Hara jerdoni surprise spawning.

[Deb]

On May 11, 2011, I added 5 Hara jerdoni catfish to a 29 US gallons aquarium.
Going by photos in the cat-eLog, these five fish appeared to be adults to me, although not fully grown. On the day I'd say the longest individual was perhaps 20mm, TL.


Here are the new arrivals in the acclimation tub.

As you can see, they appear to be adult fish.
Swimming with them are their tankmates, a colony of Boraras micros. The micros are extremely tiny, the smallest known cyprinid - so they say. On the day, they measured about .30" or 8mm, each.

On July 10, just for fun, I joined the Breeding challenge - Moth Cats thread.
On page 3:
http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... 5&start=40

More pix and information coming ...

[Deb]

This is one of the Hara soon after settling into the tank.

It's not the greatest pic, but it shows the length of the pectoral fins and confirms ID.

In the first few days I hardly saw them, except at dawn when they'd be resting on the Anubias or standing on their heads in the leaf litter. Once in a while at night I'd use a flashlight to see them swimming from one place to the other. When they're not in a hurry, they have a slow, wavy way of swimming.

Eventually, in the semi-gloom I was able to get another halfway decent photo:

This was taken at the beginning of July 2011.

By the middle of July, the Hara had grown on. From the original 20-21mm, they were now measuring at 25mm. Often they will come right up to the front glass which is how I know what size they are. Naturally, I might be off by a couple of mm.

[racoll]

Nice job on breeding the Hara!

a colony of Boraras micros. The micros are extremely tiny, the smallest known cyprinid - so they say

The smallest known cyprinid is actually Paedocypris progenetica, and is also the smallest known vertebrate.

Your Boraras are probably not Boraras micros either, but more likely Boraras sp. "South Thailand". These are sold as "Boraras red micros", and is a bit confusing.

[Deb]

Thanks!

The smallest known cyprinid is actually Paedocypris progenetica, and is also the smallest known vertebrate.

I'll cede to your superior knowledge of cyprinids!

My Boraras were sold as Boraras micros, but I questioned the species at the time. They seemed a bit too red and colorful for micros. However, I didn't want to argue with the guy. The ones I have are really very nice and lively, and eat like tiny pigs. They measure about 11mm TL now.

[racoll]

I have some Boraras maculatus, and they're great little fish too!

[Deb]

Here is the juvenile I spotted on July 25, 2011.

This young fish is about 11 mm, TL (7 mm, SL.)

My guess is that this juvenile is about seven or eight weeks old.
The tank is set up for privacy. It's dimly lit and heavily wooded and planted. So, it's no surprise that I completely missed the spawning, egg development, and hatching. The fry grew up somewhere out of sight, maybe under the leaf litter.

Here's the section of the tank where the photo was taken.

The scattered leaves are from the willow oak tree (Quercus phellos).

The overall mood is supposed to represent an Indian forest stream.

[siluriphil]

well done!

How many Fry have you seen till now?

[Deb]

Two! The one in the photo and one more. Both are about 9mm, now.
It's very difficult to take photos that come out well. Usually, the babies are pressed up against the front glass in the early a.m. but when the sun comes up they retreat to the rear of the tank where it's more private. I try to snap the shot before they disappear but so far only one has come out well enough to post.