My Celebes Fry Updated: 10 Fry Now

[myrtle]

Well, at the beginning of December I picked up 9 Celebes from EliseW who has changed from a general community to a Tang community. A couple of days after I had put them in the tank with my Threadfins there was some serious displaying going on so I thought I'd try my luck with breeding them. Lisa had thrown in a bunch of Java moss which was perfect for a spawning mop so I popped that in and the following morning after upping the lighting to 14 hrs light and 10 dark I had the pleasure of watching the largest female and the largest male spawning in the moss. This was on Sunday and since then they've been at it daily. So far I've only picked about 10 eggs as they are still young but they have litle dark spots in them now (5 days on) so hopefully in another 5 or so days I'll have some baby Celebes! Their spawning has also triggered the Threadfins although the feamles are still very young but I've got about 5 eggs from them, although I don't hold much hope of rearing these due to the difficulty in feeding the fry.
This is the first time I've ever had viable eggs as I've got very hard water so I'm really chuffed. That was one of the things that attracted me to Rainbows, the fact that they come from hard water and thrive in it!

They're at it again this morning, the term 'serial spawner' definitely fits these!

Jo

 

[elisew]

I think this definitely has to be a case of 'Sods Law'

I`m absolutely chuffed to bits that the Celebes are getting it on, they`re clearly happy in their new home with you Jo which is excellent
As much as I do miss the zippiness of the Celebes I really am so pleased for you
Let me know how they`re getting on and how many babies you end up with? I`ll be keeping my fingers crossed that you end up with loads

 

[myrtle]

Thanks Lisa, I'll definitely keep you updated and if I do manage to raise any to a decent size and don't have room for them all, and you happen to have an empty tank feel free to have a few back (no charge of course!). At the moment I can see 7 that have eyes and wee bodies inside! I'm so looking forward to them hatching that I don't care about Christmas tomorrow!!

 

[myrtle]

Precisely 10 days after being laid the first of the bunch hatched this morning! By this afternoon I had a grand total of 3 free swimming fry so with a bit of luck the other eggs will hatch soon and I may actually manage to raise them.

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Congratulations on the new arrivals!

Have you got the eggs and fry in a breeding net and what have you got ready to feed them (presuming they will use yolk sac for day or two after hatching)?

 

[myrtle]

Thanks! The eggs were laid originally in my planted tank on java moss 'mops' so I picked the eggs by trimming small sections of the moss containing the eggs off and put these into a 30l tank with just enough water to cover the heater and a spot of methethylene (sp?) blue and put the 'mop' back in the tank for more eggs. I kept the hatching water at about 28 degrees. The first eggs hatched and only 1 fry has survived from those 3 I don't know how inbred the original fish were (I believe they were lfs stock that Lisa got them from) so this may have increased the rate of non-survivable deformities. Also some of the eggs are (I think) Threadfins so my chances of raising these are minimal at the moment. The Celebes are fairly large fry for Rainbows (although not technically Rainbowfish!) and for the first week I'll be feeding Liquifry as I haven't the money for culturing microworms etc at the minute but hopefully when I try this again in the spring I'll have a culture ready. I didn't know this time whether they'd even hatch so next time I'll be able to give them a better chance. Once they're a week or so I've got some very finely crushed flake and I'll be getting some very small live foods. The surviving fry from the first hatching is a lovely strong little thing and as I've been picking eggs every other day for about a week there should be more hatching over the next few days. In fact 2 more hatched this morning and so far 1 is still ok. The fish are quite young so hopefully I'll get more eggs next time once they've grown up a bit!
This is the first time I've actually got as far as hatching eggs so I'm really chuffed!

 

[drobbyb]

Awesome! Getting them to breed is the easy part! If you weren't in the UK I could send you a culture of vinegar eels to feed the little guys. The first 5 days after hatching are the hardest on the little guys since they don't hatch with a yolk sac like some other fish do. If you toss in loads of plants, the fry will live off of the micro organisms that develop naturally. Just trying to help

 

[myrtle]

Thanks Drobbyb, I was hoping you'd pop up! The first one to hatch is still going strong, so it makes me wonder why the others have died. Surely if there was a problem with the food they would have all died. To be honest, if I get one to adulthood it'll be a success as far as I'm concerned as I've never even had fertile eggs before. I'm going to reduce the lighting today before I get a massive algae outbreak and put the java moss in the fry tank. Any fry hatching now will have that to feed on as it's been in the main tank for a while now. I'll have another go at breeding them in the spring, I think they need a rest now!

 

[myrtle]

I looked into the fry tank this morning and lo and behold another 4 have hatched and look lovely and strong. Is it possible that the weaker ones were the offspring of a different pair of fish as there are several females and males though it seems to have been the same 2 males involved? Or is it simply that there is more food available since I've been adding the liquifry for several days now and the moss mop is in there too?

 

[drobbyb]

It's hard to say for sure, but I'd be willing to bet that it's the presence of more food. Do you know how to hatch brine shrimp?

 

[myrtle]

I've not done it before but I've been paid now (yay) so I'm off to my lfs tomorrow to buy a kit they have there (was going to buy on the net but don't want to wait a week for delivery). I'm also considering vinegar eels and other cultures which I'll get started a few weeks in advance next time. I've scoured Adrian Tappin's book which has a wealth of information on culturing live foods and now I know they'll hatch I'll hopfully get a better survival rate and stronger resulting fish.

All 5 are still going strong which is a good sign!

 

[myrtle]

Well, back down to 3 fry now . I went to my lfs today (Maidenhead Aquatics) to look at their brine shrimp hatching kit and it was £43!!! Therefore it will have to be an online purchase. Whilst in there I asked the manager about the likelihood of them wanting any Celebes that I may have going spare in the future assuming I can raise more that 3 at a time! Their answer: they don't sell here so they'd take them if I was stuck for free but that's it. At least I know before embarking on a mass breeding program!! I was surprised that they don't sell well as they are such beautiful fish but there's no accounting for taste (especially in Basingstoke). All the Rainbows they stock have been there for ages as nobody seems to see past the dull juvenile colouring; such a shame.

 

[drobbyb]

All you need to hatch brine shrimp is a container, light source, warmth, salt, and water

DIY brine shrimp

 

[myrtle]

Excellent link! Thanks, all I have to do now is drink a gallon of fizzy pop!! Where is the 'belch' smilie?!

 

[mikev]

Congratulations! These are nice.

They would do better if you start them on quality powder food, instead of relying on microorganisms; and they need a few days of growth before taking live artemia (at least mine did -- I have a couple of tanks of 3 month old juveniles )
Two options that should work: Zm systems (this is a UK-based company), you want zm-000 fry food; OR Sera Micron (German company, food should be available in the UK too). Either one should be fed until the fry gets to about newborn guppy size (6mm or so)...but they will be able artemia long before this.

Threadfins are more difficult....but on the plus side, grow faster.