zig zag eel,breeding now no joke

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dolly_daydream

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i have 2 zig zag spiny eels thats ive had for an absolute age,there in a community tank and are very healthy and the tank is fully cycled,now heres the problem this last week ive noticed one of the eels as gone very plump,then i noticed the pair acting strangly they started swimming in the current and wrapping themselves around each other kinda like they was wrestleing,but it was obvious that they weren,t fighting as one was queezeing the other,then 10 minutes later i water 1 of the eels go to the corner of the tank and lay eggs on the tank glass then on the filter then on the other side of the glass i wouldn,t of noticed but she was in the corner standing completly vertical so i went to see what was wrong with her and i watched her with my own eyes lay eggs,,then she goes from corner to corner keepin her eye on the eggs and so on,,so you say what is the problem,,well i went to google to see how i hatched the eggs and rear the young only to find it say that zig zag eels have never been bred in the aquarium is this right,is it possible that im the only one to do it without even trying heres a photo of one of them when they was young there quite a bit bigger now,
th_f05_peacock_eel.jpg


so what do you think as this been done before
 
I would be utterly shocked to find out your are the one and only person to have them breed in your tank. I think what they meant to imply is that scientists and hobbyists alike do not know how to breed them.

Regardless... sounds like you have an interesting adventure ahead of ya! Good Luck!!!
 
nc_nutcase said:
I would be utterly shocked to find out your are the one and only person to have them breed in your tank. I think what they meant to imply is that scientists and hobbyists alike do not know how to breed them.

Regardless... sounds like you have an interesting adventure ahead of ya! Good Luck!!!
the funny thing is i never set out to breed them,so if they ask me how all i could say is my tank is sand subtrate and very strong current and not to bright light
 
You could also take a reading of the ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, hardness, and pH. This could assist people because these are the conditions that you had them breed in.

Congratulations!
 
From what i have gathered, no they havn't been bred in captivity or at least there is no official recorded cases of this happening; what is happening in your tank right now is VERY important then and if you can figure out the way to breed these wonderful fish in captivity then you could save thousands of them been taken out of endangered habits in the wild.

Firstly, if i were you i would start a diary and write down everything you can remember that you have done in the past 3months or more i.e;

a. tank temp and any different temps it has been in the past months
b. Water stats(ammonia/nitrate/nitrite) for as long as you can remember
c. ph, gh, kh stats etc
d. tank decor; type of gravel/sand, how fine it is, what type of plants you have and things like caves/ornements etc
e. Tank depth and other measurements- how long/wide it is and how many gals it holds etc.
f. Other fish tank mates/species and their numbers
g. how long has the tank been mature for and how often you do water changes/how much water you take out on an average basis.
h. Strength of lightning/how many watts is has and what it is usually suited for
i. Age of the breeding pair roughly(if posible)/maturity...

All these things are important in creating the right breeding conditions for a fish so i would try and get down as much as posible as this could be a realy important breakthrough, Good luck!!!!
 
hey thanks for taking the time to reply,i thought i would be lucky to get 1 reply let alone 3 thanks :D
 
Keep us all updated on what happens even if there are no fry :D ! I would love to hear how things go; i have always wanted to do a project into breeding fish that have never before been bred in captivity :thumbs: !
 
yea, Tokis-Phoenix is 100% correct, you gotta take all those measurements and write this stuff down. If scientists dont know how to breed them it could be very important. Hope it goes well, do keep us updated :fun: ! One of my ideal careers would be fish research so i am very interested in your discoveries! Good luck buddy! :#

ps, it would also be good to record the method of breeding (how the fish act during breeding) as this would be useful information also :)
 
when they say no fish have been breed in captivity they might mean that the eggs never hatch. Ive heard of some species that lay eggs but people never get any fry out of them. good luck though. it would be awesome to be the first.
 
a. tank temp and any different temps it has been in the past months....ok tank temp been the same for the last 6 months 79..

b. Water stats(ammonia/nitrate/nitrite) for as long as you can remember....ammonia 0...nitrite 0...nitrate 20 been this way for about 8 months..

c. ph, gh, kh stats etc...dont know i haven,t tested yet,but i will though then ill update

d. tank decor; type of gravel/sand, how fine it is, what type of plants you have ...i have play sand at the bottom very fine,,,i had a full tank of real plants but replaced them all with silk plants,,and planty of bogwood and 3 caves



e. Tank depth and other measurements- how long/wide it is and how many gals it holds etc....length is 36 inch,depth is 18 inch,and 15 wide..


f. Other fish tank mates/species and their numbers...8 glowlights,8 neons,8 corys.4 blackwidows...



g. how long has the tank been mature for and how often you do water changes/how much water you take out on an average basis....tank been mature for 1 year,i change 25% a week



h. Strength of lightning/how many watts is has and what it is usually suited for....2 35 watts but 1 bulb went about a month ago and ive been meaning to replace it but never got round to it...


i. Age of the breeding pair roughly(if posible)/maturity... i have had them for about 8 months but they were only tiny when i bought them...

1 thing that stand out though i have afluval 4+ and i am maturing a filter for my other half so ive had that running in the to so the current as been super strong lately which they seem to love,,so the only thing different lately is the current and the lights,

maybe that could be it
 
Congratulations, while you are probably not the first and only person to have bred Mastacembelus circumcinctus you are one of just a handfull of fish keepers across the world who have.

The breeding behaviour sounds very similar to that of the Peacock spiney eel Macrognathus aculeatus which i spawned on 2 occasions but unfortunately was unable to save any of the eggs to raise as the parental care ceased after the first 24 hours and the eggs were left alone, where they were promptly eaten by other fish.

Good luck with hatching and raising any fry and keep us posted of how they are progressing.
 
Good luck, and try to protect the eggs, it would be a real shame if they got eaten as then you would never know if they had hatched...

Ben
 
Meybe if the behaviour sounds simialr, you could try using the sma techniques hat you would use for the eggs with a peacock spiney eel? I'm sure there must be info on that somewhere!

Anyway! best of luck!
 
ive now divided the tank the fish on 1 side the eggs on the other ill keep you posted
thanks everyone
 
1st of all let me say Congrats.

2nd I have no idea about breeding but I have read some fish like discus need to have a parent around becuse the fry eat the slime coat. SO do eels need there mom and dad????? Don't know I just thought I'd bring up the thought. But I do think most fish eat the fry ???
NOt sure someone help me out here !!!!!
 

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