Loaches Online Forum

Just opened up the Eheim external on the River Tank and guess what I found sitting on top of the fine filter pad ......

Look very carefully.....disguised in the middle:

Another baby Sewellia!

I've been on my own today, so once I carefully removed the fine pad from the top filter tray, it took me a while to catch this little chap out. I did think I saw two of them, but after taking all the media out very carefully (literally stone by stone) and pouring all the remaining water through a net, I could only find the one.

This comes exactly 3 months after I found the first batch of fry (which was on Friday June 16th). I had checked the filter 5 weeks later but found nothing. This is the first time I have disturbed the filter since the end of July - I know this might seem a while, but the tank is not heavily stocked, not heavily fed, and gets water changes three times per week.

I had no option but to put this little chap into a plastic bag and acclimatise him across to the little tank that the other Sewellia fry are currently housed in. I'm hoping that they won't predate on him as they are now over 2.5cm TL and so are considerably larger. There are plenty of places for the little one to hide though, so I'm hoping he/she will be ok.

Here are a couple more pics:

In the filter, after I took the top tray out....


Floating in the bag ready to be released into the Sewellia fry tank....


As soon as I let the little one out into the tank, it hid immediately, so I don't know how soon I'll be able to get any more pics!

A very happy Emma.

Congratulations Emma

I have to move my only Eheim filter onto my Sewellia tank. It's obviously the secret to captive spawning!

Can I just say that I am insanely jealous?

Well jealous and insane anyway

Tell you what though....I'm seriously considering stripping down my tank and replacing the substrate with sand. I'm wondering if the mix og fine gravel and Estes small pebbles is too hefty for them to dig spawning pits in?

I know you've not seen actual spawning procedure, but we have to assume they dig pits.....or maybe spawn on filter intake strainers

Martin.

Way to Go Emma!! Congrats are certainly in order!!

Excellent pictures as usual. You still using almond leaves.

Thank you!

Martin - I'm still yet to witness the actual 'event' but do you know, a large number of the Sewellia do actually seem to congregate quite near the intake (sometimes on it) on a daily basis. I reckon they do spawn somewhere close.

Graeme - oh yes, the almond leaves are still being used. I just replaced a very soggy and mushy looking bag of them with fresh ones today.

I'm presuming that this fish is S. lineolata, but let's not forget that since the first batch of fry, a mixed group of 6 'spotted' Sewellia sp. have been added....

So spotty or striped? Place your bets!

Emma

Emma Turner wrote:So spotty or striped? Place your bets!

Oh no! I forgot about them!!

OMG! She has a point.

Nope....I'm going with lineolata.

Martin.

Wow. :D:D

But notice, it does look spotted...

Congrats again, Emma! I told you it's the filter. Maybe you should let eheim know, you could get an endorsement deal! "As used by famed rare loach breeder, author & fish shop owner extrordinaire Emma Turner"
Nancy

Lovely!
You have some magic going on there Emma, I will be looking forward to seeing just how this one develops :)

Thank you very much!

Do you know, in all the panic/excitement I forgot to add a new bag of Rowaphos to the filter, so will have to go back in there again tomorrow!

Nancy, you are making me blush!

The little loachie does look quite spotted, but the first batch used to look quite like that too. Here's a comparison:

Fry from first batch, photographed the day it was found (16-06-2006)....


And today's find....


I think this new fry is slightly smaller than the ones I found before.

Emma

Emma Turner wrote:I think this new fry is slightly smaller than the ones I found before.

Arrgg! Emma. You should never leave us with a quote like that!

All looks good though, to what i thinks.

Congratualtions!

what you need is a CCTV camera aiming on your filter to see what your breeding fish are up to. you'd have post the footage here as over 18's only i suppose.

i hope your little chap gets on Ok with your bigger chaps. the new one must be soooo small.

it's great news

Amazing, Emma!!
You may end up having a regular Sewellia production facility.

Jim Powers wrote:Amazing, Emma!!
You may end up having a regular Sewellia production facility.

Would it not be nice? To eliminate the need to imports and stop killing a lot of fish in process.

What makes me wonder is who is eating the rest of the babies. The fact that all the babies were found in the filter seems to imply that someone in the tank is having nice free meals.