I currently am keeping four Schistura sp.(not sure exactly what species) in a 20g tall. There is sand and river rocks for substrate, along with some larger rocks, driftwood, and some java fern and crypts. The filtration is a small sump, with about 600 gph. The tank is kept at room temp (70-74*F.) Ammonia-0, nitrite-0, and nitrate is around 20ppm. In 18 years of fishkeeping, I've never tested for ph, so I don't know what its at.
The tankmates are two horse-face loaches and one butterfly loach (I will be adding more when I find them.) I've mostly been feeding them live blackworms and flakes.
Im 95% sure that one of them is developing eggs, as it's much thicker than the others. It could just be fat from eating, but its not just a bulge where the stomach is, the whole abdomen is noticably larger than the others. Two of the others are quite a bit darker than the others, and are developing a rosey coloration on their bellies. I've also seen the fat one in a cave with one of the darker ones, which is odd because normally they chase each other out of their hiding spots.
So now to my question...I'm pretty sure that I'm seeing some kind of spawning behavior, but pretty much everything I've read about these guys says they havent been bred in the home aquarium, so what do you think? Have you heard anything about them breeding? I will try to get some video of them when I get home from work.
The tankmates are two horse-face loaches and one butterfly loach (I will be adding more when I find them.) I've mostly been feeding them live blackworms and flakes.
Im 95% sure that one of them is developing eggs, as it's much thicker than the others. It could just be fat from eating, but its not just a bulge where the stomach is, the whole abdomen is noticably larger than the others. Two of the others are quite a bit darker than the others, and are developing a rosey coloration on their bellies. I've also seen the fat one in a cave with one of the darker ones, which is odd because normally they chase each other out of their hiding spots.
So now to my question...I'm pretty sure that I'm seeing some kind of spawning behavior, but pretty much everything I've read about these guys says they havent been bred in the home aquarium, so what do you think? Have you heard anything about them breeding? I will try to get some video of them when I get home from work.
