rolandocalgary Posted January 28, 2008 Report Share Posted January 28, 2008 (edited) i have two female petricolas that im sure are preggo... just wondering if anyone has any experience on petricolas and knew their incubation time, time that mom carries them and anything else that might help. thanks Update:monday jan28/08 so far so good. mom just dropped her eggs and i gave dads about three hours to fertilize them. i scooped them out of the pot (not as easy as i thought), and have transplanted them into an egg tumbler that i just picked up from 'bigfishal' (looks like everything is working well). now the only thing i have left to do is wait four or five days....i think. heres some pics anyways. Update2:tuesday jan29/08 this morning at about 6:30am (early bird) i found a second clutch of eggs!! must be from mommy petricola number 2. its a boy, its a girl. its twenty girls and thirty boys...too early to have a cheers? update3:wednesday jan30/08 this morning at 7:00am i noticed ten or more little 'tadpols'. hope this means all is well...ill try and get some pics but they are almost smaller than the eggs. update4:wednesday jan30/08 awsome! im still amazed! there must be 40 or 50 of 'em. here's some pic's of the little devil's! :thumb's: ***sorry about the dirty glass pics...wasn't expecting company*** Edited January 31, 2008 by rolandocalgary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
punman Posted January 28, 2008 Report Share Posted January 28, 2008 (edited) They scatter their eggs, they are not mouth brooders. I'm trying to get mine to lay eggs in an inverted flower pot with marbles on the bottom, but no luck so far. There are experts here that will answer you I am sure. Edited January 28, 2008 by punman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rolandocalgary Posted January 28, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 28, 2008 They scatter their eggs, they are not mouth brooders. I'm trying to get mine to lay eggs in an inverted flower pot with marbles on the bottom, but no luck so far. There are experts here that will answer you I am sure. im currently trying two different methods...the flowerpots and marbels seems to be a good place to play but no luck yet. the second method is covering one flowerpot with a mesh or net type material so that the egges fall thru but the fish dont and inverting a second pot over the first. i had a couple of eggs deposited there but they were not fertilized. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
African_Fever Posted January 28, 2008 Report Share Posted January 28, 2008 If you've got the pots set up, just give it time. I found that checking every other day at the most was enough, and even with my big group sometimes I'll put the pot/marbles in and nothing will happen, other times I end up with 80 fry that all make it (pretty cool sight in a 20). You could also try feeding the cats a bit extra at night (NLS), and a 35%-50% water change to see if it makes a difference. I've even found Syno eggs in java moss when I've had some sitting in the tank, and in the bunched up jungle val leaves at the surface. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
punman Posted January 28, 2008 Report Share Posted January 28, 2008 I have 4 petricola in a 20 gallon bare bottom tank with one flower pot arrangement. Should there be a couple of rocks in there too? Sometimes all 4 fish are in the pot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted January 29, 2008 Report Share Posted January 29, 2008 (edited) I've seen a set-up with a terra cotta pot inverted on a terra cotta tray with marbles in the bottom (much like what's been described), then had one of those sponge filters (sponges are grey corugated and has a plastic riser stem that directs water across the tank like UGF stem) w/o the sponge inserted into it. THe output of the filter went into a breeding net where the current kept the eggs tumbled. I know that doesn't make much sense... I'll try to find a pic. This is the filter I'm talking about Edited January 29, 2008 by jvision Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rolandocalgary Posted January 31, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2008 i have two female petricolas that im sure are preggo... just wondering if anyone has any experience on petricolas and knew their incubation time, time that mom carries them and anything else that might help. thanksUpdate:monday jan28/08 so far so good. mom just dropped her eggs and i gave dads about three hours to fertilize them. i scooped them out of the pot (not as easy as i thought), and have transplanted them into an egg tumbler that i just picked up from 'bigfishal' (looks like everything is working well). now the only thing i have left to do is wait four or five days....i think. heres some pics anyways. Update2:tuesday jan29/08 this morning at about 6:30am (early bird) i found a second clutch of eggs!! must be from mommy petricola number 2. its a boy, its a girl. its twenty girls and thirty boys...too early to have a cheers? update3:wednesday jan30/08 this morning at 7:00am i noticed ten or more little 'tadpols'. hope this means all is well...ill try and get some pics but they are almost smaller than the eggs. update4:wednesday jan30/08 awsome! im still amazed! there must be 40 or 50 of 'em. here's some pic's of the little devil's! :thumb's: ***sorry about the dirty glass pics...wasn't expecting company*** anyone know what to feed these guys or when for that matter (they still have the embryo sacks on em). ? i have crushed pellet food...any other suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
African_Fever Posted January 31, 2008 Report Share Posted January 31, 2008 (edited) I've fed mine crushed/powdered food, and have never noticed many deaths at all. I do try to have some java moss in the tank as well, in the hopes of there being some bacteria etc. that they can eat off the plants, as well as a well-established sponge filter. I've never found them difficult to raise, so congrats on the fry! As for timing on feeding, I'd probably wait two days after they hatch and still have some yolk sac, as they I believe they will be out looking for food before the yolk sac is gone. Now it's just the painfully slow growth you've got wait for. Edited January 31, 2008 by African_Fever Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted January 31, 2008 Report Share Posted January 31, 2008 They don't need to eat 'til they've absorbed their yolk-sacs (tho some people start to feeding when there's still a bit left). Feed them crushed NLS Grow, baby brine shrimp, or other good foods that are small enough for them to eat. I've used H2O wafers in fry tanks with great success - they stay intact for a couple days w/o fouling the water, so the fry can nibble at them all the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
punman Posted February 2, 2008 Report Share Posted February 2, 2008 So, do the eggs hatch in about three days? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rolandocalgary Posted February 3, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2008 So, do the eggs hatch in about three days? id say in about thirty to fourty hours....tho there were a coupla late bloomers. they are all hatched now and you can even see some tiny eyes. they like to keep to the side, black silicone, and are all lined up vertical...sorta makes it easy to count. id say at least fifty! (thats from two mums). im feeding crushed nls and brine shrimp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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