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What's wrong?

1K views 18 replies 4 participants last post by  Oldfishlady 
#1 ·
Well, I had my breeding tank set up. I floated the female in a cup until the male made a nest. Then I released the female. She went to the bubblenest, with her head down. The male danced and flared, then nipped and chased her. Once I released her, the male spent all his time swimming around and nipping/dancing/flaring at her. She just floated by the wall, not moving much. If she moved, she was chased. She had no fin damage, but once I put her back in her own tank she went back to normal. What should I do?
 
#3 ·
Well, not that long. Like 6 hours. But, my last female died while attempting spawning, and this is what she did right before she died. Also, the male was mostly nipping and chasing, and not caring much about the nest. Shouldn't the female be more active?
 
#4 ·
That depends-if she is overall healthy then spawning should not cause death in a properly set up spawning tank
You will have some chasing and nipping and the female sometimes will sit still so she is not detected by the male as easily.
You may want to remove both from the spawning tank so that they can't see each other and re-condition for 24hours and add them back to the spawning tank and leave her for at least a couple of days and if you have your spawning tank setup correctly she should be fine-provided that she is in good health to start.....
 
#5 ·
Alright, I was just a little worried:-D

Edit: The set-up is a 10 gallon rubbermaid tub, with a floating clump of hornwort and anachris. It is filled to about three inches, which is about five gallons.
 
#8 ·
How exciting.......first spawns can be harder on the hobbyist than the fish sometimes.....but worth it......lol.......

Personally-I would add more water and plants to your spawning setup-low water levels are for poorly conditioned or really heavy fin males....not for the eggs or fry-by have more volume you also provide more space for the female and with more plants you don't need to use another container for the female and this also helps prevent premature egg drops and having to wait 3 more days for mature eggs-you want enough plants in the tank so that the male has trouble getting through them but not the female-keep a space clear under the location of the nest so the male can gather eggs without the plants getting in the way....when the female is ready she will go to the male-you can remove the extra plants after they spawn and you remove the female.

You also have hormone and pheromone reaction that goes on between the breeding pair that signals when they are ready-dancing, flirting, nipping, breeding stripes and head down position is what we see-the male release hormone that the female detect so her eggs ripen and once eggs ripen she releases pheromone tell the male she is ready to spawn-some amount of courting goes on between the two that we sometimes can view as being harsh or mean....it is just part of the courtship to get ready to spawn and to stimulate so their bodies will get ready....as long as the female is not sitting on the bottom or in a corner panting and stressed all should be fine-she just needs a place to get away, hide and rest until she is ready...some are easier to spawn than others and with first time breeders they can sometimes take a couple of attempts to get it right...but give them time and they will do what comes natural......procreate......

Spawning can take place within a second after intro to weeks-as long as they are healthy....it will happen, if it takes longer than a day be sure and offer food
You don't have to wait on a nest, although it is a good sign-some males will wait until they have eggs in their mouth and then will let the eggs float until the spawning act is over and then he will build a nest for the eggs
 
#9 ·
The male is a HMPK the female a CT. I hear HMPK are more agressive because they have less finnage. She was panting a little bit, in a corner. Though I don't know if it actually was that, or if she was hiding.
 
#10 ·
Hmm my HMPKs are actually very gentle...better than my HMs!
 
#11 ·
They are supposed to be harder to breed because if you get an aggressive one, they can swim faster then the females, and cause more damage.
 
#12 ·
Yeah I don't have that problem....do you have spa or IAL?
 
#14 ·
Blackwater isn't really all that great. If you don't want to order IAL a Whole Foods store will have banana leaves that work just as well...just make sure they're completely dry.
 
#17 ·
I get mine at Whole Foods....not sure of other places that have them.
 
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