Tyre Tracks

[Houlanator]

Hi all, I have had two tyre tracks for six months and yesterday spotted one fry,what is the usual nuber to expect.

 

[knifegill]

Well, since you're among the first individuals to ever breed them in captivity, you tell us.

How large were the parents? Did they make a nest or scatter their eggs? Are there caves in your tank? Got pictures? I'd suspect that the more hideys you have the more fry will have survived. But the questions outweigh the answers on this one.

I found info about peacock eels, closely related to your tiretracks:

The "standard" spiny eel, Macrognathus aculeatus, is commonly referred to as the porthole eel or the peacock eel. It is also one species that has been spawned relatively frequently. The porthole eel grows to about 13 inches, but will spawn after it has reached about 7 inches in length. Females are slightly larger than males of the same age and are noticeably more plump than the males. Females become even more plump when conditioned on Tubifex and white worms for spawning. Water conditions do not appear to be too important, but slightly alkaline water with salt in it seems best. I keep temperatures relatively cool, about 72 degrees Fahrenheit, which does not seem to inhibit them.
A male will chase the female and nudge her near the vent to stimulate the spawning instinct. Spawning takes place in a twisting, turning "worm-ball," and the eggs are scattered over or in bushy plant masses. Clumps of Myriophyllum or water hyacinth roots make good naturalistic spawning sites, but large, fluffy nylon spawning mops make great substitutes.
Spawns are large, with more than 800 eggs for young females and over a thousand for more mature fish. The green eggs hatch in about 72 hours, and the fry are free-swimming about three days later. I have never successfully raised the fry because the food I provided was too large (I used newly hatched brine shrimp nauplii), but I have read accounts that say the best food is cyclops nauplii and radiolarians.
I have no experience in spawning tire-track eels because this species grows much larger than the fish I prefer to keep, reaching about 28 inches in length. I assume, but do not know, that the procedure should be much the same as for the preceding species. One of the notes that I did encounter on this species states that the tire-track spawns during the cooler period of Sri Lanka's winter, while the other species seem to spawn during the warmer periods, just prior to the onset of the monsoon season.

http://www.fishchannel.com/freshwater-aquariums/fish-breeding/breeding-freshwater-eels.aspx

So if your fish are young they may have laid a small number of eggs this time. But you should be expecting huge quantities of fry in the future. And you can make serious bank if you keep it up as these "eels" are almost always in demand and command a decent price. I would definitely get a fry-rearing tank to maximize the survival rate. How many species of fish have you bred before?

I found this unconfirmed report of tiretrack breeding as well:

I bought 3 tire track eels about 2 months ago and to my surprise I awoke this morning to find my eels must have spawned because I now have about 2 dozen baby eels. My eels are the only fish in their tank besides the occasional feeder guppy. So I know for a fact that the tire track eels can breed in captivity. My eels are about 7" long and are very social. I think I know which one is the female but will never be 100% positive.

http://www.aqua-fish.net/show.php?h=tiretrackeel

 

[knifegill]

Okay. Was that real?

 

[USMCtanker]

wow thats sweet. to mfk

 

[Red Devil]

Welcome Tyre to MFK... hope you enjoy the forum and all the fishkeepers.. Nice to meet you..

 

[Lupin]

to MFK!