[Enkil]

So it is official. I will be doing my first spawn next month. I am getting my final supplies in order in the meantime.

Supplies:
Tanks - two 10 gallon, two 2 gallon
I am going to be getting a tub for grow out as well. Complete with filter and heater.
Foods for conditioning (I have NLS pellets, mosquito larva, and frozen blood worms).
I am getting sponge filter(s) and fry foods. I am open to suggestions on which ones to get and good places to get them from. I would be looking to order the fry foods on the 1st or after.

I plan on having java moss in my spawning tank.
If you can think of anything I am forgetting, feel free to mention it! I wont take offense. I know it is likely that I'm forgetting something.



Planned Spawns:

Spawn 1 - HM dragons
For this spawn, I plan on using my HM female Eva (bred by DarkMoon). She is a black marble dragon HM that carries the PK gene. I will be breeding her to one of her brothers. I am open to suggestions on which one. All three have sharp edges and a nice 180 spread with good balance. Egil is a red dragon and a tail biter. Leonidas is a superb bubble nest maker and a black dragon with red wash. Odin is a black dragon with complete dragon scaling. His dragon scaling partially covers his eyes.

Spawn 2 - Giant HMPK x HMPK
For this spawn, I plan on trying my Uther and an unnamed female. Uther is a giant HMPK. He is black with yellow on his face/head. The female is bright orange with a her head and fins being a darker and yet brighter orange. She has excellent form with nice sharp edges to her tail and perfect 180 spread.

I have a couple of other pairs I'm working on as well, but haven't finalized them yet. They are HMPKs. Again, I'm open to any input or opinions. That's why I'm here. I'll be sharing pictures of the pairs soon. Going to try to take better pictures of them now that they've settled into their new homes.

 

[Sena Hansler]

hmm I would say the black with red wash Really, condition them all. If the first two don't work, grab another male... If you wanted to however, because I am unsure if Odin would have the sclaes completely cover his eyes soon... If you wanted to breed him, do it before that possibilty.

The giant HMPK x HMPK you probably will get only HMPK regulars, if she is not a giant.

Your spawns sound awesome =D

 

[Enkil]

Thank you. ^_^

I was thinking about Odin. I had to cup them when we bombed the house. During that time, they could see Eva and their two other sisters. Of the three boys, Egil is the only one that didn't start blowing a bubble nest. I really do like Odin's form Right now he can still see, so I think I'll give him a chance.
I do plan on conditioning all three to be safe.

The orange HMPK female isn't a giant, but she is large. I'm going to try to get pictures of them here in just a moment.

Another pair I have been considering is my Gwynfor and my new orange dragon female. Have also been thinking about my Sholto (male HMDbT) with one of my blue females (dark blue HMPK). I'll try to get pictures of them as well.

So long as the spawns go well, I will be selling the fry. I will give people here on the forums first pick before then selling them on AB and locally.

 

[Sena Hansler]

That's awesome looks like you got a good plan haha

 

[Enkil]

Pictures!

Just took some pictures. They really didn't want to cooperate with me, but I managed a few. The dragon HM boys were not having any part of picture taking.

Pic 1: Orange HMPK female. Yet to be named.
Pic 2: Orange HMPK female.
Pic 3: Sholto last Sunday. HMDbT male
Pic 4: Orange dragon female. She moves so much it's hard to get a picture.
Pic 5: Eva.
Pic 6: Uther, Giant HMPK
Pic 7: Sholto today.

 

[tpocicat]

They look really nice. Too bad you can't get a shot of them flaring. IMO those are the most impressive pictures.

 

[Enkil]

Eva flared immediately after I took that pic of her. XD
Since coming to me, Uther has only flared when I had him floating in Leonidas's section of a 10 gal tank while I got his tank set up. He is absolutely gorgeous when he flares. Even his beard is marbled black and yellow. I'll continue to try to get better pictures of them. I fear that getting one of Gwynfor is a lost cause. He wont hold still for anything. lol

I tried to get a picture of the girl I want to try with Sholto. She is very uncooperative though. Any time I get an opportunity to get a good pic of her, Fflur swims between her and the camera. XD

 

[Sena Hansler]

Fflur is a camera hog xDDD

they are all so pretty!

