L002 breeding project - Trapping after 3 days?! (Not quite but after 7 months YES)

[seb47]

I bit the bullet and got a group of 5 of the fish listed as L002 Tuesday night. [url]viewtopic.php?f=5&t=50034[url]. I think they are indeed L002 but they have some interesting patterns so I don't mind them "just" being L002. The importer said the group was heavy on females and said there's probably 2 males and 3 females in the group but it might be 1 male 4 females.

I made some caves out of oak and one of them immediately claimed one with a 7/8" opening. Today I checked the tank before lights out and it looks like I already have a trapping ! Is that possible? The fish are pretty plump but none of them have any noticeable amount of odontodes and it's so early! I hope the cave is big enough for them to get the job done.

[bekateen]

I suppose it's possible, but it's also possible they are just hiding in the caves because of new surroundings. If they are really trapping, then the male will be vibrating his body and bouncing up and down a bit trying to coax the female to spawn.

Good luck!
Eric

[seb47]

Checked again today and I think I may have been a bit overzealous.

[seb47]

Well it's not exactly 3 days later but I finally do have my first trapping and with proof it's my first non Ancistrus trapping so I'm quite excited. They decided to do it in an floating oak cave that wasn't waterlogged yet instead of the many more suitable options on the tank floor, but it'll make collecting fry easier (if they succeed). They've been trapping since at least Monday morning, with no sign of the female getting out. Any way to trigger the next step when they're trapping? And should I at all be worried about the female if it drags on?

[Woodh]

Awesome! Ill let someone with actual experience answer the questions but them choosing a floating cave does sound handy haha
As a sidenote: Did you make the caves yourself or can one order them somewhere?

[seb47]

Awesome! Ill let someone with actual experience answer the questions but them choosing a floating cave does sound handy haha
As a sidenote: Did you make the caves yourself or can one order them somewhere?

Thanks! I made them myself using a hole saw. The max depth I can get is 5-6 inches but that's enough for the plecos I keep. They look great in the water and are a lot cheaper than clay caves as well as doubling as food for Panaqolus. Only downside is that some woods are toxic to fish, but if you steer away from the most harmful ones I think any traces left after water changes would be negligible

[racoll]

They decided to do it in an floating oak cave that wasn't waterlogged yet instead of the many more suitable options on the tank floor

For what it's worth, in nature, the wood-dwelling loricariids such as Panaqolus and Ancistrus are more than happy to cave in floating logs.

[seb47]

For what it's worth, in nature, the wood-dwelling loricariids such as Panaqolus and Ancistrus are more than happy to cave in floating logs.

That's interesting guess it makes sense since it provides the same level of protection as a cave on the substrate and these are wild fish.

[seb47]

Well yesterday I noticed that the female was out of the cave and the male was still in there, and this morning I checked and he seemed to be fanning away at something, but there is no way I'll be able to see what's inside without kicking him out. If he's still fanning by this time next week would that be a good time to check and put them in a breeding box? The tank has some Limia tridens which don't pass up on eating their own fry so I don't want to leave the fry in the tank.

[seb47]

I bit the bullet and got a group of 5 of the fish listed as L002 Tuesday night. [url]viewtopic.php?f=5&t=50034[url]. I think they are indeed L002 but they have some interesting patterns so I don't mind them "just" being L002. The importer said the group was heavy on females and said there's probably 2 males and 3 females in the group but it might be 1 male 4 females.

I made some caves out of oak and one of them immediately claimed one with a 7/8" opening. Today I checked the tank before lights out and it looks like I already have a trapping ! Is that possible? The fish are pretty plump but none of them have any noticeable amount of odontodes and it's so early! I hope the cave is big enough for them to get the job done.

[seb47]

Well I pulled the wrigglers a couple days ago and they still have a significant portion of their egg sack considering they were laid the 12th but it might be because the temperature was around 24 degrees for a while. There's 14 of them and all are healthy except for the one in the middle of the picture (third from the left), who's tail is crooked and seems to be broken. I'm not sure if it happened when I removed them from the cave or if it's a birth defect but is there any hope of it developing normally?

[bekateen]

Look great. My guess is they hatched only in the last day or two. They look very young.

Good luck with them!

Cheers, Eric

[seb47]

Look great. My guess is they hatched only in the last day or two. They look very young.

Good luck with them!

Cheers, Eric

Thanks! Here's a one week update they're doing well and by tomorrow I think most of them will have completely finished their yolk sack. I fed a pea yesterday and it's not there anymore so unless the snail was very hungry they started eating.

Man are they cute at this size!

[seb47]

Here's a 1 month update on the little guys. Still have all 14 of them and they're growing well on a diet of green peas, algae wafers, repashy bottom scratcher, and get bug bites and earthworm sticks a couple times a week.

The floating cave they spawned in eventually sank (with the male still in it), and I added it to the stack of other caves. The same pair spawned again Sunday in the same cave so will hopefully have a new batch soon!

[bekateen]

They look really good!

Keep it up.

Cheers, Eric

[Koi-fantast]

I think the youngsters look like 306

[seb47]

They look really good!

Keep it up.

Cheers, Eric

Thanks!

I think the youngsters look like 306

Yeah I'm surprised they have a reddish tint to them and the contrast is much more vibrant than the parents. From other l002 breeding logs I've seen though it seems to be normal for the fry to look a lot better than the parents, with their colours eventually becoming duller as they grow.