Re: [Killietalk] Bitaeniatum questions

[Alberto Restrepo Ubach <restrepo at sandiego_edu>]

Joel,

Here are my experiences with, and recommendations for bitaeniatums:

* I would not worry too much about low egg production at first 
--especially while they are getting used to your water 
conditions/set-up.  A(nother) reason for low egg production, or for a 
high percentage of infertile eggs may be age.  Bits mature more 
slowly than some other killies --but they also live longer.

* Check the mops regularly, but you don't need to do it "first thing 
EVERY morning".  Every two, three or four days seems more than 
adequate.  In fact, in some heavily planted tanks, I don't even check 
for eggs, and fry consistently hatch and grow in the parents tank. 
I've raised a few generations of 'Lagos' and 'Zagnando' without ever 
checking for eggs.  Still, collecting eggs from mops will yield more 
young.

* I have never incubated 'bit' eggs on peat.  I'm sure it works, but 
water incubation (with the optional acriflavine tinting) should work 
just as well.

* In my experience, and generally speaking, bitaeniatums are 
relatively easy to breed.  I suppose that different strains could 
vary in difficulty (I have never dealt with Majitam so I don't know 
about them in particular) but I would imagine that if you keep them 
alive, well fed, and in clean water they will eventually breed 
successfully.

Good luck.

Alberto
AKA 08000
SCKC/SDKG
San Diego



At 4:55 PM -0800 3/21/04, Joel Saunders wrote:
> Hello everyone.  i have my first pair of killies (A. Bitaeniatum 
> "Majitam") set up to breed in a 10 gallon bare-bottom tank with a 
> thick floating yarn mop that reaches all the way down to the bottom 
> of the tank.  As this is my first attempt at spawning killies, I 
> would just like some feedback on what I'm doing.  The fish have been 
> in the tank for three days, and I have not actually witnessed any 
> spawning behavior, although I don't sit there all day and watch. 
> The female seems to want nothing to do with the male, and spends her 
> time hiding inside the mop.  The male does not seem to go in the 
> mop, but pursues her vigorously whenever she ventures out of the 
> mop.  I am feeding them twice a day, once with BBS and once with 
> frozen bloodworms. I pulled the mop today and examined it for eggs. 
> I only found one egg, but it appears to be viable.  I put it on damp 
> peat to incubate, and replaced the mop in the tank.
>
> My questions: this egg production seems very low, could it be that 
> they are simply not ready to spawn?  Could it be that they are 
> eating the eggs immediately after spawning?  Should I be pulling the 
> mop first thing every morning to check for eggs?
>
> Also, I prepared the peat by boiling a peat pellet and squeezing as 
> much moisture as I could from the peat.  I then simply placed the 
> peat on a small saucer (I dont have a petrie dish) and set the egg 
> on top of the dampish peat.  I then sealed the whole thing in a 
> ziplock bag.  I've never worked with peat before, so i just wanted 
> to know if I was doing anything wrong.  Should I bury the egg in the 
> peat, or is it okay to just let it sit on top?  Also should I open 
> the bag and spritz the peat with a spray bottle everyday to keep it 
> moist?  Any and all advice will be appreciated.  Thank you for your 
> patience with my beginner questions.
>
> Cheers!
>
> Joel
> AKA member #08748
>
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