Breeding the Puntius padamya "Odessa"

                      Page 4 - Doing It The Easy way, But Lower Yield

                  Page 1:  Odessa Barbs,  Origins of the Odessa Barb

                  Page 2:  Overview of Breeding the Puntius padamya

                  Page 3:  Step by Step Specifics of How We Breed Them Here

                * Page 4:  An Easier (But less Yield) Way to Breed Them

                  Page 5:  Growth rates

                           An Easier way to Breed Them

      Yes, they can be bred more easily, but your yield will be far less. Where with 2 or three pair may get a couple hundred young the first way,
      this method may only yield a few dozen, but it can be done to keep them going and give you the experience of raising the young yourself
      Here is how to do that:

      I use a 20 gallon breeder tank, and breed just 2 pair at a time, with possibly a third female. You can use more, but risk eggs and fry being
      eaten when there are too many adults in the tank.

      Have prepared ahead of time a good supply of vinegar eels and a supply of frozen baby brine shrimp (see page 3). Have males and 
      females separated for a couple weeks before spawning, and feed both heavily so the female has plumped up full of eggs, and the
      males are healthy and active.

      Fill the bare bottom tank about half way, with a thick layer of Java moss or other fine leaved plants the eggs can fall into, and the new
      fry can feed on the infusoria present in the plants. If possible, take the plants from a well established aquarium. Then spread the plants
      across the bottom, such that the plants sit on the bottom of the tank. You want to have a clear area above the thicket of plants where the
      adults can swim above them, and it is thick enough that interest in swimming down into it is minimal. Have a light hood over the tank with
      subdued light (I will often put a piece of grey nylon door screening between the light and the tank), and the light is left on 24/7.
      Sometimes the Java moss sits just fine, sometimes you might have to find a few small flat stones, 2 or 3, to gently hold the mat of plants
      against the bottom.
     

      This is a breeder tank used to hatch
      a batch of Odessas. You want the mat
      of Java Moss to be healthy - be sure
      to remove any dead plant material
      before breeding so the young hatching
      within the plant will have a solid
      diet of infusoria waiting for them.
      Leave as little bare bottom exposed
      as possible so that eggs will not be
      exposed and possibly eaten.

      Java Fern is a great plant, and excellent
      for breeding the livebearers, such as the
      Alfaro cultratus, but are of little value
      when used to breed Odessa barbs. Eggs will
      adhere to the leaves (where most will likely
      be eaten). and the remainder will fall to the
      bottom, where they will also be eagerly eaten.

       Select your breeders as done on page 3, and feed them well before putting them into the breeding tank. Do the females first.
       Once chosen and well fed, early in the day - well before noon if possible- release them to the tank and give them as much
       time as possible to establish "ownership" of their surroundings. Let them acclimate for the majority of the day. Feed them
       lightly about 5 pm, and as well feed the chosen males before releasing them into the tank. As evening sets in, release the
       males into the tank.

       The following morning, check to see if any or all of the females have spawned, and if more than half have, pull the adults
       out. If most are still full of eggs, do not pull the adults until that evening. However, at this time, begin the feeding regimen
       described above of feeding one 2 liter harvest of vinegar eels, followed by a 50% water change, siphoned from the
       tank through a net breeder to avoid sucking up eggs or fry. Try to disrupt the adults as litle as possible. When adding
       water to the tank, be careful not to stir up any eggs that have settled into the Java Moss.

       Once the adults are removed, bring the water level down to about 4 inches, and remove the stones holding down the Java moss.
       Do not remove any of the moss at this time. Begin the routine of feeding first thing in the morning, mid-fternoon, and
       evening, with each feeding followed by a 50% water change. As mentioned on Page 3, siphon through a fine mesh net breeder
       to reduce the number of eggs or fry being sucked out. And as before it is best to add 50% of the water volume to the tank,
       of good quality, established aquarium water from another tank, and then siphon it back down. Draining it down by 50% and
       bringing it back up will accidentally remove too many eggs and new fry. Within 3-4 days you will start to see a flickering
       of tiny movements over the top of the Java moss as the new fry begin to venture out in search of food.

       As covered on Page 3, the water level is very slowly brought up, not reaching the top of the tank until the fry are about
      1 month old, to avoid swim bladder problems. 3x per day vinegar eels feedings followed by substantial water changes
      (changing about 50% per day over the 3 feedings, using only aged aquarium water from a clean, established aquarium) are
      done the first week. Then newly hatched baby brine shrimp or frozen baby brine shrimp can be slowly mixed in, continuing
      the heavy water changes after feedings that continue at approximately 8am, 2 pm., and 8 pm. By about 2.5 weeks the fry
      should be on BBS exclusively. Dry foods can be used (cooked egg yolk, etc. but water quality issues may be an issue, causing
      losses and limiting the yield)

      Select aquatics used to carry the Danio Roseus, a very pretty fish until it was discovered by the pet trade, and began to be
      sold as another type of "Pearl Danio". Many hundreds of those were bred here, and that is how we did it.

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