Dicrossus filamentosus - sexing and advice?

[Mol_PMB]

Of the 30-odd twiglets that hatched, only one survived more than 2 days, but the survivor is now a week old and still going strong. Here is Twiglet, with Dad and its future siblings that were laid last night
The twig cats are doing better than the Dicrossus - none of their eggs have survived to hatch yet.

 

[rr16]

At this size they are still juveniles that show no sexual differences. Right now you have 2 options: 1) wait a couple of months to see if any secondary sexual characteristics appear; 2) euthanize, dissect, and examine for ovaries or testes. I know what I'd do. (Sorry, sometimes I can't help myself!)

I just stumbled upon this! Fantastic answer Mike! I like your sense of humour!

 

[Mol_PMB]

My scalpel was blunt so I went for option 1
The solitary female has now laid eggs at least 4 times, the latest batch of eggs survived nearly 3 days before being eaten.
How long should they take to hatch?

 

[Swez]

i know this thread is a bit old. but Very informative and great pictures ... whats the current situtation...any luck breeding them ?

 

[Mol_PMB]

i know this thread is a bit old. but Very informative and great pictures ... whats the current situtation...any luck breeding them ?

The Dicrossus keep flirting but I haven't seen any eggs recently, and never yet had fry.

On the other hand, their tankmates the Farlowella vittata have spawned a few times. After some false starts where I lost the babies, the latest batch of twiglets are now nearly 3 weeks old and I still have all 16 of them. The biggest ones are just over an inch long and will soon be moving to a grow-out tank. They're eating well on chlorella and spirulina powder, microworms, spinach leaves and broccoli stalk.

 

[Swez]

Congrats on spawning the twig catfish... All the best with the dicrossus.. Hope they soon spawn for u....

 

[Mol_PMB]

Thanks
I've bought 4 more juvenile Dicrossus recently and I got the smallest ones so I hope there are some more females amongst them. I'm planning to set up a dedicated breeding tank for the Dicrossus later this year but at the moment my cats are keeping me busy.
In the past month I've had spawns from my BNs and two Cory species as well as the twigs.
I'm also hoping to see some action from my ocellated Kribs and my Cupids this year.

 

[Swez]

Wow... U r going to be busy... Ive got myself 4 of dicrossus maculatus.. growin on my community tank.. Waitin till they grow.. If I do have a male n female, may try to breed thn

 

[Mol_PMB]

Good luck with the maculatus. They are gorgeous fish

 

[Mol_PMB]

I've been at the Catfish Convention all weekend, and have come home to find not just another batch of newly-hatched Farlowellas, but in the same tank my female Dicrossus is herding a group of her own babies. This is the first time I have ever had any hatch. What now? How do I feed baby Dicrossus? Do I leave them in there?
The tank only has 3 Farlowellas plus newly-hatched fry, and 3 Dicrossus plus newly-hatched fry. Mrs Dicrossus is vigorously nipping and driving away the twig cats that are 5 times her size!

 

[Mol_PMB]

This is my first time with cichlids. I'm sure you guys see this all the time, but it was just soooo cute when mum went after a stray fry, scooped it up in her mouth and brought it back to the group!
The fry are tiny - smaller than daphnia. But I suppose that's what I should expect with one of the smallest cichlids.

I have micro-worm, banana worm, decapsulated brine shrimp eggs, smallest size golden pearls, plus chlorella and spirulina powders. Are these the right sort of things to be feeding?

 

[Mike Wise]

Start with the worms and but get some hatchable brine shrimp eggs so you can feed live BBS.

 

[Mol_PMB]

Thanks Mike will do.

 

[Mol_PMB]

So, some pics of the new babies

Sorry for the quality - they are really tiny and the lighting conditions are not ideal for pics.

I think their numbers are dropping, hopefully some will make it. Fingers crossed the parents will breed again.
I just tested the pH in the tank, and it's 4.7!

 

[Mike Wise]

pH 4.7? Not to worry. The species has been collected in the wild in waters ~ pH 3.5 (Battery Acid!). Many live foods won't live long at these low values, so feed sparingly and often.

 

[Mol_PMB]

Thanks - good tip I've been working at home today so I've been feeding microworms or bananaworms every couple of hours.
Mum still seems to be taking good care of her brood, which do seem to be growing and becoming more active.

This tank generally runs at a pH between 5.5 and 6.0, but I suspect the Dicrossus breeding may have been encouraged by the pH drop.
I'm not sure what the Farlowellas think of it but both adults and fry seem to be dealing with it fine. The Farlowellas are more bothered by being regularly attacked by Mum Dicrossus.

I'm just boiling up some oak bark and leaves so I can do a water-change without upsetting the pH too much. I've also put in a chunk of poly-filter as an insurance to take out any nasties, as the filter bacteria don't multiply much in acid. Water all tests fine at the moment though.

 

[Swez]

congrats on the spawn Paul.....

 

[Mol_PMB]

I've finally got some decent pictures. Here is the best one

My proud little Mrs Dicrossus stands guard while her babies forage for food in the algae.

 

[Mol_PMB]

Babies growing well

 

[gerald]

Really cute at that size - I like their "honeycomb" pattern.