Got a fair bit to report on now :)
The accidental spawn was culled due to an outbreak of Swim Bladder Disorder. The poor fellas had a rough start and never recovered.
But, that spawn was replaced by two others who have more than made up for the false start to breeding season.
The players
Many of you know that I've been after a white pair of DTHMPK for a while now. Through the graciousness of SSS's Yolandi, I managed to purchase a pair from Indonesia. As per usual, they were imported through FishChick in QLD and arrived in excellent condition.
Male
Result = a big spawn of approximately 200+ fry. Unfortunately my camera doesn't have a macro lens and so photographing the little blighters is futile...
At the same time, I setup the following pair:
Male
These are my F1 choices from my recessive line of CTPK. They carry the Non-Red (nr1), Cambodian (c), and Opaque (Op) genes (among others). The goal here is to get back yellow, Opaque and Cambodians to have three separate recessive lines moving forward. These separate lines will then get crossed with fry from the DTHMPK line above. Then, as required, they will get crossed into my green and black orchid lines, and future lines I have planned.
The result (please forgive the photography - like I said, no macro lens)
This is just one corner of the spawn tank. The fry are everywhere! I estimate 400+ - easily the biggest spawn I've ever had.
BBS production has increased accordingly with a new BBS hatchery created. I'll post pictures of that once it's fully operational. For father's day I was also lucky enough to get a mini fridge with a good size freezer compartment. I need to move some things around but this will be installed into the Fishroom by this weekend (no more traipsing back and forward from the kitchen - yay!) - photos to come.
As always, both spawns were started on Vinegar Eels for the first few days and then BBS. Both are now solely on BBS, three or four times a day. Water is being added every second day to fill the spawn tank, with a water change being done every day in between (alternated between the two tanks - so one gets extra water while I do a change on the other, and then the following day I alternate).
This time round, my spawn tanks were very basic. A 20L tank from Target with 8L of IAL treated water, a small sponge filter, a half polystyrene cup (not taped to the glass) and a heater. Yep - no plant anywhere in sight. Only the sponge and the heater for the girl to hide behind.
Both girls were still introduced in a separate container, and then into a clear tube - but on release, they stayed in there respective tanks til they had done the deed (two and a half days - no tubing overnight). Both boys were very gentle, so they sustained no damage other than a nip here or there.
Both boys tended their eggs well. Red built a huge nest while the DT had virtually no nest to speak of. Both males were removed once the fry started free swimming.
After advice from a well respected source, I'll be moving them to bigger digs in two-three weeks time, and then probably splitting the spawns even further down the track.
There will be no more spawns till around January - I think I've got enough on my plate...
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