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Hi Everyone,

They're not catfish, and hopefully this is the proper forum, but I wanted to share and thought this was the place where the news would be best apperciated. Anyway, I bought a group of 8 young rhinogobius wui a month ago and just now found some eggs on the glass and a very angry father defending them. They've been free-feeding on blackworms for a month since some of the girls arrived fairly thin, and apparently it was good for them. They're supposedly cave spawners, but mine deposited their eggs on the front and side glass. I have 8 fish total and, I think, 3 males in a 10g tank. I didn't expect them to spawn so soon, but I have a 20g ready. The eggs are white, about 2mm in size, and held to the glass by a thin thread. The tank is kept at 73 degrees, rises to 76 during the day, and then drops back overnight.

I'm moving 1000 miles (Michigan to north Dakota) in two weeks, so it's too late to raise the babies before I move, but at least I know they're breedable for when I get settled in ND. Here are a few pics:
Male and eggs

Eggs

Female 1

Female 2

Male

The spawning tank (yes, that's a betta in there - he's recovering from a spat with a sumo loach in another tank....I didn't expect this to be a breeding tank, but he hasn't shown any interest in the eggs yet.)

Male with eggs again

awesome result; these are among the coolest of the tiny fishes you can keep

weird shape, interesting behaviour and displaying males have great colors

I love em.
kept them in a past, more than 10 years ago, but if they ever spawned I missed it. eventually they sort of disappeared.

I got a notion you might set up a brine hatchery or even a rotatoria or paramecium-jar, cause I think the fry are going to be really really tiny

and often fish like these need to have moving prey in their first stage. otherwise they don't get triggered into feeding.

Nice one, drgold

Completely awesome Dr. Gold!!! I love these little guys! Live food definitely helps to get them to spawn. Please keep us posted on the fry rearing!!!!

They spawned on the glass???? That female must have been a bit confused.

That's extremely unusual. It's really a cave spawning species, and if given a chance the male will seal himself in the cave while guarding the eggs - the first times my male went missing I was sure he'd died!

They're wonderful little fish, congratulations on spawning them!

Well, I guess there a reason that they're cave spawners.....all the eggs have been eaten. But, I couldn't raise the babies anyway with my impending move, so it's OK.

I'm just glad they're trying, and hopefully when I get them in their new home, with suitable caves, I'll get some babies.

A fish club mate was telling me about these! I'm sure they'll come through for you when you've both settled into your respective new homes.
Amanda

I have had this species of Gobie spawn several times although I always had fine sand substrates in the set ups and provided rocks under which the males will build their caves. Sometimes they may place the eggs inside the caves but I haven't seen them do that yet.
The males always dug a cave under a rock but none of the spawns ever occurred inside the cave. They all were placed on the glass nearest the cave mouth. Males can only be trusted to a point. Most will eventually eat their spawns. The eggs take about ten days to hatch at 75*F and removing the breeders before they hatch will result in more fry to raise.
It helps to be able to keep them cool, low 70's-*F for six weeks or so prior to a planned spawning attempts and then raise the temperature to ~76*F.
I always removed the females immediately after they spawned. The fry are able to take newly hatched brine shrimp provided they weren't eaten by the male before they are free swimming.
I believe the common aquarium species being captured near or on Hong Kong are actually Rhinogobius duospilus. By any name, they are a lot of fun to keep. About the nearest thing we have in fresh water to a Pearly Jawfish. The parallels in their behaviors are strikingly similar. Rival males will steal the pebbles from another male's cave entrance.

Hey,

it is great. Freshwater Gobies are not easy to spawn .
Could you, please, tell something more about this tank? Has it got a strong current? And water hardness and Ph values?

Thanks!

Regards.

Congratulations !
BTW if you have questions glenny of this forum has spawn them a few times I think.

apistomaster wrote: I believe the common aquarium species being captured near or on Hong Kong are actually Rhinogobius duospilus.

Correct. R. wui is a junior synonym of R. duospilus.

worton[pl] wrote:Hey,

it is great. Freshwater Gobies are not easy to spawn .
Could you, please, tell something more about this tank? Has it got a strong current? And water hardness and Ph values?

Thanks!

Regards.

It has an aquaclear 50 and a sponge filter, so the current is moderate. It's enough to where the betta has a little trouble. My pH is usually around 7.6 or so, sometimes up to 8. I just use regular tap water, conditioned with Prime, and the ph fluctuates from season to season. I don't know the exact hardness values, but I remember one (kh or gh) was 3.5 when I had a planted tank and needed to calculate my CO2 output. That was probably kh... The water here in MI is great for spawning fish - there are lots of pleco and tropical fish breeders around here. As you can see, even the blind squirrels can find nuts here.

Hey,

As you can see, even the blind squirrels can find nuts here.

hehe )

Thanks for additional informations .

Regards.