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But the male "has left the building"... At first i saw a little cluster of eggs outside of his tube. Inside the tube he was on top of the eggs, all good so far...

However, this morning he had left the tube and the eggs... What to do? Should i remove the egg cluster in the tube and hatch them in a separate container or just leave them be???

Thanx in advance!

Congrats man. I'm no expert but i'm thinking if its the first time your zebra has bred. If it is then i think its down to experiance that the male has fled. He should be fanning them untill they hatch.

I'm sure other members will come and contribute. Have you seen Robs web site about zebras?

http://www.qems.biz/zebra.htm

BIG MISTAKE... My breeding pair is NOT L-146.. It's L-144, a bit of a mix up Sorry 'bout that!

And yes, it is the first time they have bred...


My fish.... So no more mistakes will be made

Too bad that the male got distracted by something...

The only thing to do now must be getting the eggs into a hatchery.
One way is to put the eggs into a floting hatchery and vent them with an airstone.

Another interesting solution was posted by Katman; he used a styrofoam box.
http://www.forum.planetcatfish.com/view ... 9&start=30

Dr_G

Hello,

Sorry if this question is just a bit off topic. I have several of these in grow out and am curious how big yours are. Mine are still immature, but growing fast. I'm just too impatient to wait to answer the question fro myself.

Thanks,
Larry Vires

Sorry for late posting... The male was back in the cave and venting when i arrived from work, he's been in there for the last couple of days...

Pleco_farmer, my pair is about 5cm without tail...

Updating thread.

The eggs hatched and the male took good care of his small ones... wohey!

All the kids have left the building and i have between 40-60 L-144 kids...

pictures??
david

have you got pictures of fry / young fish throu to adult and can you write a piece so we know how you bred them this will help the rest of us please

Congrats kush for the spawn, the one in your picture looks stunning! More pictures please!

David/polkadot: Pic's will come eventually, the camera i usually use is getting old and the quality of the pic's is not worth publishing. But, I'm gonna borrow another soon. Pic's will come.

Bobcatfish: I'll try to write a piece for you all, just be a little patient
As for pic's from young through adult i have none since this is my first spawn of the pair and the young are only 2 weeks old. As stated above the camera i've used is getting tired.
I'll do my best to write and take some pic's.

Ancistrus sp. L-144 (Gold/black eyes)

I am a bit reluctant to give away this info, due to the fact that this is my first spawn on this species and that this might just be a lucky coincidence and the info in this thread may not be relevant for breeding this specie at all.
I promise to give feedback if and when they spawn again.

Bought at approx. 3,0cm (Christmas 2003)
Grow-out tank: 528l well planted.
Diet: Tetramin, Tropical welsi gran, frozen red mosquito larvae, daphnia, Cyclops, vegetable mix, shrimp mix and spirulina algae tabs.
Parameters:
· Temp: 27°C
· Ph: 6-6.5
· Gh: 4
· No2: 0
· Theoretical water flow: 2700l/h (6 times tank volume)

Pic of the growout tank.

Breeding tank: 97l
A few floating plants (Pistia, Ceratopteris)
2 pcs Ã?32mm PVC tubing.
1 ceramic pot
1 little piece of driftwood. (added after the spawn)

The breeding tank was initially set up 4 days before the breeding pair was introduced. 50% water change 1 day prior to the introduction.

No heater.
1 Fluval 4plus (1000l/h)
Parameters:
· Temp. 20°C
· Ph: 6,5-7
· Gh: 8
· No2: 0
· Water flow: 1000l/t (11,5 times tank volume)

Pic of breeding tank.

In addition to the change of environment I think an increase of Gh 1 day after the introduction may have triggered the spawning.

2 days after the eggs were laid I put a heater in the tank and raised the temp to 23°C.
The eggs hatched after 5 days and the first babies came out of the pvc-tubing 3 days after hatching (these still had their egg yolk), the rest of the kids came approx. after 7 days.
Food was introduced a soon as I saw the egg yolks was digested.
Diet: algae tabs, welsi gran and tetramin.
Now, after 23 days the kids are 1-1,5cm.

If I have missed something crucial please let me know!

"Grow-out tank: 528l well planted" <---well planted is right!!! great tank!
thanks for the pictures and the info..were you able to take any pictures of the fry as they've been developing??
david

Nope, no pics as they developed. I took the first "good" pic's yesterday at age 24 days.
But I think I will get some pic's of developing fry soon as my pair laid a new cluster of eggs yesterday. This time the spawning happened at 27°C.
First pic's will come this monday.

great to hear that someone else has breed them, i had to rase the eggs myself from the 2nd lot as the male knocked the eggs out of the nest, was easy to hatch them in a fry tank , i just used an airstone .

Sorry 'bout not posting any pic's yet. The forum i usually use to upload my pic's is down for service.
This means i don't have anywhere to upload at the moment.

Still, it is now(14/6) possible to see signs of life within the eggs from the second batch (11/6). I recon the eggs will hatch today...


BTW, I cannot enter Imageshack. down for service??

Pic's as promised...

The breeding tank (97L)


Fry at 24 days of age.


Pic's from the second spawn 11/6-04
This pic is taken approx an hour after the eggs were laid.


4 days later a L-144 larvae breaks trough the shell.


Moved the cluster inside the pvc-tube. (see the fry on top of the tube?)


The rest of the cluster hatched inside the tube. (The red line visible on the fry, can also be seen moving inside the eggs 3 days after the spawning. ) On top of the tube: 28 days old fry.

Another cluster of eggs was laid yesterday. On that notice the pair has now bred 3 times in 6weeks.