Pseudomugil luminatus tips and tricks

[Beastije]

I recently (sunday) got a batch of 10 pseudomugil luminatus. I am not sure how old they are, but based on the full coloring, they are not juveniles. I have a 5m/5f ratio and it took the males like 3 hours in the new tank to start sparring/fin showing.
I absolutely adore their ear fins, too bad I cant take a decent picture yet, they are just too fast.

Since I have only had them two days, I assume most of their behavior is stress related. They hang out near the bottom and in one corner, more in the open area than the planted one. I expected them to be more upper level/surface level, but that is ok.
I purchased a piece of wood I am currently soaking to put on the left side of the tank to help them feel more at ease. I will also try to include more plants, but cant overdoit that much, low light/low fert. I am hoping for the pennywort on the surface to start growing and producing roots and act like a surface plant.

Given there is not that much info on them, what are your recommendations? They are slow to notice food but then they are good at eating anything I have given them (live bbs, live microworms, frozen bbs, frozen cyclops, will try some dried next)
I also read how you basically cant have any offspring in the tank with adult, so I plan to wait some time and take out the moss I have in there and place it in a breeder box in the same tank with them with hope of getting some eggs to develop.
How long should I be waiting for the eggs to be deposited, like a month for them to settle down? They already spend a lot of the time in the moss, but mostly to eat stuff I guess will be hard to pick a correct time when the eggs are still there too.
I watched some youtube breeding videos so will hopefully recognize the eggs in the moss.

Thank you

 

[Colin_T]

First thing you do is remove any snails and shrimp from the tank so they don't eat the fish eggs.

The adult fish don't normally eat their eggs or young unless they are hungry. If you feed the adults 3-5 times a day, you will often see baby fish swimming just under the surface and these can be scooped out with a plastic cup and put into a rearing tank.

Do big (75%) water changes and gravel clean the substrate at least once a week. Drain the water into a white bucket and let it settle for a few minutes, then shine a torch in it and look for eggs on the bottom. Put the eggs in a hatching tank.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

If the adults are displaying to each other, they are happy with the new home and are breeding. Eggs can be laid in floating plants, plants on the substrate, or even in shallow depressions in the substrate, it just depends on the individual fish.
If they are stressed, they hide or sit in a corner with clamped fins and breathe heavily.

Melanotaeniidae and Pseudomugilidae

A website dedicated to Rainbowfishes of Australia and New Guinea

rainbowfish.angfaqld.org.au

 

[Beastije]

Hey i saw few eggs in the moss so I removed that part of the clump to the breeding box and will see in two weeks. I added fresh moss and will check it daily

Fingers crossed

 

[Colin_T]

What are the white things on the glass/ side of the hatching container?
If they are planaria worms or snails, you need to get rid of them. Anything that moves is not welcome near the eggs.

 

[Beastije]

What are the white things on the glass/ side of the hatching container?
If they are planaria worms or snails, you need to get rid of them. Anything that moves is not welcome near the eggs.

Dried duckweed. Forgot to scrub it down with a brush in my rush to get the moss in quarantine

 

[Beastije]

So today i found first fry. It is way earlier than expected and i won't be home until Monday. Ah well, i put a bit first bites in and tried to clean the exces, which may have cost me few eggs from the moss that fell down.
Also the place i have the eggs now if they all hatch ..

 

[Beastije]

The super tiny fry survived my absence and I fed it yesterday making protogen culture now
However in the morning I found an adult luminatus in the breeding box, as it jumped in. I was sad as I figured the fry is gone, but it is not .I netted the adult male out, saw him jump back in, netted him out again and checked, the fry is still alive
Weird
Have to do more reading about them

 

[Beastije]

I found a lid for the box, so hopefully jumping adult problem solved
Question for the future, if I manage to keep this fry alive, how long can I "torture" it in the one liter box and how large it has to be before it can safely join the adults...

 

[Colin_T]

the fry has to be at least half the size of the biggest fish in the tank. It should take about 2 months to reach 1 inch long if it's fed well.

 

[Beastije]

So I had zero luck collecting the eggs and making them hatch in the breeding box or keeping the fry alive. I opted instead of heavy feeding of the adult tank, and I have two fry in the main tank for at least three weeks, growing steadily. All fingers crossed