Re: Breeding Nematolebias whitei

["Tyrone Genade" <Tgenade at sun_ac.za>]

On 1 Nov 2002, at 22:26, LohK L wrote:

> I use a small flower
> pot as a breeding bowl.  I filled the pot with peat moss up to a
> height of about 2 inches. 

Get a larger bowl to put the peat in and try to make it a bit deeper.
You may want to put a trio in a fish bowl or large deep jar with a 
substrate of peat. You will want to condition the fish separately for 
a few days as you don't want to feed them in the bowl with the peat.

> I couldn't see the action taking place, there was obviously plenty of
> it as there were puffs of peat moss coming out from the mouth of the
> pot.  But when I collected the peat a few days later, I couldn't find
> a single egg.  The temperature of the water is about 86 degrees
> Fahrenheit and the fish are almost 4 months old.

Your temperature is rather high. Perhaps the peat is rotting at that 
temperature and suffocating the eggs, at 86°F there isn't much O2 in 
the water anyway.

The eggs are also difficult to see, especially if you are using a 
fine peat. Put some of the peat away and incubate it. At the 
temperatures you are describing (I suppose you have a room temp of 78-
>80°F) the eggs should be ready to wet in about 6-8 weeks so you will 
know soon if you have eggs in the peat.

>  I feed with nothing
> but live tubifex worms.

Vary their diet a bit! Give them some flake.

Keep well
Tyrone Genade
tgenade at sun_ac.za
http://www.tyronegenade.0catch.com
cell#: 084-3354-977

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