OP, from everything that I have read and researched, clean clean water and don't overfeed - are keys for them to thrive.
Ornatum keepers - I'd like to hear from you
- Thread starter HerCrenVie
- Start date
But surely pH and/or hardness must have a significant role in spawning for this species? Otherwise why have so many keepers, most of whom are people we would expect to maintain high husbandry standards for their fish, failed with breeding ornatum?
Also, the temperature thing surprises me. Over here in tropical Singapore, we don't use heaters or coolers, since room temperature here is perfect for tropical ornamental fish (28-32 degrees in the day). There are a couple of people here who have kept ornatum juveniles for months (or longer) with no issue, at water temperatures of 27-30 degrees Celsius. Fishbase also states 24-27 deg C for the species.
My pair will be in the 5 to 6 inch range, and are wild caught specimens.
Thank you for your input btw; it's so difficult to get reliable information for this species.
Take care with your wild caughts, Hercren.
Only Ornatum i had was wild caught, ate from the first moment, and, as it happens, was full of parasites...
Died two weeks later.
I would imagine that seasonal change in the Andes may have some significance. Mountain thaws and rain may drastically alter water chemistry . If most of the year the rivers run alkaline and warm, but with a thaw and rain pH changes to soft with less mineral content, along with cooler water temps, these events could be spawning triggers.
I plan to do excess rain water changes this spring and summer on my ornatum and other tanks, to see if there are positive reactions.
I collect rain water, and have done this in the past with other species, and found almost instant spawning as a result.
I plan to do excess rain water changes this spring and summer on my ornatum and other tanks, to see if there are positive reactions.
I collect rain water, and have done this in the past with other species, and found almost instant spawning as a result.
Noted. Must have been painful, considering how expensive they are. It's a risk I have to accept though, the chance of parasites. Even the festae that I considered getting are wild caught.Take care with your wild caughts, Hercren.
Only Ornatum i had was wild caught, ate from the first moment, and, as it happens, was full of parasites...
Died two weeks later.
That is a very interesting point/observation. Thanks for sharing. Definitely something to try, these periodic, large additions of cool, soft water.
I really don't want to derail the thread, but Duanes, how do you do this. I am curious.
Not wanting to substitute Duane's reply in any way, i do with cold water, doing the effect of showering at the tip of the hose.
Not rain water, mind, which i do not collect.
Not rain water, mind, which i do not collect.
As you can see, I have 2 X 50gallon rain barrels. I remove 50 - 100 gallons from my tank to the garden, put a pump in the lower barrel and pump the rain water directly into the tank or sump, if the temp difference is not excessive. The top barrel is mostly for settling out junk from the roof. If the rain water is too cold, I can mix it with hot tap water to the sump.
For water changes I plumb PVC directly from the sump, to the garden, turn a valve, and old water goes to the garden instead of the tank, a 100 gallon water change takes only moments.
For water changes I plumb PVC directly from the sump, to the garden, turn a valve, and old water goes to the garden instead of the tank, a 100 gallon water change takes only moments.
I really need to work on a rainwater collection system up here in the Washington.
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