Peppermints for Easter
#1
Posted 22 April 2003 - 06:22 AM
Had a great Easter presy this afternoon,, when doing my daily (well almost daily) look in all the fishy caves with a torch I noticed a baby peppermint on the side of one of the tanks but what's more surprising they look aprox 3 weeks old maybe more at just over 1.5cm TL, they look just like mini versions of mum & dad except for having more white patterning on them.
So how dad manage to hide them from me I'll never know. lol
We have seen the male on more then one occasion with one of the females in his new cave, a black pvc pipe which hadn't been put in their tank all that long ago, but we never did see any eggs. The only think I can think of is that the eggs have been knocked out of the pipe which seems to be a problem with pvc pipes, (as I have also seen this with common whip eggs and common bn eggs, the eggs don't seem to stick to the pipe,, working on a solution for that ) then washed away by the strong current in the tank and possible wedged somewhere were they could not been seen but have managed to make it to hatching on their own. Anyway at this stage I have only found 7 littlies in the tank, so I'll be keeping an eye out for anymore.
These guys normally grow slower then common bn's don't they?
Tammy
#2
Posted 22 April 2003 - 06:27 AM
I have found that mine have grown at the same speed as normal bns from a small size... although i am not lucky enough to have spawned them yet... well done.
Alex
#3
Posted 22 April 2003 - 06:58 AM
Tank you, Hopefully if there's another spawn I will get to see them grow from egg.
Tammy
#4
Posted 22 April 2003 - 07:20 AM
Excellent present
Peppermint juv appear to be larger than the other Ancistrus species locally bred and my friend that is breeding them says it takes him near 3 mths to get the to 3+cm size for sale
L2H
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#5
Posted 22 April 2003 - 05:55 PM
So now the eggs are inside a diy eggs tumblers, hopefully I have some success. I noticed that my peppermint spawned when when the weather bureau forecast a rain the next day.
#6
Posted 22 April 2003 - 06:30 PM
Congratulations!
#7
Posted 23 April 2003 - 03:46 AM
#8
Posted 23 April 2003 - 05:08 AM
J.T.
#9
Posted 23 April 2003 - 06:07 PM
Hi ikan, if you can locate an irrigation shop you should be able to find the black piping there. Actually I think it is irrigation piping, not pvc. Its a little thinner and doesn't sink so you need to find some way of weighing it down. I used some Contractors silicone to silicone a 10mm piece of glass, approx 2cm wide and just under 20cm long (a bit shorter then the length of the pipe) to the outside of the piping to weigh it down which seems to work well. I also found some white caps in a hardware store used for capping pvc pipes, to close in one end of the pipe, its a tight fit so it wont fall off in a hurry.
Hope this helps.
Tammy
#10
Posted 23 April 2003 - 11:46 PM
Still don't know why the male didn't hold the eggs.
#11
Posted 24 April 2003 - 02:44 AM
I tend to think its more a case of the eggs not sticking to the surface of the pipe. I have had this problem with common whips although there were occasions were some of the eggs would stick but more often then not the eggs were easily knocked out of the pipe in the process of spawning but when using bamboo pipes with the same fish there never seemed to be a problem with the eggs sticking.
So what I have done with one of these black pipes, is sand the inside of the pipe with sand paper to see if this makes any difference, just need to get all the others out of tanks and do them as well. lol
Tammy
#12
Posted 24 April 2003 - 07:37 PM
This morning I saw the male in another cave so hopefully works better next time.
#13
Posted 25 April 2003 - 03:50 PM
Will have to wait and see if sanding the pipes make any difference, can only hope I spose. lol
Tammy
#14
Posted 26 April 2003 - 06:38 AM
IF you have a wire brush, or really course sand paper, and use that to rough up the inside of the piping... it should help.
Also the irrigation shops sell what's known as drip irrigation, it is black, but has lots of ridges in it (like corrigated cardboard), it has little holes in it to allow irrigation water to drip out. It cost next to nothing. Cut off to required length, and use fishing line to tie them together (use the holes in it). You can then weigh it down with a paver, or silicon it to a tile!
I am wondering if the corrigated piping would allow the eggs to stick better???
Was wondering what you all feed your peppermints? I have mine in with cories, so they eat shrimp pellets, as well as HBH cichlid sinking spirulina pellets, and krill pellets, they also get pumpkin, zuchinni and cucumber! Anything else??
Meagan
P.s. CONGRATS to all of you with spawning peppermints... mine are still too small... but looks like 2 males and 4 females at the moment!!
#15
Posted 26 April 2003 - 09:11 PM
Thanks for that, will have to visit the irrigation shop again some time soon and have a closer look around.
My peppermint have a wide range of foods and in no set order. Pea's, carrots, zucchini, pumpkin, algae wafers hikari or wardleys, barra pellets, home brew (Alan's recipe) with the addition of spirulina powder in the last batch and occasionally hikari frozen blood worm. etc etc
Now there's baby's to feed they are also having the daily addition of lettuce leaves, not that the adults seem to be bothering with them, the whippys (R.parva?) think its great though. lol
Tammy
#16
Posted 27 April 2003 - 10:09 PM
#17
Posted 28 April 2003 - 04:32 AM
Thanks a bunch for the info, will be sticking a few pipes in vinegar tomorrow I think. lol
Thanks again
Tammy
#18
Posted 28 April 2003 - 11:23 PM
#19
Posted 29 April 2003 - 12:27 AM
These guys here don't seem to be objecting, they are getting right into the lettuce and squashed tin pea's. At this stage I haven't seen them eating anything else put in the tank, whether they are or not is another thing.
Any peppermint breeders out there, have any input into the ideal diet for these guys?
Ikan what do you feed your peppermints?
Tammy
Edited by: Tammy Brisbane at: 4/28/03 6:29:24 pm
#20
Posted 29 April 2003 - 01:59 AM
JT
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