My spawn Journal

[jkun17]

Hi all!!

I thought it might be helpful on my newest spawn attempt to start a spawn journal on the forum so I can have as frequent checks of my technique as possible. My first spawn didn't turn out that well. My female got torn up fairly bad, though she's healing very well.

Sunshine (Orange Half-Moon)

Moonbeam (Blue Half-Moon)

(Spawn Tank)

Both my male and female are in the tank. The male is in the tank itself, my female is in a vase covered by a cloth to obstruct the male's view of her. I've been feeding them only worms and brine shrimp for about a day now. The temperature is about 78 F and the water is cleansed of all solid waste every waking half hour. I also have silk plants soaking in another container.

Is there anything I've done wrong yet? If so, is it enough to compromise the spawn?

This may be a strange question, but what do you all think the babies might look like? I know I'm counting my chickens before they hatch, but it's fun to think about

 

[Sorrell]

Couple things, has that cloth ever been washed? It could contain soap residue that will deposit in your water I'd turn the temp up to 80, and get the plants in there before he sees the female, you want him to be comfortable with the whole tank and surroundings, before the work begins.

I'm gonna say if mom has good genes they will be blue. Orange is a very weak gene, color wise, and blue is a dominant color

 

[jkun17]

Sorry I haven't updated in a while. My Internet was down 'cause some damned rabbits chewed through our cable wire.

I took both the cloth and the female out about an hour after I took that photo, which was about 20 minutes after my internet went down, and my male is now in the tank with the plants, I'll take another photo as soon as I find that wire for my camera.

 

[jkun17]

I released the female yesterday afternoon and now the two of them are looking a little beat up. There's a loose string of bubbles that is going around the tank instead of under the cup, which might not be too good a sign; I really don't know.

Even though she's pretty torn up, she still follows him around the tank. I think I might have interupted their embracing when I came into my room and flipped on the lights. They looked like they were embracing and then they split off.

Right now they're both hiding in the leaves...

She's hiding completely under them while my male is poking his head out.

There's a picture of the female's fins. The Male is nipped a bit, but I can't get a clear picture of him.

There's a picture of the nest.

 

[jkun17]

Oh wow... the female is biting back... HARD.

There is no longer any sign of a nest, no eggs and the female has been seriously harassing my male. His fins are totalled. I don't know what I did wrong.

When I first put the female in, she was instantly bowing forward in front of the male. But I suppose it didn't work out. Must be marital problems.

Anyway, I gave up on the spawn. It just wasn't gonna happen. I think I'll go back to the store and see if I can find a more mature male. My theory is that the male I have is too young and that he didn't know what to do. I'll ask if they have an old male half-moon I could buy for my next spawn... preferable one who has already had a sucessful spawn in the past.

Thanks anyway, guys.

 

[cutechic]

Sorry to hear about the way the spawn turned out. Just think of it this way: it was a great learning experience, and I'm sure you'll have better success on your next spawn.

 

[jkun17]

Sorry to hear about the way the spawn turned out. Just think of it this way: it was a great learning experience, and I'm sure you'll have better success on your next spawn.

You're probably right.

I wont try anything until after Thanksgiving weekend at the earliest. I'm going away for a few days and I don't want to totally screw up my fishies.