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Hi all,

On 15/11/2010 I had my Ancistrus spp first time batch. The below pictures were taken last Sunday of the young on a hungry frenzy hehe.



behind the cucumber you can also see the hole of the pot where the male uses as his cave



After when do they spawn again? This batch was hatched (wigglers) on 15/11/2010. I leave temp on 26*C. Last Sunday I made the weekly WC of 20% and i have switched off heater and the water of the WC was cooler. Temp was around 24*C. When I was ready I switched it on but no activity yet. I feed them daily cucumber, algae disc and once a week frozen bloodworms. Small wigglers also eat some bloodworms they are always hungry

I'd expect another spawn within a few days - a week perhaps. But there is no real good way to tell.

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Mats

hehe thanks wait for some luck then

I ended the old year with some bad news I had another clutch of eggs this time i saw it was big. Unfortunately the male kicked them out and only found 10 Now I have put them in a breeder with air stone maybe they will hatch. This happened on the 4th Day. What could be the problem? The first spawn was succesful. Each day i shine a torch in the cave to check if they are still there. This is done for about 5 seconds just to check.

The best way to avoid eggs being kicked out is to have a lip or edge to the cave, that stops the eggs when they are pushed around.

--
Mats

and how do I do that?

Well, it depends on the style of the cave. Just tilting it up (put a stone or some such under the front of it) may be the easiest way. I've recently built caves from pipes with a round piece of slate using a hole-saw, and put another piece at the front which is a big round piece with a slightly smaller hole offset from the center - so that there is a slightly bigger "edge" at the bottom of the entrance. I haven't actually had them in the tank for long, I'm just giving you some ideas...

I know some people who have two used terractotta saucers (intended for flower-pots to stand on), with a hole cut through the lip of the saucer that is on top.

--
Mats

you can see the cave above. It is a terracotta pot.

So, just lift the front of the cave up - or buy a terracotta saucter [or some such], and cut off a flat piece and silicon it to the front of the cave.

--
Mats

I just lifted it as you told me. About 10 now have hatched. Hope for more. But I do not have more then 15. But i am pretty sure i had more but..... Now I hope for the best.

If you stop shining the torch it makes a vast improvement, shining the torch will spook the male and that is probably why he is kicking the eggs out.

Mmm it is a bit difficult to check when you have eggs and always wondering when they will hatch ;)

I will try to leave them alone. The problem mainly is that the aquarium has black water extract since I have alot of driftwood in and the aquarium light is low. So i do not see the pair alot except when they will be in the cave

By all means move the cave closer to the front of the glass when they are not in it. But if you keep using the torch instead of just being patient then you will have no fry to rear

You have a point there

Thanks

It seems that I saved 16 fry so the water was definatly good. The problem was the torch. Now I tilted the cave up so that he will find it difficult to kick out eggs Until next time. I hope it will soon


Just a small question how do you catch 3 month juveniles to sell them? Do I need to remove all the furniture?

Thanks

quickest way is too put some cucumber or algae wafers in to get them out and feeding then use 2 nets and push one net to the other, yeah i always push the back end of a cave down into the gravel/sand.

Ok thanks Joe

Use a red filter on your torch.

they wouldn't be disturbed with a red filter?

When spotlighting using filters at night is a way to see without frightening wildlife,filters of red,blue,yellow and green have been used by pro shooters depanding on lighting levels.
Red and blue is best,movement is what fish take fright from so slow movement is needed.

if you cut cocumber verical thay can eat all in same moment not only 2-3

Ok will try that thanks