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Hello,

I have what i believe are some glass catfish fry. (k.minor) I did a water change today in a tank i had set up to give a try eventually to breeding some bristlenose plecos. Much to my surprise i had some tiny fry swimming around! I saw 3 at one time and am not sure how many there are altogether (or if i lost some during the water change) The fry are clearish and the general shape of the cats but they are still pretty small. I have only pleco's in the tank with the glass cats so im fairly sure its not another type of fish fry. I've only had the glass cats for about a week so i never expected this. Does anyone have any additional information on this? (General care of the fry/experiance with breeding etc)


Thanks so much!

To the best of my knowledge K. minor has never been bred in captivity, at least not without the use of hormone injections.

Have you added any plants to the aquarium during the last month or so?

I'm not saying it's impossible your catfish have bred, but accidental breeding of a fish like this seems unlikely. It is quite common that eggs are introduced into aquaria with plants; I've seen a number of breeding reports of e.g. tricolor sharkminnow which turned out to be goldfish or barb-larvae from eggs introduced with plants.

The only plants i added were almost a month ago wich i origionally had in my 55 gal and moved over. The only pair of fish i have in my 55 gal are 2 tinfoil barbs. The plants were shipped in plastic bags without water. I checked the plants over pretty well and didnt see anything other than plant matter when they arrived. They have been bounced/knocked around by my big plec's in the 55 gal before being moved over.

Hi persephone

welcome to Planet catfish
I for one am interested in this

Can you try and post some pics of the fry, and can you tell us what the water parameter's are. eg: -
pH, GH, temp etc, when you have been trying to breed your pleco's, and when you discovered your fry.
,

as for feeding, this would depend on their size, but I would try feeding them on micro worm, finely ground flake food, and a drop or two of liquid fry food for egglayers, but make sure you increase your water changes; not necessary the amount but the frequency.

Hi and thanks for the replies and welcome!

I wasnt trying to breed them yet the bristlenose i actually just got as well. There is also a clown pleco and a royal pleco in a 27 gal. bowfront.
All were new but the Royal who i moved over to give him a better chance at food from the 12" Glyptoperichthys joselimaianus and the 9"Glyptoperichthys scrophus. I did take note of the temp at the LFS and it is approx 77. I've asked before and they have told me thier tanks are set to 7 PH and i also keep my tanks at 7. I have a large piece of driftwood that takes up the depth and about 1/3 of the length of the tank floor and a small breeding cave.I have a second smaller piece of bogwood. I have a few plants. The first 5 days approx the tank was set at 80F and i lowered it to 77. I noticed the fry yesterday after i did a water change. They are clear with long bodies and i can definatly see there organs. They are still very small. Atleast one likes to hang around in the breeding cave. Like i said I've still only seen three at one time and more likley than not when i peek in i see one if i'm lucky!

Thank you again for the warm welcome its much appreciated

Also i was feeding:
Cantalope, cucumber, blood worms (once every few days) a small bit of flake food an algae tab and/or 1 or 2 sinking carnivore pellets(My royal loves them)

GH: 9
KH: 4

I know that the fish store i got them from uses town water and since i used to live a block away i know the GH is much higher (i moved an hour away about 2 years ago) When i used to live there the GH was around 14

So i'm still trying to get a clear picture but ive had no success yet.
The fry i usually only see if the lights have been out an hour and i turn the lights on. Otherwise they are hiding. They are still very small but they seem as though they may be getting longer.

As for the frequent water changes, Would you suggest 10% daily ish ?

Thanks Again and i will keep an update.

This really is interesting.
I hope they are glass catfish fry.
If they are you could be the first person to breed them in a home aquarium, in the whole world, even if it was accidentally.
I had some microglanis breed accidentally I never saw the fry but found the sub adults during a move.

As for the frequent water changes, Would you suggest 10% daily ish ?

It wouldn't do any harm.
When I carry out my water changes on my fry tanks, I tend to let the water stand for 24 hrs in my fish house so that the water going into the tank isn't too cold for the fry. Many moons ago (mid 1970's) I learn't that I had better success in rearing fry when using water that wasn't too cold, with my water changes. My reasoning; was that maybe if the water is too cold then the fry maybe being temperature shocked to death, like when you jump into a cold swimming pool or stream etc, or that it could be that they get a chill, and die sometimes after, as a result of this chilling effect.

Well if they are glass catfish fry i can see why they would be easily missed . There is a pattern in thier behavior. I only see one now but since i know where he hangs when i turn on the lights its the first place i look. He will only hang out for about five minutes before going back into hiding. There is a small leaf coming off the drift wood that lays half on the bottom of the tank and comes up to lay its upper half flat on the glass. They are about 8/9 mm. I can see the silver stomache pouch and a hint of the pink (mmm Brain?) behind the head like the adults have. I tried to look up catfish fry to get a cross referance of what other catfish fry normally look like but all i seemed to pull up were sights run by hungry southerners.

To be quite honest i wish i did have some other fish in the tank i could blame them on as its a bit nerve racking having fry that apear to have come from fish that don't breed in captivity.

Thank you again for the comments any and all are greatly appreciated.

I don't believe in "some fish don't breed in captivity". Aside from those that migrate a long distance or grow extremely large before reaching maturity, they can be bred in captivity. However, finding out what makes them breed and how to keep the fry alive (or even get eggs to hatch) is a slightly different story.

And for some fish, the cause that there are no reports may well be that the eggs/fry get eaten before they are discovered, rather than that they don't spawn!

--
Mats

Well said that man