Odoe Pikes making foam ...
- Thread starter HarleyK
- Start date
Are your pikes and bernd's exposed to any windows or a skylight of any kind? Just wondering if the length of daylight that they might be exposed to might have triggered them to spawn. Both pairs spawned so close together, timewise that I thought maybe that had something to do with it maybe. Congratulations. The tank is just absolutely beautiful. I bet they think that someone released them back into the wild with the way that your aquarium looks. Wow!
Howdy,
Considering the parents guard the fry, I am simply letting nature take its course: I'll leave them in the tank with the adults unless I notice the parents snacking on their young. Bernd observed cannibalism amongst the fry. I'll monitor closely. At this point, I am more interested in watching than in quantitative yield.
Thanks! I do not know about Bernd's tank (though I will ask him for sure!). Mine is across the room from a window. Good theory!
I have read extensively about spawning triggers in nature. They absolutely always spawn during or at the end of seasonal flooding. That can span over several months. I had already planned to play with my drip system to have the tank water age and then flush the tank with fresh water. That always worked for my Garra breeding colony. Then I came across a paper that concluded that the one parameter all habitats and spawning seasons share is an elevation in temperature. And sure enough: As soon as I cranked up the heaters above 80F, they started spitting bubbles.
But thanks for your thoughts, this is why I love MFK. I'll make sure to ask Bernd. There might very well be more at work than just temperature.
HarleyK
Considering the parents guard the fry, I am simply letting nature take its course: I'll leave them in the tank with the adults unless I notice the parents snacking on their young. Bernd observed cannibalism amongst the fry. I'll monitor closely. At this point, I am more interested in watching than in quantitative yield.
Thanks! I do not know about Bernd's tank (though I will ask him for sure!). Mine is across the room from a window. Good theory!
I have read extensively about spawning triggers in nature. They absolutely always spawn during or at the end of seasonal flooding. That can span over several months. I had already planned to play with my drip system to have the tank water age and then flush the tank with fresh water. That always worked for my Garra breeding colony. Then I came across a paper that concluded that the one parameter all habitats and spawning seasons share is an elevation in temperature. And sure enough: As soon as I cranked up the heaters above 80F, they started spitting bubbles.
But thanks for your thoughts, this is why I love MFK. I'll make sure to ask Bernd. There might very well be more at work than just temperature.
HarleyK
I forgot to answer:
hope you wrote down water parameters so you can make it happen again
- temp 27.4C = 81.3F
- pH 6.0 (Whatman strip)
pH 6.0 (API strip)
pH 5.0-6.0 (EMD strip) - nitrate 5 ppm (API kit)
nitrate 0-20 ppm (API strip) - nitrite not detectable (API strip)
- ammonia not detectable (API strip)
- kH 4 deg = 72 ppm (API kit)
kH 40-80 ppm (API strip) - gH 11 deg = 196 ppm (API kit)
gH 120-180 ppm (API strip) - phosphate 0.5 ppm (Nutrafin kit)
- conductivity = 960 uS (Eutech Instruments Oakton EC Testr)
Wow, time for some little live foods now. Although they will probably eat just about anything else offered by you as well. We sure have come along way in the aquarium field since I got into it way back in the mid 1980's. Once again, just really, really cool to see that event. Keep us posted. Thanks again.
