my old fahaka spawning
Posted: Sun Aug 24, 2008 7:57 am
I successfully bred fahakas 3 years ago on 2 occasions the thrid sadly resulting in elle being killed.
I found by dividing the tank and using very very large rocks to prop the divide for extra support let them see each other for a few weeks at least. at first i found they were very very agressivce trying to get to each other. I noticed a change where they were much much calmler brushing aginst the divide and fanning the bottom of the divide. So i cdecided to take it out. they were fine for about 2-3 days when i noticed they were spawning on a slab of slate that was on the sand. The peramiters were normal i did raise them temp to 27degrees though.
My male (Dribble) did guard the eggs for about 14 hours then seemed to of lost interest. Elle wasnt to be seen she was hiding presumably from Dribble so i removed her from the tank. after about 3-4 days you could see a change in the eggs even see the small fry's eyes moving around the eggs hatched after about 7 days Dribble at first didnt seem to mind / notive the fry although i did remove them with a bowl slowly i found the fry on the first spawn mortality rate was about 30% with ph 6.4 0/0 nitrates natrates 24degrees second time i lowered the temp to 21 and mortality rate was about 15% both times producing about 30 fry
The main problem i found was feeding the fry and ensuring each were getting enough food. I found dalphina were great as tyou could see the orange glow in the stomachs using a air stone to keep them moving helped a lot. Filtration was difficult at first i used a cloth mesh over the filter entrance althpough i found i had to keep a good eye on any fish that were drawn agains t it.
the fry started eastign after 2-3 days when the yolk sack was used. They lived great together until about 6 weeks in when they were grown to about 1.5cm and had a tendency to nip at this time i added some more decor which helped block line of vision and thus cut down on agression.
the timing that my fahakas bred was july + aug so i would presume its a yearly cycle. The courtship seemed to last about 6 hours in all before spawning on both occasions
the third year i tried i divided the tank and braced the divide with a 10kilo rock each side. Sadly i awoke to find dribble had still managed to break through and kill Elle. where i found her with nost of her fins shredded and quite severe body wounds. Dribble barely surrvived as he has quite severe wounds also.
Dribble was about 6 years old and elle 5 years old at the time. really my thoughts on fahakas now are that they are amazing fish but breeding is hit or miss. not that i would try again. Mainly because my 9x4x4 has my mbu in now so its just not a option.
I found by dividing the tank and using very very large rocks to prop the divide for extra support let them see each other for a few weeks at least. at first i found they were very very agressivce trying to get to each other. I noticed a change where they were much much calmler brushing aginst the divide and fanning the bottom of the divide. So i cdecided to take it out. they were fine for about 2-3 days when i noticed they were spawning on a slab of slate that was on the sand. The peramiters were normal i did raise them temp to 27degrees though.
My male (Dribble) did guard the eggs for about 14 hours then seemed to of lost interest. Elle wasnt to be seen she was hiding presumably from Dribble so i removed her from the tank. after about 3-4 days you could see a change in the eggs even see the small fry's eyes moving around the eggs hatched after about 7 days Dribble at first didnt seem to mind / notive the fry although i did remove them with a bowl slowly i found the fry on the first spawn mortality rate was about 30% with ph 6.4 0/0 nitrates natrates 24degrees second time i lowered the temp to 21 and mortality rate was about 15% both times producing about 30 fry
The main problem i found was feeding the fry and ensuring each were getting enough food. I found dalphina were great as tyou could see the orange glow in the stomachs using a air stone to keep them moving helped a lot. Filtration was difficult at first i used a cloth mesh over the filter entrance althpough i found i had to keep a good eye on any fish that were drawn agains t it.
the fry started eastign after 2-3 days when the yolk sack was used. They lived great together until about 6 weeks in when they were grown to about 1.5cm and had a tendency to nip at this time i added some more decor which helped block line of vision and thus cut down on agression.
the timing that my fahakas bred was july + aug so i would presume its a yearly cycle. The courtship seemed to last about 6 hours in all before spawning on both occasions
the third year i tried i divided the tank and braced the divide with a 10kilo rock each side. Sadly i awoke to find dribble had still managed to break through and kill Elle. where i found her with nost of her fins shredded and quite severe body wounds. Dribble barely surrvived as he has quite severe wounds also.
Dribble was about 6 years old and elle 5 years old at the time. really my thoughts on fahakas now are that they are amazing fish but breeding is hit or miss. not that i would try again. Mainly because my 9x4x4 has my mbu in now so its just not a option.
I didn't think it would be possible.