A Change Is Coming

Today in Adelaide, South Australia, it got to around 38C. It was extremely hot with strong northerly winds.

Tomorrow it's forecast to be 22C. The change is expected to blow through my neck of the woods in about...an hour or so...

Spawn tanks set. Couples set.

 

Black Marble HMPK (please forgive the scratchy container)

 

Black Orchid With Red Wash Balok Ray CT

These two would make a wonderful beginning to a black orchid marble CTPK line

 

 

Turquoise CT (aunt to current F1 CTPK fry in spawn tank)

 

Marble Dragon HMPK

 

These two would compliment and have a great chance of enhancing the current F1 CTPK fry in the spawn tank. They would also help in the hunt for a better green CTPK.

 

Fingers crossed the drastic change in weather does the trick. Both pairs are in their respective tanks as we speak, with both males showing the females who's boss and working on their nests in between chase sequences. All looking good so far...

New Fish, Old Fish...Different Pairs

A couple local Betta enthusiasts was kind enough to allow me into their home today. Fellow South Aussies with a common interest in this beautiful fish - who knows where that could lead...a South Australian chapter of the IBC maybe...

I came away from there with a male black orchid Crowntail, and the couple in tow. Back to my fish room we came and talked about Betta, breeding and all sorts of other things...it was nice to have some Betta face time - so thank you guys. Noobie really enjoys his bloodworms ;)

He's in the process of being introduced to his new mate, so they are both excited - hence a bit difficult to photograph currently, but maybe tomorrow.

Ghost is also being paired up with a turquoise female CT. If all goes to plan, two new lines commenced in the hunt for the CTPK.

New Pair Lined Up For This Week

Still having trouble launching my second line of CTPK F1.

First line is fast approaching 8 weeks old - recap:

Sire:

 Dame

Fry

Second and third lines will, hopefully be sired by Louie and Ghost. Ghost I really want to spawn with a yellow CT female, but we've had three attempts without success so far. Reconditioning them for at least a couple of weeks before trying again. So this week we have Louie and a sister to the above female.

Sire

 Dame

Next week will be the attempt to launch a black marble/orchid CTPK line. If Ghost and his intended get their act together at some point, that will give me four CTPK lines to play with :)

Get It Together Already!

For the past four weeks, I've been trying to get my Dragon Marble HMPK, Ghost, to spawn with a yellow CT to create another line of CTPK for the CTPK Project Australia.

They'd spend a week being conditioned. By the end of it, he looks the equivalent of a few pounds heavier, and she looks nicely plumped up. He goes into the tank and is given a day to claim it as his own (including a couple of sessions with the mirror so he gets a chance to defend his patch of turf).

She goes into a beanie box like canister beside the tank, where conditioning continues. They are carded so they cant see each other.

One more feed each, usually on a Friday night, and then uncarded for 15-30 minutes. They go nuts at each other - all normal, all good. The pair are carded again and the lights off. By Saturday morning, he has a lovely big nest built under the bubble wrap.

Saturday morning, an isolation tube goes into the tank, followed by the female. I give her a few minutes to get back on program and used to her new surroundings. If all is good, she is released.

I check on them regularly, but each time I go in, they stop the chase and come to the front of the tank (side-by-side on occasions), begging for food. First time, I figured they weren't conditioned enough. The following week, after they were removed from the spawn tank, they were given lots more food for conditioning - same result the following weekend. So I tried more food over a longer period - two weeks of conditioning - same result!

People seem to have a lot more luck with live blackworms I think...must go source some locally and give them a shot.

After two weeks conditioning, these two have been in the spawn tank for the last three days, and two nights, without separation. Sometimes he chases her, once I've seen her chase him, a number of times they've done a synchronised dance from opposite sides of the tank as if neither can make up their mind, or change it as they approach each other - this I expect from him, but she's just being a tease!

So I've added some competition, in a container outside the spawn tank - lets see if this increases the action!

New Arrivals...& New Experiments...and a LONG list of spawns

Two packages today :)

First one contained a starter kit of Daphnia, and a starter kit of Grindal worms. My CTPK F1 spawn should be on Grindals now, but I'll be moving them to chopped frozen blood worms instead - mis-communications, inability to source locally, and a sudden growth spurt all led to me not being ready in time to continue this spawn on live foods as was the original plan.

Not to worry - the new live foods will now hopefully multiply like my Vinegar Eels did once I'd figured them out, and I'll be ready for the next spawn when they require them.

The second package are my latest, and possibly my last, purchased females. A yellow Cambodian and possibly a CTPK would be the only other females I would look at purchasing anytime in the near future. With the addition of these four, I now have 15 girls.

