Full moon here is 6/23/2013,the pair has been separated and in isolation for at least 15 hours. They were joined together just now 6/22/2013 at 4pm. The only thing to do now is wait and see.
Full moon here is 6/23/2013,the pair has been separated and in isolation for at least 15 hours. They were joined together just now 6/22/2013 at 4pm. The only thing to do now is wait and see.
Last edited by Roger; 06-22-2013 at 09:49 PM.
Nice pairing Roger. I'm hoping for a spawn also this full moon. Temps were way too cold last moon which is probably why I didn't get any results. Keep us updated on this.
What is the spawning material you have in that tank?
The black spawning ropes are made from horse hair and imported from Japan. The green floating sea weed is cut from green shade cloth found in the gardening department of Lowes. I'm going to take them out and place them in a 32"x78"x59" mosquito net made by Coghlans found in camping and fishing departments. I have a 3/4" pvc frame made with T corners instead of 90 degree elbows, so the water will fill the frame and sink down and hold the net in place. The frame will be placed inside the net with the open ends tie wrapped to the net to prevent the fry from going in.
Last edited by Roger; 06-25-2013 at 02:51 PM.
Well, there is always tomorrow!
No action last night, the female look stressed with red fins. I'm going to buy some Amquel and do a 50% water change in the evening. The female needs to take out her eggs, it looks unhealthy. Furthermore, when I was sexing the male, his milt flowed out, but he didn't have any sand paper skin or bumps, he wasn't conditioned. I'm going to give them two more days, before I scratch the project.
Last edited by Roger; 06-23-2013 at 09:15 PM.
The 50% water change in the evening triggered the spawn at around 11pm on 6/23 to 6/24. The pair started off slow with some unusual activity. The male circled the female casually and followed her around, an hour later the male's behavior became more aggressive, and the pair began to spawn. I have a long day tomorrow. The eggs are all over the floor, walls, and plants. I have about a 3/4 dose of malachite green in the water and I have to manually skim the top into a tub where I have a water pump. I don't want the malachite green to go on my papaya tree.
Last edited by Roger; 06-24-2013 at 03:48 PM.
Wayne, I made a big mistake with the male. I put him in a 40 gal bowl with a plastic bird net set tight on screws. I even placed a bamboo shade over the top to secure the net. His adrenaline was still coursing through his veins. I heard him jump up a few times and he broke through. He made a big mess of himself; he was all bloody up, and his scales were flying off as he flopped around on the ground. Next time I will put him back with the other males where he would feel at home.
The female was placed in a 100 gallon tub with no problem, she was calm and well behaved.
Nice job Roger. I just separated my Utsuri female again. She is huge with eggs and they have to come out. I put the 2 smaller Show males in with her. I'm going to wait a couple of hours and do a water change to hopefully trigger it. I hope it's not too late as the full moon was last night.
Wayne I always learn the hard way, I put a double dose of Melafix in his tank, he is really beat up. I'm happy that the mosquito net fit in my 300 gal fry tank. I beefed up the filtration with one settling tank, with 4 brushes inside; two bio tanks, with aeration inside; and another bio tank for the return, with felt in the middle to polish the water. I'm using a 750 gal per hour pump with cycled bio media (zero ammonia, nitrite and nitrate).
I started cycling a few sponge filters in the inflatable tank as you suggested on another session.
No way its going to handle the ammonia load. I plan on doing 25% to 50% water changes twice a day, depending on reading.
I wonder if I can handle all these left over eggs.
Last edited by Roger; 06-25-2013 at 02:17 PM.
You have a large task at hand Roger. If we didn't get any eggs, though, we'd be bored. Nice set up on the tanks.
Dragonfly, I was up all night when they started to spawn. There were many things that I had to buy, sanitize, move, and put together. My fortune cookie says to buy something that I like for a reward, so I won't feel guilty if I buy another case of beer.
Oh by the way, you can also try triggering them in the day with a dark moon. The dark moon comes up during the day time, couple of weeks after the full moon.
Last edited by Roger; 06-25-2013 at 02:24 PM.