I have 8 bluespotted sunfish in a 75 gallon tank with a 3 inch sculpin, a 6 inch creek chub and a little madtom (maybe as many as 3 madtoms, but I don't see them much). Two of the males have been showing good color for several months, but I haven't seen any other evidence of breeding.
About 5 weeks ago I fished some molly fry out of the 50 gallon sump tank and moved them to a growout tank. I noticed one fish looked a little odd, but assumed it had to be either a molly or a feeder guppy. A month later I saw a baby sunfish in the growout tank. I assume all the ones that stayed in the big tank were eaten, but one apparently made it to the top of the tank and was swept over the overflow. I think there were at least two, actually, because I remember seeing two odd-looking fry and only catching one, but the sump is home to a colony of feeder crayfish and guppies that would compete for food, and I see no evidence of the other one surviving.
Can anyone tell me what to look for in terms of breeding behavior, and how best to separate fry if I want to try to breed these? I'm sure there's no hope for survivors if I let the young stay in the big tank, so I'll need a way to remove them. The tank is pretty well full of plants at this point, so it's unlikely I'll be able to control the spawning site much.
Breeding bluespots
Started by
Guest_gzeiger_*
, Oct 02 2014 10:54 PM
2 replies to this topic
#2
littlen
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- NANFA Member
- Washington, D.C.
Posted 03 October 2014 - 09:35 AM
I would personally remove the pair, if possible. Or, at least a trio if you are unsure which one(s) were breeding. The dominant male should be obvious.
It sounds like you have a lot of potential fry-predators in your tank, but managed to produce at least a few offspring. The sump offered some protection but it sounds like you're interested in producing more than just a couple each spawning.
I had success getting a bunch last year by letting 2.2 have a 55gal to themselves with a lot of live plants. That is certainly the key for low-maintenance rearing. Newborn larva are too small to take brine shrimp nauplii but will thrive on the microfauna living on the plants the first week or two. Once they put on a little size, you can net them and transfer them to another tank to offer them more food--more frequently. I never saw the adults actively hunt any of the fry or juveniles. Several fry were left with the adults and were able to compete for food. Obviously offering enough shelter is key.
This is a pic of one of the fry. It was probably 4-5 weeks old at the time.
I never saw the pair spawning either, but did see shallow nests dug out in the sand and eggs lining the bottom of it a few times. Like Lepomis, I imagine courtship and spawning is very similar. The male stayed on the nest.
I used a large, plastic eyedropper to gently suck up fry once they doubled in size after they were free-swimming. (This can certainly test your patience). I would guess a net designed to strain newly hatched artemia would work just as well. I kept my fry in a saddle tank/basket in the breeding tank such that I never had to do water-changes on it as water moved through it passively. It was maybe 8"x4"x4". That way I could feed heavily and not worry about fouling their tank.
Hope that is a good start for you.
It sounds like you have a lot of potential fry-predators in your tank, but managed to produce at least a few offspring. The sump offered some protection but it sounds like you're interested in producing more than just a couple each spawning.
I had success getting a bunch last year by letting 2.2 have a 55gal to themselves with a lot of live plants. That is certainly the key for low-maintenance rearing. Newborn larva are too small to take brine shrimp nauplii but will thrive on the microfauna living on the plants the first week or two. Once they put on a little size, you can net them and transfer them to another tank to offer them more food--more frequently. I never saw the adults actively hunt any of the fry or juveniles. Several fry were left with the adults and were able to compete for food. Obviously offering enough shelter is key.
This is a pic of one of the fry. It was probably 4-5 weeks old at the time.
I never saw the pair spawning either, but did see shallow nests dug out in the sand and eggs lining the bottom of it a few times. Like Lepomis, I imagine courtship and spawning is very similar. The male stayed on the nest.
I used a large, plastic eyedropper to gently suck up fry once they doubled in size after they were free-swimming. (This can certainly test your patience). I would guess a net designed to strain newly hatched artemia would work just as well. I kept my fry in a saddle tank/basket in the breeding tank such that I never had to do water-changes on it as water moved through it passively. It was maybe 8"x4"x4". That way I could feed heavily and not worry about fouling their tank.
Hope that is a good start for you.
Nick L.
#3
Guest_centrarchid_*
Guest_centrarchid_*
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- Guests
Posted 03 October 2014 - 01:11 PM
Look for male to hunker down over substrate and possibly develop barring pattern and to fan. He will also charge other fish from that location. Once such a location and male located, look closely at substrate for eggs. If no eggs then suck up some substrate with a turkey baster or siphon moving sample into a white bowl. Then look for pro-larvae. Another trick I am trying to get student to employ is the provisioning of small bowls with gravel in them for males to adopt as nest sites. Once odd behavior noted, move nest only to another tank and place air-stone in the nest to promote water movement. Blue-spotted sunfish do their business very much like Bantam Sunfish so look into breeding efforts with those.
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