Cardinal Breeding Diary..

[madfish]

This is great to find out all of this. I always look forward to updates on whats going on. Keep up the good work and keep us all informed about what is going on both the good and the bad.

[plymbloke]

Right - time for an update i think!!

the fish (currently 3 females and 4 males) have now become relatively easy to spawn and are predictable - literally all i have to do is feed bloodworm and daphnia twice a day for three days, then switch off the filter and light - the next morning there are eggs in the java moss! Unfortunately all the eggs have been infertile, but the number of eggs increases each time - i am having 2 spawnings a week at the moment!

I cannot work out why the eggs are infertile though. the tanks are always kept in hte dark and when i check them it is always in the dark with a torch (flashlight) so not to damage eggs.

any ideas??

hope everyone is well!

- Chris -


PS My discus wont stop breedign either - havnt had them long but every 5/6 days or so they lay eggs again - they are getting better parents and each time the fry survive a little longer before the parents eat them.

[plymbloke]

Well the fish are spawning very regularly now, i intend to write a full 'article' on my experiences as soon as i have actually worked out how to get fertile eggs and raise the fry.

Has anyone got any ideas on why all the eggs are always infertile?

cheers

chris

[plymbloke]

I managed to spot 6 fertilised eggs this morning! Finally! so i have collected them and are keeping them in a seperate pot of their own - heres hoping!!

[Tropical Haven]

Good luck on the 6 fertilized eggs, maybe the males have to go through a few spawns to get the idea of how to fertilize properly.

[NCR]

Has anyone got any ideas on why all the eggs are always infertile?

Hi,

Maybe the PH and/or conductivity are still too high?

[Hans Kloss]

Has anyone got any ideas on why all the eggs are always infertile?

I asked this question one of professional polish tetras breeder. By his opinion tetras often become infertile when kept for long time in hard water.
Hans

[plymbloke]

thank NCR/Hans,

The ph is still low - at 4 at the moment and the water is very soft here - i use peat filtered rainwater too.

They did give me fertilised eggs last time - although only six, so i think maybe like Tropical Haven suggests - they just need practice.


Ill keep you all informed of how things develop as they happen

- Chris -

[cveks]

i read article about cardinal breeding and it says that for breeding you must use young just imported fish because old one become infertile if kept in hard water for a long time so to get better hatching rate you will probably need :

- new stock of young imported fish
- or to wait to that who you successfully breed grow up

[plymbloke]

I heard that too, but I have found that the fish that are spawning at the moment (still regularly but no fry yet ) have been in captivity for at least 6 months. I have recently got some new (ish) imports though to try out so fingers crossed. These ones however are going in my 100litre tub in the garden - going to be left to live as natural a life as i can give them in England lol. The plan is to check on them at the end of the summer and see if i have more fish than what i started with!