Breeding Sturisoma Aureum

Jacqueline

Member
Jan 19, 2011
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Holland
Here is my log for breeding Sturisoma'a.

I have got a breeding group of 1 male and 2 females. The adult fish are all about 20cm long TL. They live in the growing up tank of my juvenile Lnumbers. The tank is 1 meter long by 40,40. Filtration is done by a large biological filter, tanks are all connected, in total around 2000L of water. They lay eggs about every 2-3 weeks.

Water parameters:
PH: 7
KH: 3
NO3: <5
Temperature 30 degrees
Conductivity 200-300

Some pictures of the adults, still in the discustank. Female on the left.


Female, very short odonthodes on the jawline




Female still in discustank


Male, large and long odonthodes on the jawline


In the discustank they spawned a few times but there was to much competition from other fish in the tank. But one day I found this little fella <3

My very first baby Sturisoma


Later I found some infertile eggs but still a nice picture. Eggs are about 3mm big and mostly stuck on the glass or as you will see later on also on wood.

These eggs dropped while laying so not fertile...


The one surviving fry did ok for 3 months and then I never saw it again


After a while I wanted to try and breed them in better conditions. I came across a breeding pair and decided to buy them. I took out the female from the discustank and together they now form my breeding group of 2 females and 1 male.
After a few months the all resumed spawning.

Spawning:
The female will turn a darker color then the male. She will position herself in front of the male, either on the glass or on any other surface. I my case the laid eggs on the glass ones and then found a better place, on the wood.



Some times they will stay there for a few days. After laying her eggs, the male will guard them and fan the eggs while lying on top of them.



Here is a picture of the eggs on the glass, the eggs are 3 days old. You can see fry turning around inside the eggs. Really fun to watch!


After 4 days the eggs hatch. The fry have a yolksack and are tiny, about 1cm in lenght. The yolksack dissolves in about 4 days and then the have to eat, constantly.

Set up:
I put the baby fry in a guppy breeder. This one has also slits in the bottom. I also use an airfilter for 100% circulation. I feed the fry as often as I can. Feeding them crushed Spirulina tabs and ones a day crushed Viformo tabs from Sera. They also have 2 slices of cucumber 24 hours a day.



Nicely filled bellies, one week old


After 2 weeks I put them in a larger fry tank. Making the changes small so they still find food everywhere. They need to swim in food otherwise they will not eat or find the foods....

Second set up for the fry that are 2 weeks. Here they will stay until they are about 4 weeks and 3-4cm in lenght.



At 5 weeks old the are around 4-5cm in lenght and still growing well. They start to find food around the tank. I have 2 larger pieces of cucumber in this tank and feed crushed foods 3-4 times a day.





Pictures of older fry will follow soon :D
 

macvsog23

Pleco Profiles Team - RIP FRIEND
May 1, 2009
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Bristol
Fantastic
Again a very illuminating and detailed breeding log on one of the more interesting Whips.
keep them coming
 

Mooo

Member
Aug 11, 2010
1,876
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Jervis Bay, NSW, Au
:clap: That is a brilliant log Jacqueline :clap:
Thanks for taking the time, Awesome photos, especially love the transparent eggs pic, absolutely amazing..:clap:
 

Jacqueline

Member
Jan 19, 2011
307
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Holland
jacqueline

how did you catch the fry to put in the frysaver?
cheers alan
The first 2 times I collected the eggs before they hatched. The first time I scraped the eggs from the glass with a sharp blade of a razor. The second time the eggs were on the wood so I took out the wood and carefully cut them off with the razor blade.
But the last time I decided to let the eggs hatch. The baby fry will hang just under the waterline in the tank. I sucked them up with a medium sized air tube and put them in the guppy container. Works great and I will do that from now on. I find that the male stays calmer that way too, otherwise he will still be upset about losing the eggs and will sit on the same spot fanning.....without eggs...
 

bigal66

Member
Jun 18, 2010
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wanneroo perth wa
if you dont mind me asking what and how do you feed the juvies, i know there is a very high mortality rate.
any answers would be greatly appreciated.
cheers alan
 

Jacqueline

Member
Jan 19, 2011
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Holland
if you dont mind me asking what and how do you feed the juvies, i know there is a very high mortality rate.
any answers would be greatly appreciated.
cheers alan
I have hardly any drop outs. 90% of the fry survive.
I feed them crushed Spirulina tablets and crushed Viformo tablets. They also have cucumber slices 24h a day.
 

Jacqueline

Member
Jan 19, 2011
307
0
16
Holland
Update from observation:

3 Days ago 1 of the females had spawned with the male again. But 2 days later, yesterday, the second female also spawned at the same spot. So now I have 2 egg batches from 2 females of different ages. From the first batch I'm starting to see the color change of the eggs and can see the wigglers. The second batch is still clear but fertile.

I also noticed yesterday that the male will go and feed and leaves the eggs to do so. I always thought the male would stay with the eggs but apparently not :dk:

He's chuffed to bits with his huge spawn and sit's on top fanning :D
 

Jacqueline

Member
Jan 19, 2011
307
0
16
Holland
Some pictures to enjoy <3









I have about 200-250 fry of different ages now. Luckily the grow quite fast and I can still distribute them easily :) Otherwise I couldn't keep so much of them :cry: I love them to bits, such funny twigs <3
 

Mooo

Member
Aug 11, 2010
1,876
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Jervis Bay, NSW, Au
This has been a fantastic log to read, I been loving the baby photos, those eggs are amazing, Congrats on your success :clap: Great log, Thanks for sharing your fun with us...<3