how to get ornates to breed?

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R

rasdbo

420man
MFK Member
Dec 29, 2005
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near purple indo lake
i have three ornates two girls and a boy, all three are about 12"'s in length. the question is the male and one female have paired off for the last 4 months, what conditions do i need to help them breed or/and do i have to wait longer because they are only a year old now. would love to breed them and will give them their own tank if thats what they need to have. any suggestions will help. thanks crew!!:nilly: :popcorn: :headbang2 :drool:
 
congrats but yeah i think you need to wait longer. i think they need to be at least around 17" or so before there can be successful breeding. i haven't bred them personally, but i think thats roughly how big they are from hearing people who have...

just for reference, i was reading this endli endli breeding article written from way back, probably before all this large-scale farm breeding, the fish started out at about 8", and it was 5.5 yrs before the first spawning occured, at which point the fish were about 20". unfortunately the first spawn was unsuccessful...
 
I have the article!

brb i have to look in my stuff real fast.
 
The basics I do have stuff to add about larval polypterids later
I have seen this courtship behavior in P. polli and P. delhezi and P. senegalus and P endlicheri.I find this the most interesting part of the the mating ritual as it is shared by most members of the Polypteridae family. Courtship begins by the male breaching the surface from once to several times.followed by him arching his body putting up his dorsal finlets in full display and slowly descending through the water to the female. Coming up from behind her he gently nudges her sideways with a series of headbutts and gentle nips while the female remains motionless as the male gently caress'sthe females ovipositor area with his anal fin till eggs are released .He uses his anal fins which are now shaped like a cup to capture the eggs, fertilizes them and releases them then the process begin again.This may go on for several days.
THE FISH - Sexually mature male and female.While bichirs can be sexed at 7-8 inches.It may take a year to six years to reach full sexual maturity depending on the species this is shown on the males by a greatly swollen anal fin and on some species a dark border on the anal fins margin.On the females which are generaly larger than the males you hould notice a swelling of the abdomen.this is caused by the eggs of which there can be be over 300.Those species found sexually mature at 1-2 years include P.senegalus, P. polli others such as P.ornatipinnis and P.endlicheri at 4-6 years of age.
THE TANKS-One should have a soft sandy substrate and several low bushy plants such as
Java fern (Microsorium pteropus)This is the breeding tank.This is where the eggs will be laid (hopefully) and a good secure cover (see courtship above). The second tank for hatching and raising the fry. This tank should have no substrate and use sponge flters.
THERE IS NO GUARANTEE this will work on a consistent basis.large breeders on fish farms often use hormones to induce breeding.
The Process- I've seen courtship behavior after a regular water change. However lets try and simulate more natural enviroment .I could just have frisky fish, during the dry season the water temps are in the high 60's to low 70's with a PH value avg. 6.0. But come the rainy season temperatures increase to as much as 84 to 86 degrees with the PH increasing to to closer to 7.0 and the water softness increases,So in order to try to duplicate this we add softer water (distilled) and raise the tempurature to mid 80's that should start the mating process providing all parties are ready and willing there was a mention of adding several drops of saltwater adding trace elements which encourages breeding .
The hatching tank-When the mating is concluded remove the plants with the eggs or any eggs you may find scattered about as quickly as possible and place them in the hatching tank .This tank should be kept at 82 degrees with a PH value between 6.5 and 7.0.If things have gone well you should see hatching within 60-90 hours . The young resemble tadpoles and will adhere to
plants and rocks , and live off yolk sacs for approx 6-7 days after which they will need feeding.
Foods include
baby brine shrimp
finely chopped bloodworms
mysis shrimp .
It is sadly at this time death rates increase do to fighting and canibalism if possible the fry should be seperated in individual containers for several weeks or raised in a tank with lots of
Java fern (Microsorium pteropus)to hide from eachother . Once they reach approx.4 cm the odds of survival increase

Its from this girl anne. Thanks.
 
I been meaning to add stuff to this since before July one day i'll actually add it lol-Anne
 
THEY might get wifey's 55g and she might get school's 90g, hey we need build our won stands over the summer for the tanks!!:nilly: :ROFL: :WHOA:
 
I heard about a guy that had a pair of ornates. They never got larger then 10" and start to breed when they where about 10 years old. Before breeding he didn't changed water for a month and no food either. After a month he changed the water and gave them lots of food, live and thawed, and they start breeding. Even other difficult fishes start to breed after this procedure.
 
if ur ornates breed thats some serious cash
 
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