• 4 x turquoise CT's
• 1 x yellow CT
• 1 x turquoise giant HMPK
• 5 x assorted metallic long-finned (deltas, possible super delta/HM's, rose-tail) (some hands free)
• the 4 new marble HMPK girls below

 

Organised a possible out-of-towner for this girl to meet

 

A girl for Louie, my lavender BF HMPK

 

A girl for Jason, my marble HMPK

 

I'm not yet decided on who this lucky lady will be teamed up with

My biggest problem at the moment is the lack of males in the Fishroom. With the passing of Midas, Prime, and now William, I'm down to:

•  Jason (marble dragon turquoise with red wash HMPK and father of my current F1 CTPK spawn)
• Ghost (marble dragon white HMPK - currently in spawn tank with yellow CT)
• Louie (lavender dragon Butterfly HMPK)
• Hulk (Turquoise giant HMPK)
• 2 x surprise metallic males (a turquoise rose-tail and a copper possible HMPK)

I have a copper male and female I'd like to pair up, and the giants need another shot in the spawn tank. Jason and Ghost I want in my CTPK project lines, and I'd like to start HMPK lines with them as well. Louie is also being given a shot at a line of CTPK's but I cant find the right partner for min currently. He will be given a shot with the marble girl above showing a nice variegated fin pattern to hopefully produce more butterfly HMPK offspring.

The new black marble HMPK girl is hopefully being paired up with a friend's long-finned black CT male to produce a line of black marble CTPK's.

So that's one spawn currently almost at week seven...and nine planned spawns, before I look at the F2 CTPK spawn in about four months time!

I think my dance card is full!

RIP William

A very sad day today - the first male we'd ever bought not from a local fish shop died today of dropsy.

He was the first male CT in the Hunt For Green. He had one spawn but ate most of the fry when we tried to raise them with their dad. When we finally removed him, the remaining fry all gorged themselves on a feed of instant BBS to the point where every single one of them exploded from over eating.

We learned a lot from William and his spawn, but the toll of being with his fry for six weeks took it's toll and he struggled with fin rot from that moment on, which was probably the start of his slide into a very low immune system as we couldn't seem to get it nipped in the bud, regardless of water changes and medications.

He shall be missed.

Now I need to be on the lookout for one or two new male CT's...although, I still have five female CT's being paired up with male HMPK's for the CTPK Project, and my current F1 CTPK spawn is approaching seven weeks old and are looking good (touch wood).

Weekend Plans

A few things to get sorted this weekend and very little time to do them.

I need to setup my next spawning pair, I need to move my current spawn into a bigger tank, I need to clean and prep a tank for new arrivals while also removing a snail infestation, move 5 girls into the main sorority now they're big enough, catch a rogue Convict Cichlid fry/almost juvenile who was missed a couple of weeks back (they are super quick), do a bunch of water changes, and locate a local source of black worms so I can start my own culture...which will probably require me to buy another tank/vessel to keep them in.

Saturday I play cricket and Sunday I'm normally too sore to move, but these things have to get done.

My current F1 CTPK spawn are doing well, if not spectacular. They are a little behind on the growth charts, but seem to be forming well. The biggest is just beginning to sprout ventrals which is cool and a few are showing their irid layer - particularly in the fins. They are marble so the full colours will not be out for some time yet.

 

My biggest boy (that's not a ventral you can see underneath)

Good chance he'll be like dad I think...

 

The boss and the 2IC

 

Size differences...

The guy on the right is a little over 1 cm

The guy on the left is just on 1 cm

I have a couple smaller and the two above who are bigger

They are supposed to be close to 2cm if not a touch over...

Still, to have what I believe to be eight fry remaining, when I was thinking I'd be lucky to have five...or lucky to have any at one point...is a good thing. If they grow slow, then so be it. I'm not here to power grow fry so I can rush to the next step...slow and steady wins the...oh, who am I trying to kid - hurry up and grow already!

The biggest are clearly showing some webbing reduction. Not a lot at this point, but some, so it seems I'll have something to work with moving into F2 and beyond :)

 

A very blurry and blown up pic of one caudal where you can not-so-clearly see the combtail effect of the webbing reduction this little fry has inherited from his mum...and the potential for wide (possibly HM) caudal spread he's inherited mainly from dad (but mum wasn't to shabby either).

Very Cool

Not Much Happening

I'm waiting on the arrival of plants and some new females.

These new girls will be the last I purchase for some time I think. I want a female yellow Cambodian CT and a male butterfly CT...other than that, I'll play with what I've got.

Next year, maybe I'll dip my toe into the AquaBid waters...

The Crowntail Plakat Project Australia is moving along as is my current spawn. For the first time, my spawn has passed the five week mark without blowing up.

Plans are afoot for a second barracks system to house my breeding females - I'm not overly happy with the sorority system. I think it's fine for growing out related females but not for me in the long term.

Here's some pics of the 36 day old fry...

There's some size differences, but the irid layer (blue, steel, turquoise) is starting to become visible. There are two distinct colour groups - the darker bodies and light bodies. There is also the beginning of some webbing reduction.

I just wish they'd hurry up and grow now :)