Sturisoma Sp. Aff. festivum eggs

[Thriftyfisher]

So I have been working for some time with these fish. I purchased them in the fall of 2009 at a Michiana Aquarium Society auction, and was given a couple more last summer by someone who only had two left. The bag was labeled as Sturisoma Sp. Aff. festivum aquarium strain. They do appear to be Sturisoma festivum but have not been positively identified.

These guys have done well for me but had not up until now spawned for me even though I have been able to sex them since this last spring. Since this last summer I had tried decreasing and increasing the water temperatures, increasing the number of water changes and changing tanks that they were in. But my guess is that they were still too young to reproduce. I will have to check but I am guessing that these are now about 19-20 months old.

But as you can see in the picture on Thursday evening 1-20 they finally produced eggs. The eggs were laid between 6-9pm. I wish I had been able to watch. The male really didn’t like me taking the few pictures that I did, I did not have the flash on.

Unlike some, I try to keep the first batch with the adult fish to brood. If they fail to hatch I will remove the next batch of eggs and artificially hatch them out. If parent is successful at hatching the eggs I will remove the fry once it is safe to.

As for right now I am just happy to see eggs.

[Jools]

That's a really nice pic and well done!

Jools

[MatsP]

I like your decision to leave the male to look after the eggs. In my experience, Sturisoma are reasonably good parents - maybe not the first time around, but given a few attempts, the male will look after the eggs nicely.

I know some other people don't agree, but I found that the most difficult part was to get the fry to saleable/movable size. When they are very young, they do not like to go look for food. They will expect food to appear where they sit. I solved this by grinding algae wafers on a piece of sand-paper, to make a fine powder, which spreads in the tank. A pepper grinder is also a possible solution for making "tiny bits of food that move about in the water".

--
Mats

[Thriftyfisher]

Thanks for the compliment on the picture. I am steadily getting better.

Thanks for the ideas on food. I have been thinking about that since this is a 29 gallon tank. However, my most immediate problem is to figure out where to move the school of Poecilia gilli that also call this tank home. I am not worried about their fry but the adults definitely need to be moved before the eggs hatch.

[scatz]

congratulations on the spawn, they are like pringles, once they pop, they cant stop lol, you'll probably be getting a new batch of eggs every 10 - 14 days.
I too had the same issues as mats as far as feeding goes, but i have a large supply of 100% spirulina powder that i mix with some agar agar and paint thinly onto a piece of slate, since doing this, the fry have all been surviving. good luck

[Thriftyfisher]

So now it is a week later and all of the eggs hatched, about half Tuesday and half yesterday. The picture is of one fry. I am amazed at how fast they sucked up their yoke sacks. The sad news is I know some of the fry were eaten by snails after hatching and before they were able to swim away.

But I have another fat female so hopefully I will see another batch of eggs in the next week.

[Bas Pels]

I have a trio too - 1 male, 2 females.

They are almost constantly breeding, last eggs were laid the day before yesterday. But after hatching I am almost not able to raise the fry.

OK, sometimes I got cichlids in their tank which eat them, but quite often they are without cichlids. Only once did I manage to raise 3 fry - which are now almost 10 cm (parents are ~20)

Sturiosoma fry are sensitive, unfortunately

[Thriftyfisher]

It has been some time since I have updated on my progress with these fish. I am now on Batch # 4.

First let me say thanks for the tips on feeding. I think it has helped me develop my current successful strategy on feeding.

Batch 1; Four fry survived, most eaten by snails. Fry are about 1-1/2” long

Batch 2; Four fry survived my attempts to artificially hatch them. I was a little too eager and managed to hatch most of them a day or two early which lead to their deaths. I will not try that again, there really is no need. Fry about 1” long.

Batch 3; Fifteen fry survived, maybe more. I decided to try an easier route, remove the snails. Not really easier I have taken to a task of removing 25-50 snails a day (starting with 25 and now close to 50 per day). Over 700 snails later and I am starting to get the upper hand, I think. Fry about ¾” long

Batch 4: Some hatched last night and I have seen them today alive and well, 38 more will hatch tonight. I am excited to see so many eggs make it to the final day. I think the male has been aggressive on hatching the fry early, just as I was, but is now getting a handle on letting more of the clutch take that extra day to mature in the egg.

For feeding, twice a day I have been using spirulina flake crushed in my fingers and then dispersed into the water. It covers everything which the fish love but so do the snails. They fry are growing really fast. I have also been feeding the adults their usual sliced vegetables. Fruit treats are given when I feel generous. Since I have been feeding so heavily I have been doing at least three 5 gallon water changes every week, tank is 29 gallons.

I am surprised that everything is going so well. I know I just jinxed myself but these fish have been nothing but fun since they have started breeding. That tank is definitely getting all of my attention at the moment.

I think the biggest problem that I am going to have now is moving the older fry to another tank to grow out.

Pictures of the tank will come so that people can see how heavily it is planted. I think all of the plants have greatly helped to give the fry a good head start.

[apistomaster]

I had a small brood of about 30 Sturisoma aureum hatch out last week in a 29H with a pair of Apistogramma trifasciata.
I am not going out of my way to save this brood but they have grown since hatching and i still have about 23fry. I did increase the frequency of feeding earth worm sticks but in the past my best results come from starting the fry out in tanks with 6 to 8 inches of water. My long term prognosis of the survival of this batch of fry is not very good but they are fun to see while they last.