A Russian fishkeeper has reported a successful spawning of, Chromobotia macracanthus.
Mihajlov Oleg from Ivanovo, Russia, bred his Clown loaches last month and currently has hundreds of five-week old fry which have just started to take on adult colouration.
However, unlike previously documented spawnings, Oleg bred his fish completely artificially.
The adult brood stock, which were around eight years old, consisted of a single female and two males, which ranged in size from 12-15cm/5-6”.
Oleg told Practical Fishkeeping that he has been trying to breed the species in this way for the past two years. However, the quality of the eggs produced by the female had not been of sufficient quality and several previous spawnings failed.
This time the female produced a few thousand of eggs and a few hundred of these were fertilised successfully.
The eggs were hatched artificially in an incubator into which air bubbles were injected. The eggs started to hatch after 18 hours at 26.5 degrees Celsius, and the fry started to eat Artemia nauplii just one day later.
Oleg told Practical Fishkeeping that the fry started to develop four vertical stripes by the second day, and that the fourth stripe starts to disappear as the fish get older, leaving the distinctive three-striped pattern of the adult.
The brood stock, which were obtained from suppliers in Singapore, were kept in a 200 litre aquarium with soft water (GH 8, KH 4).
Initially, Oleg kept six fishes in the tank but eventually selected the best three, based on their reproductive abilities.
Hormone induced spawning
The use of hormones to induce spawning in fish is a strategy rarely used by fishkeepers, and should only be attempted by trained professionals.
Hormone induced spawning is widely used in aquaculture and by many commercial fish farmers to allow them to spawn difficult fishes that would otherwise be very challenging to breed; a range of difficult-to-breed fish species sold in the aquarium trade are believed to be produced in this manner.
Oleg told Practical Fishkeeping that he is using the same hormone induced spawning technique to breed Synodontis, Labeo, Botia and other difficult species. He has already successfully used the technique to breed four other loach species, including Botia almorhae (formerly lohachata).
Matt Clarke: PFK.
Mihajlov Oleg from Ivanovo, Russia, bred his Clown loaches last month and currently has hundreds of five-week old fry which have just started to take on adult colouration.
However, unlike previously documented spawnings, Oleg bred his fish completely artificially.
The adult brood stock, which were around eight years old, consisted of a single female and two males, which ranged in size from 12-15cm/5-6”.
Oleg told Practical Fishkeeping that he has been trying to breed the species in this way for the past two years. However, the quality of the eggs produced by the female had not been of sufficient quality and several previous spawnings failed.
This time the female produced a few thousand of eggs and a few hundred of these were fertilised successfully.
The eggs were hatched artificially in an incubator into which air bubbles were injected. The eggs started to hatch after 18 hours at 26.5 degrees Celsius, and the fry started to eat Artemia nauplii just one day later.
Oleg told Practical Fishkeeping that the fry started to develop four vertical stripes by the second day, and that the fourth stripe starts to disappear as the fish get older, leaving the distinctive three-striped pattern of the adult.
The brood stock, which were obtained from suppliers in Singapore, were kept in a 200 litre aquarium with soft water (GH 8, KH 4).
Initially, Oleg kept six fishes in the tank but eventually selected the best three, based on their reproductive abilities.
Hormone induced spawning
The use of hormones to induce spawning in fish is a strategy rarely used by fishkeepers, and should only be attempted by trained professionals.
Hormone induced spawning is widely used in aquaculture and by many commercial fish farmers to allow them to spawn difficult fishes that would otherwise be very challenging to breed; a range of difficult-to-breed fish species sold in the aquarium trade are believed to be produced in this manner.
Oleg told Practical Fishkeeping that he is using the same hormone induced spawning technique to breed Synodontis, Labeo, Botia and other difficult species. He has already successfully used the technique to breed four other loach species, including Botia almorhae (formerly lohachata).
Matt Clarke: PFK.
