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breeding elassoma species

Started by Guest_skalartor_* , Jan 04 2011 05:16 AM

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13 replies to this topic

#1 Guest_skalartor_*

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Posted 04 January 2011 - 05:16 AM

hi together,
do you think breeding of elassoma species could be performed with a wool mop as it is done with different kilies? I guess that green or maybe brownish wool could replace javamoss. has anyone experience with this?
torben

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#2 Guest_skalartor_*

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Posted 04 January 2011 - 05:18 AM

by the way: what kind of food do you think is the best for elassoma larvae to keep them alive during their early days?

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#3 Guest_Dustin_*

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Posted 04 January 2011 - 09:57 AM

I have bred okefenokee, evergladei, zonatum, okatie and boehlkei though I have never given much effort to raising the fry in numbers. I have used 5 gallon(or smaller tanks) packed with java moss and slowly trickling, well-seasoned sponge filter. In my experience, the new fry pick at the plants and sponge filter for their first foods. I would guess that any food larger than infusoria/paramecia would be too large for them until they are a week or so old. After that, they should take well to BBS or microworms. Mine would take chopped live blackworms at 1/4 inch or so so this is the first food most of mine received other than what they could pick.

I don't see why yarn wouldn't work for this in place of java moss but I would be sure that it is well seasoned so that some sort of food could develop on it.

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#4 Guest_gerald_*

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Posted 04 January 2011 - 11:39 AM

Yes they will use yarn mops, but why not use java moss instead? Mosses need very little light, they will help your water quality, and I'm guessing they provide a better surface for tiny food bugs to grow on. I use a mixed culture of mostly Philodina Rotifers and Paramecium as first food for Elassoma. Other breeders have good results with micro-worms and vinegar-eels (worms).

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#5 Guest_EricaWieser_*

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Posted 04 January 2011 - 03:24 PM

All my fish seem to do is eat and spawn. The males dance around all day long, literally that's all that's on their mind. Yes, they would definitely spawn in wool mops. Or plastic plants. Or anything, really, as long as they were well fed. That's all they think about. XD

Edit: of course, they have no qualms about eating their own young. That's mostly what the dense plants do; hide the babies.

Edit #2: And as for food for the young, they'll eat basically anything that moves and that they can fit in their mouths. They're bottom oriented. If you've ever seen swordtail fry, they immediately swim up to the top of the tank and hang out near the surface. Crushed flake food drifts around on the surface, moving and attracting the young to eat it. But Elassoma fry go to the bottom. Therefore in order for them to be attracted to eat something, it has to move while on the bottom. That's why crushed flake food doesn't really interest them. By the time it hits the bottom, it's all grody and swollen. I've found that Elassoma gilberti fry really really love microworms. The worms wiggle and dance for a full day after being dropped in, meaning that you only have to feed with worms once a day to provide continual food for the Elassoma fry.

Edited by EricaWieser, 04 January 2011 - 03:27 PM.

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#6 Guest_baker46947_*

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Posted 10 February 2011 - 11:42 AM

I have a question on spawning of Elassoma sp. Do they need a patch of matter on the bottom or ,say suspended mosses in the middle water column of a 20 gal long tank?

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#7 Guest_skalartor_*

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Posted 11 February 2011 - 03:49 AM

hi,
in my experience elassoma species prefer dense vegetation at the bottom of the tank. even if they have the choice to spawn in higher areals the eggs will be found near the bottom. so if you have a choice prefer anchored vegetation. if there is no choice suspended moss could work as well.

by the way: because of lacking java moss i tried the yarn mop. result: sufficient. i realized round about 30 small larvae after removing the parents after two weeks.

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#8 Guest_EricaWieser_*

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Posted 11 February 2011 - 08:08 AM

by the way: because of lacking java moss i tried the yarn mop. result: sufficient. i realized round about 30 small larvae after removing the parents after two weeks.

Thank you for posting the results. A lot of times I hear about experiments and then never get the update on how it went. I'm glad it worked out

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#9 Guest_Bob_*

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Posted 11 February 2011 - 10:58 AM

What has worked for me is to put a small tank on a window sill, and load it with java moss and hornwort. They don't need much room--2 1/2 to 5 gallons will work. Throw blackworms in every couple of days or so. The sunlight will turn the water green, and the fry will eat the green water.

Thank you for posting the results. A lot of times I hear about experiments and then never get the update on how it went. I'm glad it worked out

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#10 Guest_baker46947_*

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Posted 16 February 2011 - 04:36 PM

I have a 5.5 gal. in a window, with green water. Can I move a mop into it assuming there are eggs in it? Temps are very close. Does the male ALWAYS get darker when spawning activity takes place?

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#11 Guest_gerald_*

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Posted 16 February 2011 - 06:34 PM

The eggs are not very sticky and may fall out when you lift the mop, so scoop a container under it if you need to move it. I prefer to leave the eggs/fry in the breeding tank and move the adults to another tank. Greenwater might or might not be sufficient food, depending on what zooplankton are in it. The algae itself is not food for Elassoma. Get rotifers or micro/walter/banana-worms if you want to be sure there's suitable fry food.

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#12 Guest_Bob_*

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Posted 17 February 2011 - 10:51 AM

Thanks for the tip, Gerald. In the past, I've just bred them by keeping them on the windowsill. Currently, I've got the whole group in a fifteen gallon, and I've been adding green water from a windowsill shoe box culture of lettuce leaves and dried banana peels. So there's probably lot of other stuff in there, along with the green water.

But with any luck the fry are getting bigger, so your comment reminds me that I need to get a microworm starter from the next killi club meeting.

The eggs are not very sticky and may fall out when you lift the mop, so scoop a container under it if you need to move it. I prefer to leave the eggs/fry in the breeding tank and move the adults to another tank. Greenwater might or might not be sufficient food, depending on what zooplankton are in it. The algae itself is not food for Elassoma. Get rotifers or micro/walter/banana-worms if you want to be sure there's suitable fry food.