Hi Dylan
Although I don't keep one now I have in the past and they are up there as one of my favourite fish.
I;d be interested to hear about your spawning of them? what were the tank conditions, what size were they when they bred , how did they lay the eggs and were they successfully reared etc? sounds exciting!!
Simon
Hey Simon, thanks for the query!
It happened spontaneously. my LFS has a terrible problem with dead BGK's.. they don't keep their levels correct. so they set me up to take care of their BGK's until they found sellers (sweet deal right?).
There are many theories as to how to sex a BGK, but none are definitive, I would love to do some research myself, but even with having spawned them myself - I still cannot tell...
I do however have hints to spawning:
I had the lids slightly open to feed, and must have left them open overnight. as the next morning I found two BGK's in the one tank (I kept them all separately). I didn't think much of it at the time and just moved one BGK back and made sure the lids of the tanks were sitting on top! It also happened on a very very hot night - theory: an increase in temperature change may trigger breeding behaviour. About a week later I noticed one and only one tiny little baby BGK.. needless to say i was ecstatic! I could not find any more, I assume the bigger BGK had a bit of a snack on the rest of them - or they found the filter intake and were lost forever..
Each BGK was about 8inches in length at the time
both kept in 20 gallon tanks. this is small for a BGK. but the LFS i was "fish-sitting" for wouldn't give me anything bigger. I felt bad, but I rather them alive in a 20gallon then dead in a 10gallon overpopulated one..
I fed the baby frozen/live bloodworm & brine shrimp.
He/She grew and grew and is currently living in my 70 gallon
successful rearing
I was so proud of myself. the 70gallon is a temporary home again, but he/she is only 3inches long at the moment so I've still got plenty of time till I need to upgrade!
Unfortunately I can't tell you much more as most of the activity happens at night with these guys.. I assume the eggs were laid in the plants I had in each of the tanks - java moss in this particular one. on a piece of rock...
Let me know if you have any more queries!
Cheers,
Dylan
