Wigglers 2: Birth of a hatchery & everything Angels

[Linwood]

Filtration is simple. Everything I do , mostly, is simple because simple works and it doesn;t have to be complicated to be successful. Sponge filters and water changes. Can it be any simpler?

Did you (are you) consider doing continual water changes, i.e. the drip in, drip out sort?

I was talking to a guy who just set up ... not sure, many dozen... tanks and he was considering changing over to it.

 

[Andy Sager]

Did you (are you) consider doing continual water changes, i.e. the drip in, drip out sort?

I was talking to a guy who just set up ... not sure, many dozen... tanks and he was considering changing over to it.

Actually, most of the tanks I got are already drilled so some systems will be set up for quicker water changing or centralized for filtration. I don't do my breeders on continual drips. Too great a chance that the temps fluctuate or that the milt gets washed away from the eggs. My "fish for sale" tanks are most likely going to be in these drilled tanks.

 

[Hobbiest]

I was thinking more on the way of my uncle picking up and bringing to me if you had any extras he is always visiting Illinois, but if they are all drilled or you are not interested, it was just a thought anyway. On the up side sure would be a great way for me to buy beautiful angels from you.

 

[Hobbiest]

I forgot to ask, and forgive me if it is a stupid question, but are you going to just use a simple suction hose to do all those water changes?

 

[Andy Sager]

I forgot to ask, and forgive me if it is a stupid question, but are you going to just use a simple suction hose to do all those water changes?

YEPPERS You aren't a real fish person if you don;t belong to the "wet arm society" That's my opinion of course I find that it's still the best way to get the crud out of the tank and not just changing water. I can direct a siphon hose to a clump of dirt whereas I won't necessarily get that clump if I just pull a drain and let, say, 5 gals of water drain out of the tank.

As for your uncle picking up a tank, that's not a problem but they are all drilled. You could patch the hole with a piece of glass however. I only have 20 gal longs that came undrilled. About 40 or 50 of them As for picking up fish to bring up there, that can be done in the future. I am not set up for long distance traveling for the fish yet. You all will know when I am tho

 

[Andy Sager]

I'm guessing I can say that the hatchery is officially "in business". The Zebra lace/ Black eggs that were spawned in the building started hatching this morning. There was only about a 45%-50% hatch but it's a start. You can never really tell much from a first spawn anyway. So she will now be paired up with my Silver Veil Male and he will be paired up with my straight Silver Female. Unless.... I can make more silver veils instead of Zebra veils, more Dark Zebras if I leave that pair together but WHAT do I do with the extra Half Black male?????

 

[brennae]

I just read this whole thread. Wow Andy! Go big or go home! You work fast and so do your fish!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[Andy Sager]

I just read this whole thread. Wow Andy! Go big or go home! You work fast and so do your fish!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Aquarium Advice mobile app

Actually it's more a testament to how, when properly done, the fish will respond. Say what you want, the proof is in the pudding.

 

[Andy Sager]

Hey Andy, do you know any MD breeders of angels? I just went to Tom's Tropicals last night for the first time and they were selling these GORGEOUS platinum angels, some were pearl scales too. There were about fifty with perfect fins and bodies in a 120, then a bunch more in a few other tanks. Best thing? Every single one was at LEAST four inches across the body. Each fish was really healthy, no ich in the whole store and no nipped fins. Active, chased me around for food. And they were only $15.98 each- what is this black magic!


Delivered via owl
Ministry of Magic

Sorry, don;t know anyone your way.
The fish sound good. At that size, you should be able to get pairs fairly easily. Keep in mind tho, they may not breed for long as most Angels today, from what I've been reading, stop actively breeding at 3 years of age. It's a downward slope from then on until they stop all together. ( That's why I don't buy proven pairs. You just don;t know how old they really are. ) But they do sound nice to look at.

 

[Andy Sager]

I'm guessing I can say that the hatchery is officially "in business". The Zebra lace/ Black eggs that were spawned in the building started hatching this morning. There was only about a 45%-50% hatch but it's a start. You can never really tell much from a first spawn anyway. So she will now be paired up with my Silver Veil Male and he will be paired up with my straight Silver Female. Unless.... I can make more silver veils instead of Zebra veils, more Dark Zebras if I leave that pair together but WHAT do I do with the extra Half Black male?????

