Bubblenests

[missigfunk]

It's only been a few hours (First spawn and VERY impatient lol), but his bubblenest is quite poor.


When breeding, how long does/should it take for the male to build a bubblenest?

TIA!

 

[Netty]

Hiya and good luck with your spawn.

It varys alot from male to male as to how quickly and efficiently they build their nests. Adding some Indian Almond Leaf can help keep the nest together. Also what do you have in the tank for your male to build his nest under? Is the female already in there in her chimney?

 

[missigfunk]

Thanks for your quick reply netty.


I've put a half cut foam cup in there and some duckweed. Also, yes she is in her chimney aswell.


He has a bit of a nest going on, but nothing that looks like it could hold many many many eggs

 

[Netty]

No probs and your set up sounds fine with lots of floating things for him.

It's surprising how many eggs just a few bubbles can hold but if you do have a problem with them staying in the nest, you can syphon them up into a floating tub with just an inch of water and some bits for them to hang onto once they hatch. Then as soon as they are free swimming you can gently tip them back into the tank. We did this with Draco's spawn and have 40+ babies from him now, so it does work fine

 

[missigfunk]

Wow I didn't know that.

I hear people talking about siphoning up eggs and that, but do they get damaged or anything?

Like I said before, it's my first spawn and I would like the best survival rate that I can get.

 

[Netty]

They should be fine as long as you're gentle with them. Just remember not to feed them while they are in the tub as it will pollute the water too much. They will live off their yolk sacks for the first couple of days then feed them as soon as you have tipped them back into you spawning tank. Make sure the water isn't too deep either.....about 4-5 inches is fine.

I was abit unsure when we did it but the results show that it does work quite well especially if you're male isn't very good at looking after the eggs or eats them.

 

[missigfunk]

I have a new problem now netty...

He keeps chasing her away from the nest!


I left them together over night to see if anything happened, but now I can't tell. What do eggs in a bubblenest look like? I google searched pics, but I couldn't tell from them either. Is there something certain to look out for?

 

[Netty]

Lol....he will do until he's ready. As long as he's not being too rough with her, I'd leave them be for a bit longer. It took a pair of ours 24hrs until they actually started spawning.

Or if nothing has happened by your tonight.....pop her in the chimney again overnight and then let her out again tomorrow. This worked really well for us last time and the female went straight under the nest to spawn within 5 mins.

The eggs will look slightly off white in colour and you'd be able to see them clustered together.

Here's a link to a photo of a nest with eggs in

http/www.bettysplendens.com/articles/pag...?articleid=1272

 

[missigfunk]

Thanks for that netty.

That pic really helped. Ok, mine don't look like that lol. I guess no sparks flew last night.

Maybe I should just put her back in the chimney? I think I let her out a little too early anyway.

 

[Netty]

No probs

How long did you have her in the chimney for? Is she looking very eggy? Any signs of vertical breeding bars....they'll show up better if she's a dark colour?

 

[missigfunk]

Hey netty!

Just thought I would let you know...

I left them together and went out for the day. When I got back, I was glad to see that the male (Moey) had let the female (Sparkle) into his nest.
I watched them for a bit and they seemed to be attempting to wrap. I didn't see a full on wrap where Sparkle got stunned afterwards. Although, I did see her in the S shape she should go into after being stunned. Maybe I walked in on the last bits?

Now Moey chases Sparkle out of the nest again and he stays under there and doesn't leave. I can't tell if there are any eggs in there though.

It's night time here now, but I hope when I wake up I can either see eyes in the bubbles or tales coming out of them.


From the info I've given, do you think it's likely that they spawned and there are eggs in the nest? The nest isn't overly big, but it covers most of the area under the foam cup.




I'm so excited! I hope there are eggs!

 

[Netty]

Yay

Ours usually spend a couple of hours wrapping so you may have seen just the end of it.

Sounds like he's guarding his nest now so make sure you leave a light on for 24hrs a day for him. If you've got eggs they should hatch between 24 - 36 hrs depending on temperature.

Good luck and let us know what happens

 

[Netty]

How are things looking? All ok I hope

 

[missigfunk]

Mmm I'm starting to think there are no eggs in there.

He was careless before and ruined the nest a little bit, but he has since fixed it. He still chases the female away whenever she gets too close. I'll take her out now.

What should the temperature be?

It is really hot over here and the temperature in the tank is currently 29-30 degrees.

 

[Netty]

Yep....definately taker her out now incase there are eggs. The temps are fine.....we usually have ours set at that too

Look forward to an update later!!!!