I have a fat female pygmy killie and several males in a tank with young bluespotted sunnies. I am going to take the female and one (?) male and put them in a 2.5 unfiltered tank with tons of java moss. And here is my too long list of questions:

Will they eat fry, or can I just leave them in there to produce little ones?
Do they need soft, slightly acid water for eggs to hatch, or would they hatch better in water with some mineral content added?
If they do eat fry, should I take them out after a day, or two, or ten?
Will the fry need something smaller than bbs and baby daphnia to eat?
Will they need a heater to breed, or to hatch?
Should I add more than one male?
Do they need something special to trigger spawning?
how long until the eggs hatch?
Is there anything I forgot to worry about?

Edited by brynneth, 14 June 2010 - 04:12 PM.

I can probably guide you through the process, but it would help if I knew what we are dealing with. Do you know what the Latin name is?

I can probably guide you through the process, but it would help if I knew what we are dealing with. Do you know what the Latin name is?

Oh, sorry, I feel silly. I have a group of five Leptolucania ommata, three males and two females. One of the females is fat and clearly egg-full while the other is pretty skinny and I am focusing on fattening her up right now.

I actually just found a little more info. Apparently the fry need infusoria. Thats just green water with yummy microbugs, yes?

this is what I found: http://www.planet-pe...killi_lepto.htm
Its kind of sparse and I still dont know how accurate it is.

It has been years (over 25) since I've had them but I set up a 10 gallom aquarium with an undergravel filter and lots of plants. I used Java Moss, Pygmy Chain Sword plants and Hornworth with a cover of Duckweed. I fed the adults newly hatched brine shrimp and just watched the fry grow up in the tank. About every 2 weeks I would try to get the larger fry out because they would try to eat the smaller ones. I never noticed the adults eating them but you could see the larger fry chasing the smaller ones. I also used a mixture of distilled water and our tap water to make softer water for them (today I would use reverse osmosis water). I may have also added boiled peatmoss to acidify the water some. I raised a fair number of fry that way and the tank was always nice to look at especially when the sunlight came through the window in the evening, the fish just glowed. I have used setups like this for Clown Killies, Neolebias species, Croaking and Licorice Gouramis and some Dwarf Rainbowfish. Setups like this will usually work well for almost any small egglayers with small fry. Good luck with them.

It has been years (over 25) since I've had them but I set up a 10 gallom aquarium with an undergravel filter and lots of plants. I used Java Moss, Pygmy Chain Sword plants and Hornworth with a cover of Duckweed. I fed the adults newly hatched brine shrimp and just watched the fry grow up in the tank. About every 2 weeks I would try to get the larger fry out because they would try to eat the smaller ones. I never noticed the adults eating them but you could see the larger fry chasing the smaller ones. I also used a mixture of distilled water and our tap water to make softer water for them (today I would use reverse osmosis water). I may have also added boiled peatmoss to acidify the water some. I raised a fair number of fry that way and the tank was always nice to look at especially when the sunlight came through the window in the evening, the fish just glowed. I have used setups like this for Clown Killies, Neolebias species, Croaking and Licorice Gouramis and some Dwarf Rainbowfish. Setups like this will usually work well for almost any small egglayers with small fry. Good luck with them.

Thank you, one last question. Did you heat them to induce breeding, or keep them at room temperature?

No but we were renting the upstairs of a double house and it got very warm up there during the summer. I don't recall the temps, but they were probably spawning at about 75 degrees. The one time I collected them the males were all colored up and the water was very warm.

Take a widemouthed jar to a pond. Grab some plants from the pond, and scrape them against the inside lip of the jar. Repeat several times until the water in the jar is green and murky.

Go home. Put the jar down and let it settle a few hours. You'll find a layer of super-green water under a layer of clear water. Carefully pour off the clear water, and the remaining "greenwater concentrate" makes an outstanding food for the fry of most fish, slam full of nutritious goodness.

Turn off the pumps in the fry tank, and about ten minutes later, pour a wee bit of this greenwater concentrate over the fish. They'll have a ball swimming through it and eating as they go. Give them a half hour, then turn the pumps on again. Repeat every couple of hours for a week, and the fish will be big enough to eat other stuff.

