Lampeye Problems

[Willow 123]

Thats interesting, not that I understand it but that sounds almost like a logithmic scale?
I keep tanks well planted wiht fast growing plants to negate the Nitrate as soon as it appears.

 

[Willow 123]

ok guys to add to the conundrum, lost another fish this afternoon, then 10 mins later spotted some fry, so they are breeding with no help from me. And as far as I can tell, so far all the fish lost have been female. By the way all the fry are healthy and feeding

 

[GaryE]

My pattern with normani makes those fry precious. They should grow into hardy, healthy fish.

I haven't seen problems of males killing females here.

There is something off with the farmed ones. Wilds were foolishly easy to breed. I once had too many and was keeping juveniles in a tub on the floor beside my tanks. They were almost adults, and friend asked me for 50. That was pretty well what was in there, so I caught them all. I was busy, so the sponge filter kept running in the bare plastic tub. When I looked in it was full of fry. No cover, only a sponge to hide eggs in (and the eggs are a good size) and I had dozens and dozens more of them.

The last 3 times I've bought Singapore normani, I could barely get fry. My current group have obliged, but with a dozen fry in a period wilds would have produced hundreds. The fish is widespread - I saw them in shipments from all along the coast from Guinea to Nigeria. I'm wondering if they've crossed similar looking species. Or, if raising them too warm could be the issue - they thrive in the low 20s and Asian fishfarms are warmer than that.

We have the mysteries of nature, but also the mysteries of human intervention.

 

[Willow 123]

Thanks for your thoughts Gary, the females seem to get a swim bladder issue, maybe egg bound? don't really know.Then they all curve to the left, Maybe a genetic issue through over breeding?
Good to know that fry are generally hardy, hope to build a good group from here.

 

[Sir Guppy]

My pattern with normani makes those fry precious. They should grow into hardy, healthy fish.

I haven't seen problems of males killing females here.

There is something off with the farmed ones. Wilds were foolishly easy to breed. I once had too many and was keeping juveniles in a tub on the floor beside my tanks. They were almost adults, and friend asked me for 50. That was pretty well what was in there, so I caught them all. I was busy, so the sponge filter kept running in the bare plastic tub. When I looked in it was full of fry. No cover, only a sponge to hide eggs in (and the eggs are a good size) and I had dozens and dozens more of them.

The last 3 times I've bought Singapore normani, I could barely get fry. My current group have obliged, but with a dozen fry in a period wilds would have produced hundreds. The fish is widespread - I saw them in shipments from all along the coast from Guinea to Nigeria. I'm wondering if they've crossed similar looking species. Or, if raising them too warm could be the issue - they thrive in the low 20s and Asian fishfarms are warmer than that.

We have the mysteries of nature, but also the mysteries of human intervention.

I’m wondering if they purposely make them harder to breed.
I know a fish store where of of the employees said that when they receive shrimp they get almost all males and very little females.

 

[Willow 123]

A conspiracy theory eh? Although that would make economic sense for the breeders.

 

[GaryE]

That conspiracy theory holds for some species - there are a number of slightly pricier species where they triage the sexes and remove females. Generally, the males are prettier and sell better, but they also make it hard for hobbyist breeders. But with most fish at average prices, it's just incompetence. Farm raising puts cost and return ahead of quality. If they can pump them out cheap enough to keep the chains happy, how long they live once they get to the customer isn't their problem.
Everything is short term to keep the shareholders happy on the Singapore exchange.

 

[Willow 123]

Update on the lampeyes. I now have at least 8 fry of differing ages in the 40 litre grow out/shrimp tank.

 

[GaryE]

I can report similar results with my current group. I have a nice, bright eyed shoal formed on the surface, but only one female left from my original purchase. The young here will be breeding age in a few weeks - they mature fast.

It's unlikely to be egg binding because they lay a few eggs every day. I find egg binding happens with "big batch" spawners, but rarely with daily egg layers. The ones I've lost seemed to swell around the gills, with no set timing or pattern. I (sadly) expect the remaining female to show swelling before she dies. But if patterns hold, the young will not die that way. It suggests the problem isn't communicable. It could be temperature, diet, etc. If it were bacterial, you would think it would spread. I'll have to see what happens with mine as they age. Right now, those eyes glow.

 

[Willow 123]

I am now up to 9 or 10 fry ( hard to be sure) of at least 3 different ages in the fry/shrimp tank ( neocaridina shrimp are breeding as well)
feeding them on a combination of spirulina powder, ground up tropical flake and vinegar eels.
Hopefully, as you say the fry will be hardier than the group I bought.
Funnily enough I am down to 1 female (10 males) no losses for more than 3 weeks now.

 

[Willow 123]

So I have now got approx 15 fry of varying ages, so I thought I would just reinterate what worked for me.
Tank parameters are.
Nitrate 0
Nitrate 0
Tot hard 140mg/l
Tot alk 125mg/l
Carbonate 165mg/l
ph 7.2
Temp 77f
The fish were provided with java moss to spawn in and they duly obliged. All the adults and indeed all the other fish apart from an oto were moved into my main community tank, so that the 40l tank became a fry nursery. The ony other inhabitants are some snails , 4 amanos, and around 8 blue (red) cherry shrimps.
Babies have continued to appear almost conveyor bed like ever since ( ties in with Bazouteast's observation about laying eggs individually day by day).
Feeding consists of a mature tank with a matten filter to snack on, spirulina powder and vinegar eels.
I have to add that they have been a doddle to breed, I think having a mature tank with the Matten filter for them to snack on has really helped me. It fills in between my feeds which can only be a help.