The Puffer Forum

We've had a long period of cold weather in November and December, and it's been really a problem for my tanks in my bedroom. Outside it's been about 5 degrees F (sometimes more or less). Because of my 6 tanks in my bedroom, it's so humid that I have to keep my window open whatever the temperature is outside. Even though I keep heat on in my room, I usually wake up to 45-50 degrees in the room (it's wonderful to have a warm dog under my quilt in these days ). Because of this, I have problems keeping the right temperature in my tanks, as the heaters aren't strong enough to cope with such a low temperature in the room. It's been worrying me. But it seems like I don't have to...

It has made my South-American fishes believe it's the rainy season. Lowering the temperature is a known trigger to make them spawn, and it has worked this time too. I have some cories (C-140) that never spawn more than once a year - or at least they haven't done that earlier. They've spawned 3 times in a few weeks now!
And last Wednesday, I was catching some of my 2 year old L-144, to sell them. They have lots of caves, and you can't get a suckermouth out of a cave if it doesn't want to. So what I do is to take the cave out of the water, and hold it upside down over a net. Sooner or later the catfish finds out it can't stay where it is, and it comes falling out if the cave. But when I did this with one of the caves, it came falling out some newly hatched wigglers. It's nothing surprising that my L-144 breeding pair makes children, but this took my by surprise, as the male had moved away from his usual cave. This autumn/winter he has had two spawnings, after a two year period of no spawning.

Earlier I've also had my group of c. atropersonatus spawning. I wonder who will be next...

The strange thing is that my group of c. sterbai, which is the group of fish in my bedroom that spawns the most, has not spawned for a while.

Sterbai are the warmer ones though, that's why we have them with our discus

It's excellent that they're all spawning. Babies!

Wow nice spawnings. Don't know how many cories u have but maybe swap the Sterbei with others from the warmer rooms?

Clowntje wrote: Don't know how many cories u have but maybe swap the Sterbei with others from the warmer rooms?

If I include the Brochis species (which I always count as cories), I have 19 species. C. sterbai is the species I've had the longest. It was the first cories I bought. I bought a group of 6 wild caught sterbais, and the group has multiplied since that. I know they are warm water cories, but they've been in the same tank all the time, and they thrive there. I don't like to move them from their home of many years.

Since it's their home for years, i also would let them be. I only made the suggestion because I tought u wanted to breed them again.

I don't worry. They will spawn again. They've never let me down. I have a large group, and the females are full of eggs. Sooner or later they will get rid of the egg load.

I have to correct myself when it comes to the sterbais. I found eggs in their tank now. They must have spawned today (or there wouldn't be any eggs - the tank has a lot of other fishes that loves eating eggs).

Those cories that used to spawn once a year at the most, have spawned again today. That's the forth time in a few weeks! I wonder what goes on in their tiny little brains!

OMG! They did it again today! They are absolutely insane.

This is some of the eggs delivered today. It's the same amount on the glass in the back of the tank. And yesterday they delivered almost the same amount on a side glass. Soon the whole tank will be decorated with eggs.

Xmas eggs!

I am certain they can smell when there's a vacation coming. There's always eggs when I can't stay at home and care for them.

That is cool


what do you do with all the babies?

First they have to get as far as being babies. As the eggs hatch in their parent's tanks, there will be a lot of fry disappearing. That's quite normal. Besides, I will be away on vacation the first two weeks. And they are not the easiest fry to care for. I haven't been able to hatch eggs from this species before, so this is new for me. But I know they need very low PH to grow to adulthood. They tend to die at a special age if they don't get this low PH (this has been experienced by two other breeders I know - half my group comes from one of them). This is special for this species. So I have no idea how many small ones that will actually survive. But with all those eggs, at least some must survive! If I get many fry, I have a few small tanks with no fish in right now, so I can handle a pretty large group of them. It's lucky it happens right now, as it's not long ago I had all my tanks stocked to the limit.

If I have a group of the babies growing up, I will sell most of them. The group I have now is about the size I want it to be, so I don't want to increase the size of it much. BTW, all in the group are wild caught - also the ones I bought from the other breeder. She sold her breeding group. They were old room mates of mine, as they where from the same import to a shop we both loves to shop fish in. We bought half the group each. But now they are all mine. Mohahaha!