Leptolucania is one of those fish that usually insists on live foods, but after 5 days of greenwater, if you start adding finely ground-onto-flour flake food to it, they might start to recognize it as food. the flour will float on the surface, but when the pumps are reactivated, it will sink, providing the fish with "dessert." This method works very very well with most small larvae, and might work on L.ommata. I hope it does. L.ommata that eats flakefood would be a wonderful thing to have.

Take a widemouthed jar to a pond. Grab some plants from the pond, and scrape them against the inside lip of the jar. Repeat several times until the water in the jar is green and murky.

Go home. Put the jar down and let it settle a few hours. You'll find a layer of super-green water under a layer of clear water. Carefully pour off the clear water, and the remaining "greenwater concentrate" makes an outstanding food for the fry of most fish, slam full of nutritious goodness.

Turn off the pumps in the fry tank, and about ten minutes later, pour a wee bit of this greenwater concentrate over the fish. They'll have a ball swimming through it and eating as they go. Give them a half hour, then turn the pumps on again. Repeat every couple of hours for a week, and the fish will be big enough to eat other stuff.

Leptolucania is one of those fish that usually insists on live foods, but after 5 days of greenwater, if you start adding finely ground-onto-flour flake food to it, they might start to recognize it as food. the flour will float on the surface, but when the pumps are reactivated, it will sink, providing the fish with "dessert." This method works very very well with most small larvae, and might work on L.ommata. I hope it does. L.ommata that eats flakefood would be a wonderful thing to have.

Thanks so much for the detail. I can actually manage that. Storing the stuff might become a problem, though. I dont have a nearby body of water that I trust with my fry. I guess I can stand to go hiking a few days in a row, though Also do these guys not normally eat flake? My adults were tasting it. Obviously they prefer daphnia and blackworms, but they seemed willing-ish to consider flake.

@lotsapets, thanks. I may need to heat them in my house, then. My boyfriend thinks its comfortable to keep the temperature at 68 degrees at all times.

Thanks so much for the detail. I can actually manage that. Storing the stuff might become a problem, though. I dont have a nearby body of water that I trust with my fry. I guess I can stand to go hiking a few days in a row, though Also do these guys not normally eat flake? My adults were tasting it. Obviously they prefer daphnia and blackworms, but they seemed willing-ish to consider flake.

@lotsapets, thanks. I may need to heat them in my house, then. My boyfriend thinks its comfortable to keep the temperature at 68 degrees at all times.

I make greenwater by crushing a few pieces of lettuce until it is all mushy and then put it in a jar of water in the sun. I have three big jars brewing right now.
After a few days I have greenwater.
I do not heat my tanks, but during the summer and fall my pygmy's breed like crazy!

I make greenwater by crushing a few pieces of lettuce until it is all mushy and then put it in a jar of water in the sun. I have three big jars brewing right now.
After a few days I have greenwater.
I do not heat my tanks, but during the summer and fall my pygmy's breed like crazy!

Neat, well I will be setting up a breeding tank for them today, and I have greenwater cooking in a bucket outside, and some jars on my windowsill with teeny tiny little bugs and daphnia I can barely see. I am also considering putting a second pair of killies in a five gallon bucket of daphnia and java moss outside, just to see who breeds the most. I wouldnt want to accidentally cook them, though.
Thanks to everybody and I will try and post pictures of any fry.

I breed a lot of killies and other species with very small fry. You can make your own green water but an easier method is to use only aged aquariums with a layer of mulm on the bottom. Snails such as the trapdoor snails will eat the vegetation and algae on the walls and soon a rich soup develops. My killi tanks for breeding are filled with Java Fern, Riccia, hornworth, and Najas. I will add several floating mops for top spawners or special bottom mops for bottom spawners. Trios are good (male and 2 females). I keep green water in my lab so I have ready supply. Check some of the Aquaculture suppliers for directions and culture and "food". If it dosen't work at first keep trying. One of the most common mistakes is to start breeding with very young fish. These may or not be ready to start a family. LOL Read and study your fish and then feed them a variety of foods living and flake. Just be persistant.

Good luck,

Stan Perkins
NANFA, AKA, BKA, ALA, BLA, SAS

NANFA, AKA, BKA, ALA, BLA, SAS

Wassamatta, doan like Cichlids?