Questions about notho breeding

[RuevenM at aol_com]

Hi Mike,

     I cannot imagine that your Nothos. are not laying eggs. Sometimes one 
does not see them spawning in the peat. I had a pair of N. symoensi over peat 
that I swore never laid an egg and 3 months later I hatched out 50 fry. I am 
assuming that your tanks are bare bottom, painted a dark color on the outside 
glass and with a dark background. I am also assuming that you feed some kind 
of live worms to help insure good egg production and fertility.
    When you boil your peat, make sure you use a non-metal pot -- like those 
coated blue tamale pots from Mexico. Boil the peat for an hour and then rinse 
it well before you use it. Give the fish a healthy amount to spawn in -- I 
use a 6 to 8 inch diameter Rubbermaid plastic leftovers storage container 
minus the top with a few larger peddles in the bottom to weight it down.
     What Nothos are we talking about? Your water is pretty alkaline and 
rather hard. That might be ok for some species but not others. Have you tried 
cutting down those values by adding rain or RO water? I breed and hatch 
Nothos in slightly soft, slightly acid water -- 6.8pH and 4-6 KH and GH and 
then switch them over to my harder more alkaline tap water for raising. Many 
killies will breed in harder alkaline water and sometimes many of the eggs 
will hatch but sometimes killies do just demand soft acid water and some live 
food. You'd be surprised how simple killies become when you provide the ideal 
water and food. Most problems disappear.
    In 35 years of breeding annuals, I still rarely find more than an egg or 
2 in peat. I have never worried about it. I just harvest, dry, store and 
hope. Over the years, I have learned that damper wet works better than really 
dry peat when storing. I think fluffing up the peat before storage helps, as 
does keeping the storage bag (fish store platic bags) fairly filled with air. 
I store the bags in a big styro box for room temp. storage or in my incubator 
for eggs that need 80F. I hatch in large plastic containers with 2 inches of 
slightly soft and slightly acid water, with java moss and green water 
(euglena) added.
     I hope this helps.

Robert Ellermann
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