[Killietalk] Aphyosemion sp. Lobaye

["Joe Weber" <wellington10 at hotmail_com>]

I use water incubation on all the elegans group.  I receive eggs in peat 
from other elegans breeders and they hatchout just fine.  When I try to use 
that method I get very low or no hatches so I've given up on peat.  I use DI 
water that has been stored in a garbage can with open line airbubbling up 
from the bottom with peat and oak leaves in it for my hatching water.  I get 
a lot of fungused eggs but I'm not sure that isn't more a problem of 
fertility rather than water.

Two eggs from two pair almost sounds like one pair is just starting to 
spawn.  Initial spawns are erratic and most of the eggs will fungus. If you 
have the pairs segregated in separate tanks, you might try putting them in 
the same tank with a divider between them.  Transparent seems to work best 
so they see the activity of the other pair.  With fish in this group you 
will frequently find that when one pair starts spawning others will soon 
follow.  I don't have enough experience with this location to know if there 
are major conflicts between spawning males or not, so I still have my pairs 
in individual tanks.  Once I have a comfortable number of fry on hand that 
have sexed out so I know I don't have a sex ratio problem, I will combine 
all the breeders in one tank.

Forgot to mention earlier I also keep a sponge filter in all breeding tanks.

Joe

> Same species/location.  Water or Peat incubation?  I have the temp around 
> 76, so maybe I'll drop >it a bit.  Other water parameters are similar to 
> yours.  Females are nice and fat, but I've only >gotten 2 eggs so far from 
> 2 pairs.

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