1 reply to this topic

[Tannerh]

Hey all, I have done some fish breeding in the past and have an indoor setup that I plan to use for crappie breeding for an advanced high school biology project. I have done tons of research on this topic and have noticed a few things in the process that seem difficult which I have questions on. The first is inducing spawning indoors. I have read that in order to induce the crappie to spawn, prespawn fish stocked at a male to female sex ratio of 5:1 must be acclimated for one week at the same temperature as the water from which they originally came, then the water must be raised to breeding temp (60.8-68 degrees Fahrenheit) and the photoperiod adjusted from 16 hours dark 8 hours light to 8 hours dark 16 hours light gradually over the course of another week. The first issue I have with this is that I live in Southern California and the water from which the crappie will be collected is 68-70 degrees in the winter. How should I approach the temperature change in this circumstance? The second large issue is wether to strip spawn the fish or to let them breed in the tank. If the strip spawning route is more effective, I know that male crappie cannot be stripped and have to be dissected and the testes ground up, however I am unsure of how to do this procedure. If the tank spawning procedure is more effective, then what would the procedure look like? Would I leave the broodstock in the tank or remove them after they spawn? What would I place in the tank for the crappie to spawn on (gravel bed, spawning mop, etc.)? And how long would I leave the fry in the tank after hatching? I have also read that mcdonald type hatching jars are most effective at crappie egg incubation with 90% of eggs hatching, is this the most effective form of egg incubation? The third issue is feeding larvae crappie. I read a study where wild larval crappie gut contents were examined and rotifers were present, however, I also read that in a different study, rotifers were offered to crappie larvae but they did not eat. I have a live feeding setup capable of producing phytoplankton, rotifers and brine shrimp. Are rotifers the best feed for larval crappie, or is there another more effective food source that I should use. Thanks in advance for the help, this is certainly a difficult project and I appreciate all the help I can get. 

[centrarchid]

Where are you getting all of this information?