African_Fever Posted April 3, 2005 Report Share Posted April 3, 2005 Well, I decided to remove my breeding setup tonight that I had in my tank for my petriocola's since I hadn't seen any eggs in the mesh breeder that they were supposed to go into (inverted flowerpots w/marbles and sponge filter to mesh breeder). Figured I had better at least check the marbles to see if there were any eggs/fry, and YES! There's at least one little guy (just a wriggler with a huge yolk sac) and a couple more eggs. I now think that my flowerpot is either too large and there isn't enough suction from the sponge filter to cover the entire thing, or they've been breeding somewhat regularly and the eggs have just been getting eaten through the mesh. If anyone has any experience with raising synos it would be MUCH appreciated. Otherwise it looks like I'll be doing all the on-line research I can tonight to find out what to do. PlantCatfish, here I come! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunl Posted April 3, 2005 Report Share Posted April 3, 2005 Congrats, Kyle. I think that trumps my mbwecas. I think Mark had success breeding those, or may it was just the multies..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
punman Posted April 3, 2005 Report Share Posted April 3, 2005 Good luck - that is great. I bought six one-inch petricolas last month. They are cute and active. How big are yours and how fast do they grow? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
African_Fever Posted April 3, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 3, 2005 My largest 'pair' is 4", the others all between 2.5-3", 11 in total. I've known that the largest pair has been breeding for a while b/c the female would always go from thick to thin overnight, I just never had the right decor to set up a breeding cave (I bought them from a guy who said they had bred for him a couple times, but he never really knew what do with the eggs). With the smallest ones, a bunch of the females have been extremely plump for a couple of months, so I've had a feeling that they'd be old enough to spawn. Mine seemed to grow extremely slowly in the beginning (I got them around 1" too), and it's taken them over a year and a half to get to 3". It looks like I've got 3 that have hatched so far, with another 10 or so eggs. Put in a smaller pot arrangement, so hopefully they take to this one too and the eggs actually get sucked up! And yes Neil, they've been on NLS and nothing else. Don't seem to take to the wafers right away, and I just make sure that there's lots of extra cichlid formula that hits the bottom whenever I feed them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RD. Posted April 3, 2005 Report Share Posted April 3, 2005 And yes Neil, they've been on NLS and nothing else. :thumbs: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ABwildrose Posted April 3, 2005 Report Share Posted April 3, 2005 Wow!!! wtg kyle. Mark was explaining to me how to get petricolas to spawn (I think it was Mark...at the auction). I bet he can give you a few pointers, but it sounds like you are on the right track. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rahim101 Posted April 3, 2005 Report Share Posted April 3, 2005 Kyle, Can you post pics of your set up. I have a few of these guys and would also like to breed them. How old are your guys and how old till they start breeding??? Thanks, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sammy Posted April 3, 2005 Report Share Posted April 3, 2005 Hey Kyle, I found some usefull info on this site http://www.scotcat.com/articles/articles_breeding.htm maybe you'll find something intrestting there. Sammy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
African_Fever Posted April 3, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 3, 2005 I've done tons of research on them in the past, and getting them to breed isn't really all that hard. It's more how to get them to breed where you want and hopefully get some eggs. Looking at various pics on plantecatfish.com I've known that the original pair was male/female, and now having my newest ones coming up I've had a couple females that have been very gravid for a while. If I had the tank space I'd probably have tried conditioning them separately, then putting them all in a bare tank with the breeding apparatus and trying that. But mine have always looked gravid on regular food (NLS now), so I just put the flowerpots in my main tank up here (a 120) with all my other 'hopefully soon to be breeding Tangs' and hoped they'd decide to use it. From what I can see with mine, I'd guess that they've got be at least 2.5", probably 3 for better results (the most gravid females are all the larger of the group). I've had them over 18 months, and got them at about 1". From the few eggs that I've gotten, I still think that they're breeding elsewhere in the tank as well b/c I do have other caves that they spend a lot of time in. Reports on the net have them laying literally hundreds of eggs at a time. Hopefully they'll decide to use mine a little more frequently! Here's the page where I found the marble/pot/mesh breeder setup. http://www.planetcatfish.com/cotm/2001_06.php Mine is essentially the same, but due to the depth of the tank I had to put a longer piece of rigid tubing to extend the sponge filter so it reaches the surface. I'll try to get some pics later. I'll definitely keep everyone posted on how/if they come along! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
African_Fever Posted April 3, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 3, 2005 Looks like none of the wrigglers made the night. Thinking it must've just been some damage from being transferred last night. No worries though, from what I can see they seem to breed regularly, so it's just a matter of getting things set up the way I want this time. :thumbs: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunl Posted April 3, 2005 Report Share Posted April 3, 2005 I thought they were a parasitical breeder? Have you tried getting some nyerii from Hostile to use? From what Mark said, they seem to be a really good fish to use for this purpose, or any other Victoria for that matter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RD. Posted April 3, 2005 Report Share Posted April 3, 2005 I thought they were a parasitical breeder? My understanding is that they can be, but not to the same degree as Multis. I suspect Mark was using the Vics for his Multis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
African_Fever Posted April 3, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 3, 2005 There've been 'reports' of petricola's breeding in a parasitic manner with mouthbrooders, though I've yet to actually find anything that's confirmed. I have seen one report of someone (SidGuppy) having had them breed parasitically with his Alto. comp's (egglayers), but he's the only one I've heard of so far with this method. As Neil said, it's the multipunctatus that breed parasitically with cichlids most commonly (not many others breed them any other way, much easier letting the cichlids look after them for you!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
African_Fever Posted May 11, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 11, 2005 Well, got a bit of an update. I've now got three fry (at least) that have made it to the free swimming stage. They've gotta be ~1/2 cm long, but you can already make out their little whiskers! Seem to be eating frozen baby brine, so hopefully I'll have luck raising them, and more luck getting more to the free swimming stage next time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nevchewy Posted June 24, 2005 Report Share Posted June 24, 2005 How are they coming along Kyle? its been over a month now... have you had luck with any more spawing... are the little guys growing big? Just asking for an update! thanks! nev Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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