| 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.
Water should be slightly acidic for breeding. Provide some floating plants
in the tank which the males uses for building the nest. 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 wrap itself around the female for
short bursts of time 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. Ensure that
the water pH is slightly below 7.0 for the fry tank.
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