Breeding Ornates
- Thread starter Shopko
- Start date
Just got some live black worms at lunch. Daphnia work well instead of brine shrimp nauplii, but good suggestion. Will let you know if they are eating.
I will have to check my notes at home, but the 4mm is only a few days old, the 2cm is probably about 2 weeks old. It also depends on what they were eating in the breeder tank. I feed the big guys massive carnivore pellets chopped in quarters. There is not much excess, but when I see evidence of spawning behavior I add a pinch of spectrum small fish food. Could be a small population of white worms in breeder tank as well, but I havn't seen it. Anyway, will try worms when off work. Speaking of......I need to get back to work. Thanks again for the comments.
I will have to check my notes at home, but the 4mm is only a few days old, the 2cm is probably about 2 weeks old. It also depends on what they were eating in the breeder tank. I feed the big guys massive carnivore pellets chopped in quarters. There is not much excess, but when I see evidence of spawning behavior I add a pinch of spectrum small fish food. Could be a small population of white worms in breeder tank as well, but I havn't seen it. Anyway, will try worms when off work. Speaking of......I need to get back to work. Thanks again for the comments.
Sexing Polypterus ornatipinnis. Sexing is pretty easy when the Ornates are larger (over 10 in). I have attached two pictures from AQUALOG: Polypterus; Flosselhechte - bichirs, by Frank Schafer (2004).
The first image is of a male. Take a look at the anal fin. The anal fin is large and "thick." The first spine of the anal fin is at least 1/2 the total length of the fin. The large fin is believed to assist in the act of copulation. The male uses this fin to cover the femail cloaca (like a dish) so that as the eggs emerge, they are fertilized.
The anal fin of the female is much smaller.
Hope this helps.
References:
- AQUALOG: Polypterus; Flosselhechte - bichirs, by Frank Schafer (2004)
- Jurassic Fishes, by Haruto Kodera, TFH Pub 1994 (originally published in Japanese by Marine Pub Co under title "Ancient Fishes" (1992)
- Ichthyol. Explor. Freshwatrs, Vol 9, No 4. pp 325-334, Dec 1998 (On the reproduction and early devleopment of Erpetoichthys calabaricus, Polypterus senegalus, and Polypterus ornatipinnis, by Ralf Britz and Peter Bartsch.
The first image is of a male. Take a look at the anal fin. The anal fin is large and "thick." The first spine of the anal fin is at least 1/2 the total length of the fin. The large fin is believed to assist in the act of copulation. The male uses this fin to cover the femail cloaca (like a dish) so that as the eggs emerge, they are fertilized.
The anal fin of the female is much smaller.
Hope this helps.
References:
- AQUALOG: Polypterus; Flosselhechte - bichirs, by Frank Schafer (2004)
- Jurassic Fishes, by Haruto Kodera, TFH Pub 1994 (originally published in Japanese by Marine Pub Co under title "Ancient Fishes" (1992)
- Ichthyol. Explor. Freshwatrs, Vol 9, No 4. pp 325-334, Dec 1998 (On the reproduction and early devleopment of Erpetoichthys calabaricus, Polypterus senegalus, and Polypterus ornatipinnis, by Ralf Britz and Peter Bartsch.
