| They are easy to breed and long
conditioning periods are not necessary. You need a 10 Gallon tank with a
tight fitting cover and a mild filter such as a corner box filter. The water
level should be reduced to 6 to 8 inches from the bottom. Tank should not
have any gravel or other bottom material. The male should be introduced first
and within a day it will start building a bubble nest near the top. The female
will have bulging sides indicating that she is plumb with eggs and ready for
mating. On the second day or third day once you see that the male has started
building the nest introduce the female and watch carefully, the breeding tank
need not have any light since they feel more comfortable without light.
Soon the male will start mating and fertilize the eggs being released.
Once this is done the male immediately picks up the eggs and deposits them
in the bubble nest. Again the mating takes place and eggs are picked up
and deposited.
After all eggs have been released the male starts behaving violently towards
the female and attacks her. As soon as you see this remove the female and
put her back in the main tank. Now allow the male to look after the eggs. For
the next two days the male will relentlessly pick up the eggs and blow them
back into the nest and so on. It does not eat normally during this period and
do not feed as the uneaten food can rot at the bottom and spoil the quality
of water. You may try feeding live worms as they do not die so soon even if
they are left uneaten. After 3 days the eggs start hatching and you can see
millions of young tiny fry, yes millions.
The fry use their yolk sack for the first two days and during this period
the male looks after them still picking them up from bottom and blowing them
back into the nest. After two days the fry can be fed with liquid fry food,
boiled egg yolk squeezed through a cloth, or infusoria and after 2 weeks freshly
hatched brine shrimp. Not all will survive, but enough to keep you running
for spare tanks. It is very important that your tank cover be kept closed for
at least three to four weeks until they develop the "labyrinth" organ. The fry
will die if the cover is kept open for long periods of time and the surface
gets chilled. Keep the tank at around 75-78 Deg F.
Once the eggs are laid shut off the filter for a few days as otherwise
many fry can get sucked into the filter. The male can be removed one week
after the fry hatch. Water changes are not a must as the fry do not produce
much waste. You can however remove part of the water using a plastic tube
with the end covered by fine wire mesh and also put back some fresh water
if you feel the water is getting cloudy. You must not over feed if you are
feeding with egg yolk paste as this can rot very easily. Infusoria will not
spoil the water and is the best for the first two weeks. After the fry are
able to take brine shrimps and are swimming well you can start the filter.
By this time they should be able to escape the filer suction.
|