Synodontis Petricola Breeding

[helterskelter]

Well try NHBS, as if little disturbance to the water flow, it will swim in the lower levels of the water and gather in corners makeing it easy for fry to pick at it.

 

[smithrc]

Well try NHBS, as if little disturbance to the water flow, it will swim in the lower levels of the water and gather in corners makeing it easy for fry to pick at it.

Thats most of my problem - sucking the eggs out of the flowerpot means shifting quite a bit of water... its too turbluant in the trap... the moss is helping but the food etc just gets tangled in the moss and the fry cant get to it...

 

[helterskelter]

Well surly fry will also be finding some natural food on the java moss.

How about another trap, move the eggs to a quite corner and trap more eggs in the other.... if that works then you may need several traps!!!!!!!

 

[fishfishfish]

so hows this been going?

 

[andyj]

Russ,

Found these links for 'egg tumblers' might be useful for your Syno eggs and fry...

http/www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/tumbling_eggs.php

http/www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/diy_tumbler.php

http/www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/egg_tumbler_2.php

 

[smithrc]

I'm liking the last link... no air pump noise

My problem it the amount of poop that the contraption is sucking in with the eggs...
when I try to clean out the trap - it takes me over an hour to try and separate poop from fry and eggs...

 

[smithrc]

right folks time for an update...

I changed the collection "trap" a few months back. Its now an ice cream tub with a filter foam along the front - its angled slightly so that as the water goes in - it flows out through the filter foam this combined with the java moss its filled with are doing a great job of collecting eggs, and keeping them away from poop etc. Its working and have seen lots of tiny fry but I've not been checking it at all just lately (like last 6 weeks or so), Until last night when there was a rather odd coincidence of fate...

I scared our Congo tetras in the dark lastnight as i walked past the tank (they are wimps)... A lot of splashing like normal but something was odd - the splashing carried on once I'd left eh room to feed the other tanks. I went back in and all was quiet... but i could only find 9 Congos - we have 11 - well had 11.

I checked the trap (by removing it) and found a rather nasty dead congo in there
took the trap to the loo and it turns out that the splashing had been one of the adult males had jumped out of the water and landed in the fry trap. he was hiding under the sponge and decided to scare the poop out of me.

any way to cut this rather long story short(er) we have 2x 1/2" syno petricolas in the trap

However - I have a horrible feeling that this is all that was left after the first congo got trapped.... there are about a dozen small fry so it doesn't make sense that only 2 have grown up...

So the bad news is that we lost a Congo (and probably some fry) but the good news is that the new trap is working and we have big fry

I'll get some photos tonight - I'm going to move them to the zebra tank tonight - to keep the fry in that trap company

 

[jayjay]

Congratulations on the fry; if they do start breeding on a larger scale, will you be selling the fry, not raising them or keeping them?

 

[smithrc]

probublly keeping them if the numbers are low...

they are great fish and I whould hate to end up with non in a few years when they die of old age

If they do get on ok - then there will be some getting sold

 

[stang1]

Sorry for the loss of your Congo but congratulations on your fry!
Look forward to pics!

 

[fishfishfish]

sorry bout the loss but at least u have some fry.how big are ur breeders?

 

[jollysue]

Great thread. I have dwarf pets that I believe are getting jiggy. We have been discussing tumblers in the Cory section, too.

By the way, Big Congrats on success and tenacity.

 

[CAC]

Just read this thread, really interesting.
Have they been bred before/often in captivity?

 

[smithrc]

Hi all...

I never managed to get pictures of the larger fry - the next day when I went to move them - they were gone ??

I hope they got into the tank and soon we'll see 2 small synos joining in the adults games...

They have been bred before - I got our adults as 1" juviniles about 2 years ago now...

 

[QuotheRaven]

Lucky Bas....Petricola's are worth at least $80 for a juvi in Aus...and thats when they are imported which is rare!