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Select Aquatics of Erie, CO |
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Breeding the Puntius padamya "Odessa"
Page
2 - Breeding Overview
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These fry are 9 days old, and some
of the males from this batch grew into the males seen at right. |
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These fish are egg
scatterers, and release mildly adhesive eggs. The issues are
saving the eggs so they are not eaten, and feeding the
young appropriately so that you lose as few as possible
during their first 2 weeks. At the same time, oxygenation and
water quality is
everything for the new fry- and massive water changes
(50% at least 3x daily the first week, 30-50% 3x daily next 2-3
weeks) must be kept
up of prepared, aged aquarium water. I use relatively
clean aquarium water taken from another established tank. There
are a number of
little things you will learn that will increase your
yield, and I can share what I have discovered. Over the past 5
years I have spawned
and raised the fry about 30 times, and I am still
tinkering with the process. A long time in the making, this
essay will reveal everything
that we do here to get batches routinely of 500 - 1500
fry, generally from about 3 trios with each spawning.
I refer in my instructions to using 3-4 males and 7-9
females in the breeding sessions I do here, but everything
described here can be
done with a pair, or a trio, or whatever. I would not
add more than the number of fish I use, however. Any more than
what I use here
in that size tank, and you may end up with far more
fish eating eggs than producing them!
Breeding these is one of the most rewarding things I
do, but to bring a batch to the point of being divided up into
their own tanks will
take 30 days, and you must be home to feed 3x per day,
doing a 50% water change following each feeding for at least the
first 3
weeks. Feedings must be done at 8-9am, 2-3 pm, and
again at 8-9pm. Missing an evening feeding, for example, means
the fish
will go from 2 pm until 8am the next morning. Odessa
fry - like all very small fry, are no more than eyes and a tail
that can be barely
seen. They generally cannot go more than the 12 hours
that occurs overnight. Missing a single feeding can mean losing
a substantial
portion - over 50%, of the new fry.
If you would like to breed them more than once, I
strongly recommend keeping a journal of what you do each day
(How long do you
keep the adults together? When do you introduce the
vinegar eels and how much do you feed? When do you start them on
the baby
brine shrimp?) I keep the adults together 2-5 days
depending on when the females slim down, and what has proven to
produce the
most fry in my setup, etc. Vinegar eels will cloud the
water, so you don't want to add them too early and fungus the
eggs, but
you want them there- alive- soon after the fry hatch.
They start getting BBS about day 5-6, but keep both going during
this
period as their rate of growth - depending on when they
hatch- will vary considerably. Microworms or paramecium should
also
work as a first food. the infusoria is there for those
first 1-3 days before they start feeding on vinegar eels. It
works
perfectly for the new fish hatching out, and most
engorge on the vinegar eels as soon as they can.
I use vinegar eels here because they require no
maintenance, and are always ready to go. I keep 30 2 liter soda
bottles of cultures
going. When I am feeding the Odessas regularly, I will
go through 6 bottles a day (3 feedings, eels from 2 bottles each
feeding).
I have found than when starting at bottle 1, and going
through to bottle 30, the bottles have about a week to replenish
themselves,
which works out just right. I routinely ship vinegar
eel cultures to customers if you do not have any available in
your area, simply
email me at selectaquatics@gmail.com and we can arrange
to get some out to you.
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Vinegar eels ready for next spawning
To build this simple, effective Brine Shrimp Hatcher, Click HERE
You will need both Vinegar eels (or microworms, paramecium,
etc.) and newly hatched Baby Brine Shrimp (BBS) to raise the
Odessa barb fry. |
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Though most sources claim
this is a cold water species, I have found that they are most
comfortable (their color and activity is best)
in the upper 70’s. I tried to breed them at 72 degrees
without much success, and eventually found that they breed
eagerly at 77-78
degrees. I use the white plastic "egg-crate" style
light covering material to make a horizontal divider, cut to the
breeding tank size.
To that are attached single layer thick, green plastic
cross-stitch backing material- attached with small plastic
electrical ties.
Adults are introduced above the divider with lots of
Java fern, and eggs would fall down through the mesh, or stick
to the plant leaves.
The water level of the tank where the breeding takes
place must stay low- 6-7 inches, or the young will develop air
bladder problems,
becoming belly-sliders. When that happens they can be
put into a breeder up near the top of another aquarium, and
raised there.
About 75% will overcome it as they age over 1-2 months.
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An
example of the Odessa divider that fits a 29 tall tank. Cross
stitch backing is attached with electrical ties to honeycomb
light
diffuser sheeting. The plastic loop on the right,
made with an electrical tie, is so that the divider can be
easily lifted out of the
aquarium with a hook at the end of a net handle.
All these materials are easily available at Home improvement and
hobby / sewing
/ quilting stores. Kitchen "scrubbies" are cut
into strips, and attached with ties so the divider fits into the
aquarium snugly.
You will likely have to fuss with the divider a
few times to come up with a construction that will keep any fish
from being able to
get through it.
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These
young Odessa barbs are 30 days old. |
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When beginning
with young fish, females and males are separated as males sex
out, which takes 6-8 months. Both males and females
are conditioned on frequent feedings of dry and
live foods. The largest, heaviest egg-laden females with the
best color are pulled, as well
as the males with traits I am breeding for. A
clean tank is prepared without little shrimp or snails present
(as much as possible, but
eggs inevitably come in with the plants taken
from another tank). Clean aquarium water is added with a
generous amount of plants,
and a couple airstones. Plants are divided up
about 50/50 above and below the divider.
Any healthy
female that is old enough will fill with eggs, and stay that way
until she breeds. Older texts used to present "conditioning the
female" as a special time of frequent feedings of
live food, leading to the goal of the female becoming full of
eggs. Feeding a female
well prior to breeding certainly produces
healthier eggs, and being healthy is always a good thing just
prior to breeding, but filling up
with eggs is what females do. Any healthy female,
regardless of diet, at least with these barbs, will fill with
eggs as soon as she is old
enough and well fed on whatever she is accustomed
to.
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