nannostomus marginatus

[rasmusW]

hey all!

-i'm lucky to have a lot of time infront of the tank these days (-did some overtime work earlier this year). yesterday i saw my great nannostromus marginatus spawn a few places around the tank... -i was stoked, as i have never seen that before nor expected it in my tank.
-so, after a little time i started to think, how should i secure these potential newcomers.. -i thought it might be a long shot, but i tried to gently put the algae on which they had spawned into a fry/separation net.... -so far so good.. or.. whatever. after a few more minutes i saw them at it again, and therefore tried and succeeded to net a couple and add it to the "fry net"... doh!!
-then it hit me.. if ever i had succeeded in the first place grabbing some eggs, the two fish i netted, probably ate them. -right?

-so, after all this rambling, i have a few questions, i hope you can help answering.

what does their eggs look like (size, color etc.)? i can't find any pictures of it.

there is a lot of mulm and aufwuchs on the branches aswell as leafs and floating plants in the tank, so hopefully a few fry will survive.
where in the watercolumn, should i look for fry, though i have little hope of actually find any with apistos, sailfin tetras and the n. marginatus in the tank.

do any of you have any tips or tricks for next time? -or is it something that is more or less only possible in a breeding tank, made for that sole purpose.
i have read that tomC's use of javamoss and that small amount of fry can survive in the tangle of such, but i'd love to hear of more suggestions if any...

enough rambling... back to tank watching...

-r

 

[rasmusW]

breaking news....
-they just did it again...

-which made me think of one more question. -is it coincidence that it happens more or less at the same time of day, or is it innate that it happens around luchtime?

-r

 

[Mike Wise]

I can't really answer your questions because my Dwarf Pencils reproduce in apisto breeding tanks. I'm a lazy aquarist, you see. The first time I know that they have spawned is when I see their tiny, mottled, 3 mm fry hanging out in the floating plant.

 

[ButtNekkid]

I find that Pistia is all that is needed. New fry emerge every month.

 

[rasmusW]

thanks a lot guys. it almost sounds to easy.

i'm glad i bought those pistia, a few months ago.

i got one more question. maybe you can help me with that. -is it true that males have a shiny spot right at the caudal penducle (in the middle of the white line)?. it might be also just be me seeing things, lighting or different colorforms (-i'm not sure where mine are from if wildcaught, at all).

-r

 

[rasmusW]

*clarification... i meant males in breeding colors.

-r

 

[Mike Wise]

I don't worry about color. There are so many different color forms (= species) that color is variable. I just look at body depth: robust = female; slender = male. Behavior is also a good clue. Males are much more aggressive than females. Of course this all depends on the fish being sexually mature, which most are since most are wild caught.

 

[rasmusW]

hey mike! -once again thanks for helping. i wasn't really worried. it was more of a funny observation, i wanted to hear if any other have noticed.

oh! well. i hope i will get to see some cool kids of these one day.

-r