Some advice for c.pollino on Empire Gudgeons - don't bother breeding them in aquariums unless you really like a challenge. They will spawn very readily, and the larvae will hatch but they are a bugger to raise. If you just want a few to increase your stoc
ks raise the youngsters in a nice green outdoor pond during summer. If you want to do it commercially use a bigger pond!
If you insist on trying here are a few hints:
Do not try to rear a whole spawning. Keep about 100 to 200, or even less (see below).
The young are too small and too poorly developed to be called fry. I call them larvae. They need food a few days after hatching. If you can see a developed mouth and their guts moving (when you look at them under a microscope) then they are ready to eat.
Without checking my notes I think it is about day four?
You need to use a very small food at least for the first week or two. Live food is best - green water plankton culture sieved through a 0.1mm (100 micron) mesh will work, but you need heaps off it. If you have too many larvae to feed (e.g. a whole spawn)
the sieved green water will not contain enough food items for each larvae and they will all die.
You could try a micro-encapsulated feed. Prawn (shrimp) farmers use them to feed their newly hatched prawns. The feed should have a grain size of less than 60 microns. I think you can get one from 5 to 30 microns - it would be ideal.
You need to use a lot of either live or micro-encapsulated feeds. The larvae only eat what they bump into, so the water must be cloudy with food. If you can see the back of a 30 cm wide aquarium, do a water change and add more food.
Obviously with this much food you will need to keep a close eye on water quality. Regular water changes and lots off food is the secret.
After two weeks you could start adding rotifers or newly hatched brine shrimp. If you make it this far then you should be able to start sleeping at nights again.
Good luck
Rob Wager.
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From: Roy Hunter[SMTP:roy at angfa.org]
Sent: Monday, 20 October 1997 1:52
To: rainbowfish at pcug.org.au
Subject: Re: [RML] empire gudgeons
Take a drive to NSW or QLD and hop in a stream or two... I am sure you will
find some. Good luck breeding them, they are a real pain. Leggets book has
some ideas but without them being reared successfully in aquaria I wouldn't
be to hopeful... I do think Rob Wager had some luck raising a few But he
will need to comment on that if he is still on the list....
Roy Hunter
Co-Chairman
ANGFA of North America
visit the ANGFA website at:
http://www.angfa.org
reach me at:
roy at angfa.org
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> From: c.pollino at rmit.EDU.AU
> To: rainbowfish at pcug.org.au
> Subject: [RML] empire gudgeons
> Date: Friday, October 17, 1997 11:47 PM
>
> I have been successfully breeding and rearing the Australian
> Crimson-Spotted Rainbowfish and I hope to start breeding empire
> gudgeons. I was wondering if anyone could give me information about the
> prefered breeding conditions for empire gudgeons, their life cycle (ie.
> how long it takes to reach reproductive maturity). I am also looking for
> a supplier for these fish.
>
> Any information relating to Empire Gudgeons would be helpful.
>
> Thanks.
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