are about 15 baby's now, not counting the ones still inside the cave.

[dog]

Make sure to keep the bottom of bare bottom tanks/fry savers super clean. Bacteria builds and if they are exposed to or consume it they will die. I reccomend you use a small paint brush - brand new and super clean to lightly brush the bottom of the tank to loosen the bacteria (do it every couple of days). This hopefully is either syphoned out by your self - or the filter you run may remove it once floating in the water.
Good luck

[jac]

Update:

After a few dissapointing spawns I have taken some matters into my own hands today.
I'm having the problem of 2 females who want to spawn with my breeding male. If the cave is empty it's no problem. They will spawn and he will care for the eggs and fry (he will kick some out during hatching time). But the problems start when the second female is determined to spawn whilest the fry are still in the cave, age about 8-10days old. The male will spawn with the second female, pressing the fry against the back (I think). When the eggs are laid he will keep them for 2 or 3 days and then start to kick them all out. Ending up with the fry of the first spawn in his cave and all the eggs outside

Today I decided to empty the cave with the fry after 10 days. I have never interfered like this but I wanted to find out if it would work better for me, not having to raise the eggs and fry, and for him to complete a full spawn one at the time.
I saw his cave was moved 2 days ago. That usually means that he has had a visit of one of the females (I think). To avoid 2 spawns in one cave again I took the cave out with dad in it. Rinsed it so the male and the baby's came out. Then put the male back into his cave and put him back in his spot in the tank. I now have 15 new baby L201 all alive and well. Still having a little yolksack left. I'll keep them and feed them twice and if all is well I'll release them into the growing up tank with all my other juveniles. I find this technique great and the fry grow very well, hardly handeling them at all.

I also managed to catch some more of the older fry, seeing I was already disturbing the fish anyway.... And managed to get 15 larger ones out. There are still juveniles left in the breeding tank, if I want to catch them all I have to empty the tank and I'm not wanting to do that right now.

Here are some pictures:
The bigger ones are about 13-15 weeks old and messure 4-5cm TL. You can also see the 10 new baby's all together for safety, 5 of them I already had separate because he kicked them out.

[2wheelsx2]

This is pretty cool. I just got 2 L201's and am about to get 3 more to try and get a colony going. I'm very encouraged by this thread.

[jac]

This is pretty cool. I just got 2 L201's and am about to get 3 more to try and get a colony going. I'm very encouraged by this thread.

Congrats with your new fish As you have read, it can go very quick from just 6 to about 40 of them
Good luck on your breeding attempt

[2wheelsx2]

Thanks. I just picked up the other 3 last night and the new ones are all in hiding. But they are big and fat so should acclimatize quickly.