Dojo Loach Spawning

[Mollielover]

Use very little egg yolk if you do, they will have a yolk sac so don't panic just yet that should get them through.   When I used egg yolk with my bettas I put it in cheese cloth and just dipped it in the tank.  Too much and you will foul the water and they are not ready for a water change just yet.

[RinsMom]

Well... at least you got to this point....  that is a rare event in itself...

I do hope some of the fry make it, though..

and... congrats on the babies!

[Aozora]

So far so good! They've made it through the first night, and they're just as active as ever. We even saw some of them with white bellies last night from the egg yolk, so we know they're eating. I guess I shouldn't be surprised--they are loaches, after all. On the earlier-hatched fry, we can see backbones now, and the eyes are much bigger. I'll try to get pictures later, but my camera isn't very good. I'm a graduate student in the process of being bankrupt by textbooks, so I can't afford a better one, as much as I would like to.

Still kinda in shock that our loaches bred at all, and now we've got dozens of babies! I have no idea what we're gonna do with them all...

[Aozora]

... Oh my God. They're breeding again.... Same male, different female.

Oh my God. Has this ever happened before?

[Aozora]

There are pictures of the spawn! New Mom (Shemp) and original Dad (Longfellow) did the majority of the spawning, although almost all of the males got in at one point or another. One male in particular managed to spawn a few times, I'll call him Interloping Dad (Magellan).

Top: New Mom

Second: Eggs being released. All occurred rapidly, so there's a lot of blur in all the pictures

Third: New Mom and Interloping Dad in the "dance" prior to spawning

Fourth: Crown jewel, actual moment of spawning between New Mom and Dad

[AiWen]

That is SO COOL! Kind of reminds of my bettas spawning with the male wrapping around the female and squeezing. Good luck raising the fry If you have another tank that's like planted, I would move them there one they are freeswimmers. I've done that with my cichlid fry that constantly get eaten in the main parent's tank if I don't butt in, and they've all done fine growing up in the planted tank.

[Mollielover]

Very Cool!  Maybe you can sell the offspring and make money for a new camera!   Feel free to use our trading board when the fry are ready!

[Aozora]

These guys were a lot more frenetic than bettas. =P It was really chaos, especially the second time around when all the males got into the action. New Mom wasn't as picky as original Mom, but she still snubbed one of the males. The final male... just didn't care. There's still one big female left. I have mixed feelings on her breeding. If she breeds, that means I apparently found the holy grail for loach spawning--but at the same time it means a whole lot more babies, and I already have more than I know what to do with!

The fry are developing well. They're now starting to show a little coloring, and their dorsal fins are starting to be visible. Extremely active little punks, emphasis on the "little." Careful application of rulers and high-speed measurements indicate that they're about 4mm long, but they are ALWAYS moving, so it's hard to get a precise value. One of the plants now resembles a fry tree, there are so many babies hanging off of it! Alas, I cannot get pictures due to them being so small. They just plain don't show up. Once they're actually visible, I do promise pictures!

[Aozora]

You were right, I had an issue with the egg yolk! It all started growing a fungus, and so we were forced to clean the tank. Had to suction out every last one of the fry, and while they were in a holding container I took a picture. They're doing fine, and starting to behave like loaches!

[RinsMom]

Oh, my gosh!  How many babies are there in there?  That is totally amazing!