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Giant Whiptail Catfish; Breeding
Topic Started: Sep 17 2007, 05:14 PM (588 Views)
mars.40
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Lion Fish
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Breeding the Giant whiptail catfish

Ian Fuller explains how he bred the Giant whiptail catfish, Sturisoma aureum.
Breeding the Giant whiptail catfish


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The Giant whiptail catfish has long interested me, so when a friend offered me a group of five, I jumped at the chance to have a go at breeding them.

These gentle giants, Sturisoma aureum, can grow up to 30cm/12". Hailing from Colombia in South America, they need a large tank.

I used a 45 x 40 x 40cm/18" x 16" x 16" tank that was tailor-made to fit a space in my fish-house.

The substrate was kept to a minimum, just a 6-8mm layer of smooth fine gravel and sand. Decor was provided by way of bogwood placed vertically against the tank sides and two clumps of Java fern.

Filtration was provided by a 1200 lph powerhead on a 10 x 10 x 25cm/4" x 4" x 10" sponge, just like the pre-filters on pond pumps. This gives a very large surface area.

To help with the maturation process, I used a third of the water from a tank already in use. The temperature was kept at 25.5-29°C/ 78-84°F, with a pH of 7.6 and 8°GH.

After a couple of weeks, I added a couple of pairs of Rainbow fishes, Melanotaenia praecox. When everything looked fine and settled, I collected the catfish.

Weekly water changes see about a third of the water removed and replaced with aged, slightly cooler water.

Making the selection...
I chose two males and three females of about 10cm/4" long. Once home it was straight into the fish-house to get my new charges acclimatised.

This was done fairly quickly as my friend’s water supply and general conditions are the same as my own. In no time at all they were grazing on the bogwood and tank sides.

Feeding is easy - they eat just about anything that is offered. I give them sliced cucumber, lettuce and courgette that are first blanched to break down cellulose, which fish cannot digest. I also offer tablet and granular foods.

Their growth rate is fairly slow, which made me think that it would be at least a year, if not longer, before they would start breeding. But less than a month later I had a cluster of 60 tightly grouped, almost clear, 3mm eggs.

These were placed in the middle of the front glass, about a third of the way up.

Sturisoma

A minor panic...
The male kept in constant touch with the eggs, keeping them clean and free from debris. He would mouth and fan the eggs for a few minutes, then swim off to graze on a piece of lettuce.

As the days went by, the eggs grew steadily darker until at day ten, they were almost black and the embryos could be seen. They could even be seen moving about inside.

The male was now a lot more attentive, staying with the eggs almost constantly. The following day, all the eggs had disappeared!

Frantic checks of the tank drew a blank and I feared the adults had eaten them. Then I spotted a group of a dozen or so behind the filter sponge. I then noticed more youngsters. At a mere 8mm/1/4", they were moving around in the strong current with ease.

But what could I feed these tiny mouths? I added extra lettuce leaves and could see straightaway that this was a good idea.

Before long, many had made a beeline for the leaves and were grazing on them.

However, feeding the adults and leaving enough food in the tank to keep the fry well fed led to problems - the substrate was becoming populated with planarian worms, a sure sign of overfeeding.

Extra water changes were carried out, but with the fry at such a small size, using the gravel vacuum was out of the question, which encouraged the spread of planarians.

There was only one answer - remove the fry and raise them in a more manageable tank. Without stripping the tank down to the bare bones, it was going to be a difficult task. So I siphoned them out a few at a time.

A brand new home
I did this over the following two days, and 50 or so fry were successfully transferred to a shallow tank (without any substrate), making it easy to remove any debris that accumulated on the bottom.

Two conventional sponge filters were placed at one end of the tank, and an airstone created flow and ensured the water had maximum oxygen content.

Feeding continued as before, but I also added brineshrimp and finely chopped earthworm.

After six weeks, the fry grew to 22mm/3/4" and were an even dark brown.

There has since been another spawning, only this time the male must have coaxed all three females to mate because there were three distinct groups of eggs, again deposited on the front glass. I am now planning where I can put them once they have hatched...

Secrets of acclimatisation
More fish are lost through not being acclimatised properly into their new environments than any other cause. I have a procedure I follow when acclimatising my newly acquired fish, especially wild specimens that are more intolerant to sudden changes in water chemistry.

Put the new fish along with their travelling water into a large container, eg a 9 l./2 gal. bucket.

Slowly siphon water from their new home into the bucket using a piece of airline tubing; this introduces the fish very slowly to the new water.

When the bucket is full, catch the fish and place them in their new home. Discard the water in the bucket and top the tank up with new water at the same temperature. I add a measure of general tonic (Liquisil) to protect against infection from stress.

Cleaning the filter
The only problem with such a large type of sponge filter is when it comes to cleaning - as the sponge is lifted clear, all the mulm pours out.

I now submerge a plastic bag in the water and manoeuvre it under the sponge, lifting the whole thing out in one piece. This is something that only needs to be done about every two months.

http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/...?article_id=602


iconIan Fuller 1007
Published online: 05.08.07
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bonni
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mind if i print this off? ma mate is breeding catfish for his scool project and mite find this handy!! :) sweet info by the way! :thumb
<(" )><( " )><( ")> kirby dance!Posted ImagePosted ImagePosted Image
-------angel-------
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-red head coral goby
-bi-colour blenny
-black clown
-peppermint shrimp
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mars.40
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If you follow the link to practical fish keeping, you will find an option to print the whole story. :thumb
enjoy :)
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bonni
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:thanks :) :victory
<(" )><( " )><( ")> kirby dance!Posted ImagePosted ImagePosted Image
-------angel-------
Posted Image
-red head coral goby
-bi-colour blenny
-black clown
-peppermint shrimp
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mars.40
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Lion Fish
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your welcome :thumb
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