Need some advice! Over the past 2 years, I have had 5 known successful spawning from my 2 Ornate bichers (Polypterus ornatipinnis). The male is 42cm (16.5in) and female is 38cm(~15in) long. They are living in a 30 gal breeder tank by themselves. Each spawning had an average of 50-60 eggs. In each spawn, approx 20 fry were caught/seen. All but one fry died within 3 months. The one that lived, lasted almost a year and grew to 13.6cm (~5.3in) before it died (fed it a bad guppy). I am not sure why I have such a high mortality rate with the fry. I feed fry a combination of daphnia and fish fry food. Currently, I have 2 fry left from last spawning. I do not want to isolate them for fear of killing them off. But if they remain in the breeder tank, they will eventually become food for mom and dad. Suggestions?
Raising Polypterus ornatipinnis fry
- Thread starter Shopko
- Start date
Not sure if Im doing this correctly. First time I am trying to post a pic. Attached is an image of several eggs from Jan 2011 spawning. These were infertile. Not a good pic, but if you look closely, you will see fungus. The second is of the juvinile I raised to 13.6cm.
Quick description of breeding setup. 30 gal breeder tank. 1in grave/sand mix. 4 plastic plants (the ball type you see in Walmart, look like a chia pet that has a heavy base...these things move around, but stay on bottom and are good place for eggs/fry). Log decor that the ornates hid/hang out in. Filter - one HOT Magnum and one Penguin with Biowheel. Water conditions: PH = 7.5 NO3= 20ppm NO2=0 KH=120 GH=30 Temp average approx 80F (~27C). I water change 25% every month. Hope that helps.
Raising fry has been my bane. Any help would be appreciated. Suggestion to all who are interested in breeding though....SIZE MATTERS. I have tried breeding since 2004. Once I had adults over 12in, I started to see breeding behavior. Before they got that size....nothing.