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Breeding Weather Loaches - pic heavy
Posted: Tue Apr 09, 2013 8:11 pm
by hypnoticmonki
Hiya, newbie to the forum
....had to find a forum to share my story. I have had my first weather loach for over two years and my second loach for one year. They have lived happily in an aquarium together for the past year, i also have 9 minnows, 1 plec and a shrimp (came free in the minnow bag - cant complain). We have recently moved some goldfish out of the tank, into their own and decided to do a water change. We did this recently and put the loaches/plec back in, slightly colder than normal, however i came down this morning to find eggs all over the tank, stuck to plants, the sides, heater etc etc
I was astounded and very pleased. My loaches are so clever and my fella for getting the conditions just right, they have successfully mated. I am sad i missed the ritual taking place, but have taken pictures to document from now. I am hoping we have baby loaches in no time, and have taken preventative steps, towards Best (plec) eating them all. I do have 3 questions, 1..what colour should the eggs be if they are successfully fertilized as some are still opaque yet some have turned slightly blue....and 2..has anyone else done this successfully.....and 3.. how long do they take to hatch, conflict research says 3-5 days then 36 hours ?? Seems i have a knack, as i had 1 African Land Snail and that bred with itself, meaning we ended up with 33, still happily growing babies. Any thoughts, advice, questions, comment etc would be more than welcome...I have included some pictures of the eggs and tank
Thanks
Jayne
The one on the right is my first loach and is the female
My free shrimp
Close up - awesome picture, shows eggs
Best :0)
Eggs
Still need to add to it yet, more plants and fish, once i know the outcome of the baby loaches
Lots of eggs, lets hope we have babies soon
Re: Breeding Weather Loaches - pic heavy
Posted: Tue Apr 09, 2013 11:23 pm
by DainBramage1991
Very cool!
You might want to put a sponge over the filter inlet to keep it from sucking up the little ones.
Please keep us updated.
Re: Breeding Weather Loaches - pic heavy
Posted: Wed Apr 10, 2013 4:31 am
by hypnoticmonki
Re: Breeding Weather Loaches - pic heavy
Posted: Wed Apr 10, 2013 4:32 am
by hypnoticmonki
have heeded the sponge advice, thank you
Loach Babies whoop.....loads of pics
Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2013 8:01 am
by hypnoticmonki
Hi all, well this had been an adventure....I didnt have a loach hatch within 36hrs, that was just me being overexcited
however, night i noticed a considerable difference within the eggs. Some had gone white and furry, which were unfertilized, however some remained see through and you can actually see the baby fry, inside the egg...awesome
I was on here to update you last night and my fella shouted me, he a spotted a live one !!! after observing for a while, we saw 4 but sadly so did the minnows, fresh food hmmp, was miffed to say the least....We have now stuck a pint glass over an egg cluster on a little tree and when awaking this morning we had over 20 little ones, swimming around the pint
We now need to figure out how to feed them, but the fella clever, he will suss it. Pictures below
Thanks for reading my story, updates will follow.
White eggs are unfertilized, but you can clearly see the fry ready to hatch
Baby fry
Lots of baby fry
Re: Breeding Weather Loaches - pic heavy
Posted: Sun Apr 14, 2013 12:49 pm
by Dojosmama
First, congratulations!
My advice is to remove all, and I mean ALL other fish (even the minnows) from the tank, and also the shrimp, so there's nothing in there that can prey on the eggs or fry when they hatch.
I don't know if dojo parents eat their own fry, but once they hatch, you might want to either remove the parents or partition off the tank they're in and capture as many of the fry as possible on one side of the partition while leaving the parents on the other side, just as a precaution.
Obtain fry food from your LFS and administer it to the fry with an eyedropper. They'll need lots and lots to eat. Of course, you'll also want to continue feeding the parents and (now relocated) other fish and shrimp.
Some others here might have additional advice about maintaining a separate fry tank, which might be your best way to go.
First and foremost, remove potential predators.
And again, congrats! It isn't easy to breed weather loaches.
--Dojosmama
Re: Breeding Weather Loaches - pic heavy
Posted: Sun Apr 14, 2013 4:06 pm
by hypnoticmonki
Re: Breeding Weather Loaches - pic heavy
Posted: Sun Apr 14, 2013 9:33 pm
by Dojosmama
Now you'll need to focus on feeding them properly, and keeping their environment clean and well maintained.
Dojos, both fry and adults, are notorious escape artists. All tanks in which they reside should have tight lids on them, and all openings in the top, such as those surrounding equipment, should be sealed off with duct tape. Even if the openings look too small for them to escape through, dojos will manage to get out, somehow. Especially baby dojos, but the big ones can, too.
Much success with this. And please continue to keep us posted.
-- Dojosmama