i've just recently become a member and want to know if there ever has been successful breeding of ornate birchir or any birchir for that matter?
ornate birchir
- Thread starter Michael 125
- Start date
Ornate bichirs, Senegals, and Palmas, I believe have been bred in captivity. Also, I think the Endlicheris, also, I have heard. Mostly from Japan, but are duplicated by other countries.
Although it was on accident, I have a good freind that spawned ornatapinnis. (my favorite polypturus) He had them about 8 years so they were at least that old, about 2' long each in about a 250 gallon indoor "pond". His koi spawned that spring and in the fall he was culling out the uglies and fed them off to the ornatapinnis. He fed them real heavy for about 6 weeks, like wise he had to clean the "pond" alot more during this time as well (major water changes). After running out of feeder kio, the ornattapinnis tank went back to it's usual routine of feeding pellets & performing maintenance on it every two weeks. At the next time for cleaning, he notice that he had forgot to plug the heaters in the last time he serviced the pond so the temp had dropped down into the high 60's and had been that way for about 2 weeks. He cleaned the system as usual, plugged the heaters back in and they spawned in a few days. He wasn't prepaired for this & didn't really know what the proper grow out method is for these guys. He put most the fry in small tanks (20 longs I believe) and fed & water changed them daily. He got about 3 dozen that were big enough to sell. ( I got a couple of them)We assume that the combination of heavy feeding, a cool down period and a warming trend triggered the spawn. On a sad note, a few months after the spawn, one of them jumped out and died, he never has tried again.....
Breeding for one species is thouhgt to be the same for all species
BICHIR BREEDING
Breeding seasons in the wild
Of species I could find listed on fishbase.org
Polypterus senegalus senegalus
June and July -CHAD,-- basin
August, thru Oct. -Gambia,-- gambia river
Aug. thru Nov. -Senegal,-- lower senegal river
June thru Nov. -CHAD ,--no location given
May and June, --upper white nile river
there seems to be no mating from Dec. thru April in the wild or at least not reported or
recorded.
P.Bichir bichir March thru November in-CHAD
P.lapradeiJuly thru Sept in- GAMBIA
P.lapradei July thru Oct -- senegal river
P.delhezi - no reports
P.endlicheri--May thru Aug --cotre d'lvoire- Bandama river
P.endlicheri--Sept-Oct -Chad-Chad basin
P.endlicheri--July-Aug-Sudan --White nile river, Khartoum
P.endlicheri--July-Nov-Chad
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COURTSHIP
I have seen this courtship behavior in P. polli and P. delhezi and P. senegalus 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 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 -Anne
Sources include
jurassic fish--Kodera et al
aqualog Polypterus--Frank Schafer
fishbase.org
BICHIR BREEDING
Breeding seasons in the wild
Of species I could find listed on fishbase.org
Polypterus senegalus senegalus
June and July -CHAD,-- basin
August, thru Oct. -Gambia,-- gambia river
Aug. thru Nov. -Senegal,-- lower senegal river
June thru Nov. -CHAD ,--no location given
May and June, --upper white nile river
there seems to be no mating from Dec. thru April in the wild or at least not reported or
recorded.
P.Bichir bichir March thru November in-CHAD
P.lapradeiJuly thru Sept in- GAMBIA
P.lapradei July thru Oct -- senegal river
P.delhezi - no reports
P.endlicheri--May thru Aug --cotre d'lvoire- Bandama river
P.endlicheri--Sept-Oct -Chad-Chad basin
P.endlicheri--July-Aug-Sudan --White nile river, Khartoum
P.endlicheri--July-Nov-Chad
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
COURTSHIP
I have seen this courtship behavior in P. polli and P. delhezi and P. senegalus 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 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 -Anne
Sources include
jurassic fish--Kodera et al
aqualog Polypterus--Frank Schafer
fishbase.org
