Danio margaritatus breeding

[PaulineMi]

Now that it's pretty chilly in the "fishroom" (back room of the basement) will adding small amounts of an RO water mix at a time to lower TDS and pH get the CPDs in the mood for spawning?  I have well water with a pH of 8+ and TDS up in the 300s. 

[Mugwump]

Sounds like a plan. Good luck. 

[BallAquatics]

I have the best success with fairly neutral water and temperatures below 75F.  A couple of winters ago, I had some spawning up a storm with water temperatures at 62F.

If you don't plan to remove the adults after spawning, you might want to make yourself an egg trap so that you can remove the eggs to another tank.  http://danionins.com/articles/diyeggtrap.html

Dennis

[Mugwump]

Nice rig Dennis......neato..

[BallAquatics]

Thanks Jon!  It's not my preferred way of spawning CPD's, but it works very well when you want some eggs from egg scattering fish that are not in a "breeder set-up".  Like the article describes, I needed something for the very skiddish Danio tinwini, but since then I've used them in community tanks and species tanks alike with good success.



With my old eyes, I sometimes need to remove the trap to check for eggs.  Tiny little fish, lay tiny little clear eggs that can be very hard to see!

Dennis

[PaulineMi]

Thanks Dennis.  Ravens-wild and I have been sending PMs back and forth this morning and she directed me to your egg trap. Very nice.

I have the same kind of aged eyes    Magnifying glass in the fishroom is a necessity.

I will need to get a microworm starter culture and I have the super fine Golden Pearls. At what point can they eat bbs?

[BillT]

With my old eyes, I sometimes need to remove the trap to check for eggs.  Tiny little fish, lay tiny little clear eggs that can be very hard to see!

I use a small but powerful LED flashlight ($30-40) and put the egg trap where its easy to see. Shoot the light in at an angle and eggs will refract the light so they are bright on a dark background (I keep my tanks kind of dark). Even then this does not always work.

[BallAquatics]

At what point can they eat bbs?

Generally around 10 - 14 days old.  If you have a sunny window sill, start yourself a green water culture.  They can eat the green water algae immediately and it will help to get them big enough to eat the newly hatched bbs.

Last spring I started keeping fry in green water containing a culture of moina and have been seeing very quick growth of the fry.  While they look like they are swimming in automotive anti-freeze they always have a constant supply of food.  They eat the single cell green water algae and as soon as they are big enough, they have a constant supply of newly hatched moina, (slightly smaller than bbs).  As they continue to grow, they quickly become large enough to eat the adult moina.

I've been looking for a replacement for hatching bbs every single day, and this just might be it!  I guess I'm just getting lazy in my old age...  LOL



Those are some Devario assamensis fry that BillT sent me on October 28 in the photo.  Today they are around .5 inches in length.  Now granted being larger fish they will certainly grow quicker than tiny CPD's, but that's still very good growth for 15 days.  You also don't have to worry about fouling the water like you do when feeding commercially prepared foods.

Dennis

[raven_wilde]

Dennis - I've never managed to get green water that looks so nice and healthy. What is your secret?

[BallAquatics]

What is your secret?

His name is BOB..... http://ballaquatics.com/live-food-cultures/green-water-rack/

Dennis

[raven_wilde]

What is your secret?

His name is BOB..... http://ballaquatics.com/live-food-cultures/green-water-rack/

Dennis

The turtle? Oh man I can't go back to turtle ownership right now. I had two for many years and they are more work and mess than I can deal with at the moment

I'll stick to jars in the window - what do you recommend for starter material?

[raven_wilde]

Oh, btw, Pauline, just last night I went to feed the CPDs I am conditioning for breeding (they're in my 10gal grow out right now) and noticed a few free swimming fry hanging out near the water line. Aside from feeding them plenty of microworms and other delicious foods I have done NOTHING to encourage them to spawn. Just goes to show how easy it is to breed these guys

[Mugwump]

Oh, btw, Pauline, just last night I went to feed the CPDs I am conditioning for breeding (they're in my 10gal grow out right now) and noticed a few free swimming fry hanging out near the water line. Aside from feeding them plenty of microworms and other delicious foods I have done NOTHING to encourage them to spawn. Just goes to show how easy it is to breed these guys

Awesome ..good luck with them..

[BallAquatics]

I'll stick to jars in the window - what do you recommend for starter material?

Just a handful of dried grass clippings will get you started.  To get really lush green water you need nutrient for the algae to feed on.  That's where the turtle, or feeder goldfish come in.  I have heard of people using Miracle Grow to fertilize the water for the algae, but I try my best to steer clear of chemicals so I've never used it.  Mike Hellweg says to use a bit of dirt from the yard in your culture to start your algae bloom, but I've never tried that either.

Dennis

[BallAquatics]

Aside from feeding them plenty of microworms and other delicious foods I have done NOTHING to encourage them to spawn. Just goes to show how easy it is to breed these guys

LOL  Yes the breed like guppies, the tough part is keeping them from eating all the results, but that's true of most all Danios.

Dennis