Newly Hatched Peacock Gudgeons!

[skrapeNKA]

It took a few times to get it right, but a pair of my peacock gudgeons finally managed to lay eggs, AND fertilize the, AND not eat them the next day

I hadn't been paying much mind to the pair due to their penchant for just giving up and eating the eggs, but this batch had eyes when I looked inside the tube! (probably... 2 days after spawning?) The structure they laid eggs in was moved from my main tank to a little 5g hatching tank I've had set up for a bit now. It was a bit of a chore getting it out without the male, he was doing a great job fanning the eggs and didn't want to give them up! I felt a little bad about it and put a different tube in the same spot because he was just swimming around the area his eggs used to be at looking distressed He went right into the replacement tube, seemed to calm down, and didn't come out until the next morning; at which point it was business as usual.

I ran an airstone at the base of the tube to keep water flowing over the eggs and only lost 2 to fungus, I believe the rest of them have hatched successfully over the last 24 hours. They've been fed some gel food that I mixed poorly last week (too watery!) and microworms I snagged today at the LFS. They're so small I can't tell if they're actually eating anything but I'm probably not likely to see that microscopic action taking place, I suppose.

 

[skrapeNKA]

All in all, I'm pretty excited and a bit anxious about the whole thing; this will be my first batch of fry. Time to try hard!

Edit: I took these before I siphoned the detritus off the bottom, the sponge filter was matured in my main tank and keeps 'shedding' material

 

[DreaminginBlue]

Congratulations! So happy for you.
I can't wait to watch them grow. Best of luck.

 

[skrapeNKA]

One week on and they look to be doing well. I'm unsure if there have been many losses because it's impossible to count these things! They've gotten noticably larger and I can see them moving in the tank from across the room. The fry get noticeably more active when the microworms are added to the tank so I'm starting up a second culture from the one I purchased; from the reading I've done it will probably be another week or two before they'll be large enough to take baby brine shrimp.

 

[Toad]

They're so awesome, congrats!

 

[coralbandit]

One week in they seem to be doing well. Congrats!
I would get on hatching BBS and see if they eat them.My rams [pretty small at hatch] eat BBS day one so the gugdeons may be ready.
Their bellies look full in pics so they are eating.
Be careful not to overfeed the micro worms as they do not die quickly in freshwater like BBS and can cause trouble with fry if they left on the bottom of the tank in numbers.
Enjoy,good luck and most of all enjoy,both you and t hem are learning as you go..

 

[skrapeNKA]

Thanks for the encouraging words, guys

One week in they seem to be doing well. Congrats!
I would get on hatching BBS and see if they eat them.My rams [pretty small at hatch] eat BBS day one so the gugdeons may be ready.
Their bellies look full in pics so they are eating.
Be careful not to overfeed the micro worms as they do not die quickly in freshwater like BBS and can cause trouble with fry if they left on the bottom of the tank in numbers.
Enjoy,good luck and most of all enjoy,both you and t hem are learning as you go..

I got the hatchery-thing fired up yesterday, doesn't appear to be any progress so far (San Franscisco Bay Brand). Honestly, I'm a little disappointed in myself for paying for the dang thing, I could have cobbled together almost the same thing for nothing. That aside, is there a simple way to tell if the brine shrimp eggs have hatched? With all the water movement from the airline it's difficult to isolate any movement!

Curious about the micro-worms causing problems with fry, coralbandit. Is there a parasitic or predation risk if I've managed to put too many in? From what the gal at the LFS told me they're simply nematodes and won't grow into anything else. Water quality issues aside, as you mentioned it's more of a concern they live longer in FW. (Though I've been closely monitoring that; hatching fish has set me right back to the needs of over-testing everything just like when I got started)

 

[coralbandit]

To tell if eggs have hatched remove the air and let the hatcher settle.
The egg shells will float to top and the live shrimp will go to bottom..
Use a flashlight if needed th draw the shrimp to bottom ,then syphon them out and rinse.
I use a sieve and eggs from brine shrimp direct.The SFBAY eggs were crap for me also.
I buy 1 lb and keep it in the fridge.They last over a year,hatch at 85+% and in 24 hours ..For the whole year..
I can sell small amounts of eggs if you like or you can order direct.
Artemia Hatching Sieve
This sieve fits in a Toms small Dip and Pour so you can re use the water a couple times.
Grade A Brine Shrimp Eggs

I use 2 liter bottles with cap on bottom and a rigid airline stuck in from the top to sit right in the bottom of cap.Then I remove it let eggs and shrimp settle and syphon them out with a dedicated rigid airline and tubing to the sieve.When all the shrimp and most of the water are out [fit in small dip and pour] I rinse the bottle out.You need to clean a hatcher every time you use it so this is easiest IMO..I hatch my shrimp in 24 hours or less.

On the micro worms they can predate the fry if they are numerous enough and fry are small enough..
Most freshwater breeders like BBS because no saltwater bacteria live in fresh water easily and thus they worry less about contamination from live food.
I have used micro worms with no problem until overfed...
Good luck.