 

[Enkil]

Thank you! I'm so glad I managed to get them.
Fflur is definitely a camera hog. She is also being a typical CT female: eggy. I don't have any CT boys though. Have the two females. Thinking about keeping an eye out for a nice male. I certainly have the room and means. XD

 

[Sena Hansler]

:lol: for me it's mainly my VTs who are super eggy.

 

[Enkil]

For me, My CT girls are eggy along with Lolth. Lolth seems to get eggy fairly easily. Unfortunately, her anal fin is a bit long. Not too much so though.

Have a couple of errands to run today and then I will be scrubbing some equipment. Need to clean the two 10 gallon tanks. Then I need to see about scrubbing my gravel vac and 5 gallon bucket.. They were both used with the water my two sick fish were in.... I may just buy new ones. If I can salvage them, I'd like to though.

 

[Sena Hansler]

My spade tail (mustard gas I think?) gets super eggy... But she does not like to cooperate :roll: she bullies the poor males.

 

[Enkil]

Oh my.

Eva is super sweet and isn't very aggressive. Not sure how that will match up to my males. Leonidas is very macho. Odin isn't too bad. I'm going to try him first and see how he handles things. He actually built a nice bubble nest when we were bombing the house. As did Leo. Of the three brothers, only Egil has not yet made one.

Working on getting things clean and set up. Going to scrub the two 2 gallon hospital tanks very thoroughly with very hot water. Same with my 5 gallon bucket. Do you think I can soak my gravel vac in super hot/boiling water and be able to safely use it again? I really don't want to scrap it, but will if I have to.

Thinking about aging water in the two 10 gallon tanks and using the hospital tanks to QT some live plants before setting up one of the 10 gallons for spawning. I will still be waiting to attempt the spawn until the 1st. This is when I will have extra money so I'll feel better about doing it then.

Does anyone have any recommendations on where to get fry food and some nice live plants? I know I want java moss for sure. Not sure what else would do well in my tanks.

 

[Sena Hansler]

Do you have some live foods? I like fairy shrimp (similar to bbs), microworms, and daphnia - sometimes if you get new live plants you end up with daphnia :lol: I order mine online... check around in your area, or close to, for someone who could have a culture already set up, and could give you some (daphnia or microworms).

I dismantle my gravel siphon, and put it in hot water. There's been times I needed to, and it still works...

 

[Enkil]

At the moment I have pellets and frozen. I was waiting to get cultures until the first.

I'll have to do that with mine then. It's going to get a super long soak. The hospital tanks and bucket will be getting a thorough scrubbing as will the two 10 gallons. No soap and no bleach. I'm a bit wary of bleach.

 

[Sena Hansler]

Agreed! I've only used vinegar and hot water mix, super rinsed like...3 or more times. Never had a problem =D

 

[Enkil]

I'll use that method then. Want to sanitize anything that came into contact with the two sick fish I had. I am very protective of my fish and want to do what I can to keep them healthy.

I am also considering getting another tank to try to cultivate my own plants. I've been doing very well with some and they grow in my tanks already, but I want a tank where I can focus on just the plants.

 

[Sena Hansler]

Good idea!!!

 

[Enkil]

Update

Tanks are clean. I was aging water but no longer trust my bucket. I will only be using the bucket for dirty water. I will get a new one for clean water. My gravel vac and several containers are also being trashed. This is due to the loss of my favorite male, Gwynfor. He died this morning and I do not know why. I am thinking about taking bleach to his tank. The decor, gravel, and filter will be tossed. Unsure how to clean the heater. This means a spawn I had planned will no longer take place. I had planned to cross him with my orange dragon female.

I am keeping a VERY close on on the rest of my fish. Making sure I do everything right that can be done.

 

[Sena Hansler]

Oh no!!! That happened to my HM.... he just...died. His divided tank buddy was fine.