I just read this whole thread. Wow Andy! Go big or go home! You work fast and so do your fish!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Aquarium Advice mobile app

Yeah, I have to call it official. The Blushings are spawning again as I'm typing this. So they have been in with other fish, moved, surrounded by other fish in tanks next to them yet they are still going at it. I watched for a while so I know that the fish are actively doing their parts so the results now are all about the fish

To update the Zebra lace/ black hatchout, I don;t see a lot of wigglers today so I'm thinking to let them try again. Seems many died off, post hatching, so I want to see if this is a genetic thing or a hatching set up thing. I'll keep y'all posted

 

[Andy Sager]

Well love must really be in the air because tonight, I had a second spawn for the day and the Black pair's male was cleaning the slate and has his tube dangling.
The first spawn was the above mentioned Blushing's. I did not have a tank ready to move the spawn ( I'm testing out some heaters I got from the breeder's room. a lot are no good ) so I put them into a jar with an airstone in the breeder's tank so they can stay at that constant temp. I'm not really sure if it is crueler to leave the eggs where the parents can see them but can't get to them or if taking them out of sight is? They were very actively trying to get through the jar and deal with the eggs. But since I lost their last spawn, I need to know what the story is with this pair, fertility wise.

Next came the Gold Marble. This is actually the rejected female from the trio I wrote about in the original "Wigglers at last" thread and posted a video of one of their spawns. I lost her mate in July I picked up this very nice looking marble a few months ago in hopes that it would be a male ( I had a feeling ) and that I could pair him with her. Well, they have been together a little more than a week and "Bingo, Bango, Bongo, I gotta a spawn to share with you all. I had noticed that she was going around to all the corners in the tank and "cleaning" the silicone. I couldn't have that so I moved her slate into a corner and went back in the house to get more slates to cover the other corners. But by the time I got back, I saw that she and the male both were concentrating on the slate so I didn't put the other 3 pieces in. Within a couple of hours, they were both "doing the deed". Unfortunately, I still didn't have any tanks to put the eggs in or jars ready for the spawn so they are with the parents under their care. I know she is a good caretaker but I don;t know about him. Guess I will find out. Interestingly enough, this male seems to also have some koi in him as there are some really red areas peeking out of his forehead. I can't wait to see what they throw.

Now, so Brookster can't say this didn't really happen unless there are pics,
Here's some pics

 

[Mr Fisher]

It's awesome seeing everything come together for you! Can't wait to see some of their offspring

 

[Andy Sager]

Well, it just goes to show: Not everything that was, is, and not everything that should be, will be.
Saw the Second spawn this morning and most of the eggs were gone. But I did have a heated tank come through the test last night so I moved what was left of the eggs into there for a fertility test. Once I know for sure, I will be more prepared with tanks for spawns.
The Blushing eggs, in the jar, still look good

 

[Andy Sager]

A quick update: Well the fertility test was a success. The heater was set a little high ( 82 degrees) and the remaining eggs hatched today. Since moving the slate with about 40-50 eggs still on there, I only saw about 8 dead eggs. Don;t know if this means that the ones they ate were bad or she just forgot what she was doing. lol ( I doubt that, she has been a wonderful mother.) But I know that they both are fertile and so will start pulling their spawns immediately.
The Zebra Lace/ Black eggs seem a bust. I only have about 4 or 5 fry that I can find so I will most likely ditch that jar. Will use a better hatching method next time.

The Blushing eggs are amazing. Spawn size is about the same as the last one I posted the pic of. They were put into a jar with the tank water they were spawned in with M Blue and the airstone. I noticed today that the heater seemed to be keeping the tank about 77-78 degrees so the eggs haven't hatched yet even tho they were spawned earlier in the day than the G/M- Koi pair. But the good news is when I moved the jar into another 10 gal, who's heater is set for 78 degrees , I only noticed about 3 dead eggs. This has me very excited and hopeful for this spawn and pair. What a difference between when they spawned with the wrong filter and this time with just the sponge filter. I can't even blame the other fish in the tank on that first spawn. This time, they have a single female in one tank next to them and about 10 medium sized fish in the tank on the other side. Looks like they just "got down to business."

That's it for now.

 

[Mr Fisher]

Looking forward to seeing the blushing offspring

 

[Andy Sager]

Looking forward to seeing the blushing offspring

Me too I was told these are a slightly "off colored" Blushing so they may not have all the same traits as a "normal" blushing Angel. Time will tell.

 

[Andy Sager]

New update: The blusher's egg's hatched There were a few more white eggs than I saw yesterday but the hatch percentage was still high. So now there are 2 active spawns I'm working for real.

 

[Fishobsessed7]

New update: The blusher's egg's hatched There were a few more white eggs than I saw yesterday but the hatch percentage was still high. So now there are 2 active spawns I'm working for real.

How are they doing?


Fishobsessed7

 

[Andy Sager]

How are they doing?


Fishobsessed7

Still wiggling
Time to start preparing shrimp hatcheries and sponge filters

 

[Hobbiest]

Congrats Andy, can't wait to see some of your fry