Trachycorystes trachycorystes breeding....?

[The.Dark.One]

No problem. In my opinion the lower jaw is definitely longer, compare it with the new species in the paper

[Richard B]

...just keep in mind that some posters in the thread are from all round the world & different timezones mean they are often slow at coming back on threads occasionally

[jeremybasch]

In reference to an earlier question, my Liosomdoras usually are side by side when spawning. I have seen the male twisting around but never completely 180 degrees, upside down. It is interesting to note that a lot of my male Auchenipteridae, woodcats, try to spawn with females at feeding time. It is almost like the males are taking advantage of the females being distracted by the smell of food. I have seen this type of behavoir in my Tatia intermedia and Centromochlus perugiae.

While I am not sure what caused my Jaguar catfish to spawn, I do notice that heavier feedings seem to encourage my other woodcat species to spawn. Overall, regular water changes and feedings are key to getting these fish to be at their best. This really can be said for most fish in general. Woodcats seem to thrive on mosquito larvae. And I would imagine they also end up eating a lot of insects based on their surface feeding behavior at night. Either way, this group of catfish is high on my list of favorites.

[Koltsix]

...just keep in mind that some posters in the thread are from all round the world & different timezones mean they are often slow at coming back on threads occasionally

I just figured after days of no follow up replies I was unlikely to get one any time soon and wanted to thank everyone who has helped me so far again as I wouldn't be checking on the thread as much in the following days. Perhaps I went about it the wrong way and I apologize if I did. Again thanks everyone for your help and thank you Richard B for your reply as well.

In reference to an earlier question, my Liosomdoras usually are side by side when spawning. I have seen the male twisting around but never completely 180 degrees, upside down. It is interesting to note that a lot of my male Auchenipteridae, woodcats, try to spawn with females at feeding time. It is almost like the males are taking advantage of the females being distracted by the smell of food. I have seen this type of behavoir in my Tatia intermedia and Centromochlus perugiae.

While I am not sure what caused my Jaguar catfish to spawn, I do notice that heavier feedings seem to encourage my other woodcat species to spawn. Overall, regular water changes and feedings are key to getting these fish to be at their best. This really can be said for most fish in general. Woodcats seem to thrive on mosquito larvae. And I would imagine they also end up eating a lot of insects based on their surface feeding behavior at night. Either way, this group of catfish is high on my list of favorites.

Thanks a lot for that insight man, it's very inspirational considering I wasn't sure how likely I might get them to breed since I thought the intertwining might not be breeding related at all. Now that I know that this seems to be a running theme then maybe I am just a little bit more likely to have them spawn for me considering the intertwining I've seen. I have to say though now I'm kicking myself for always separating them The longest I've left them intertwined was during that pic which I took pretty quick since I was already photographing other fish in the tank and it didn't even come out as good as most of my pics due to me worrying about them hurting each other and trying to separate them. They've never been left like that for longer then 10-15 sec. before I stepped.

Thanks for the advice on the heavier feedings, I'm used to cichlids who do their thing regardless for the most part and though I do know increased feedings are suggested it's nice to be reminded just how effective it can be in-conjunction with water changes. I think I mentioned it before in the thread but just incase I haven't my plan is as follows.
-Step 1- give them their own tank
-Step 2- make their tank more comfortable, I'm doing this by adding driftwood(rinsed but not overly prepped) so I can get the tannins to leech out and naturally lower the ph as well as add more natural hides for them while diffusing the light due to the tea colored water as well as adding fake plants to further diffuse the light.
-Step 3- I've started feeding richer pellets from kensfish which are higher in protein and fat then their normal diet protein:50-55% and fat:15-24%.
I've also added to their diet live nightcrawlers and earthworms(a favorite of theirs I used to feed when they where juvies) as well as freeze dried tubifex and earthworms.

Again thanks for the response jeremybasch, I hope more people chime in with their driftwood cat breeding experiences.

[Jools]

Also, a lot of people don't reply as they feel what they were going to say has been said. That's a bit of a feature around here.

If there is anything left unanswered, it might be good to summarise it? Meanwhile, it really does look like you've been the first to capture mating activity in

Trachycorystes

.

Jools

[Koltsix]

Also, a lot of people don't reply as they feel what they were going to say has been said. That's a bit of a feature around here.

If there is anything left unanswered, it might be good to summarise it? Meanwhile, it really does look like you've been the first to capture mating activity in

Trachycorystes

.

Jools

Thanks again Jools, I appreciate the response and apologize for taking so long to respond myself. I Mod on MFK so a lot of my PC time goes toward reviewing and straightening out posts over there.

The Trachy's are in their new home but as usual when ever I move them they seem to go into stealth mode. Added Driftwood and the water has taken on a different hue due to the tannins. I added each piece one day at a time and monitored the ph daily to make sure they didn't cause large ph swings. The male is eating well the female less so, I may have to put up a divider so she has a chance to put on bulk like he has. If anything changes I'll do my best to document it here for anyone whose interested.