a little help with s. maraie

[dbrummitt]

Hello all. i have a breeding group of stomotepia mariae that i cant seem to get fry from. i bought these guys over a year ago at an auction and they were a mercy bid that i had seen because they were at 3" then and all bagged in a 8" bag and i bought them for like $4 and rebagged them and took them home. About 7 months later i finally got a mouth full of eggs but when i netted her she spit and i font have a tumbler so she ate them and a month later the other female was holding so i caught her first thing in the morning and she spit to. About 1 month ago i had another holding and i was gonna let her go for ten days and strip her and put the fry in a jar with an airstone to keep them moving around and take out the bad ones but when i stripped her i got a mass of rotted eggs and parts of fish in just a big white glob. So if any one else has any other suggestions im all ears if not im buying a tumbler and trying that route. Thanks for any help i can get. Thanks. Dustin B.

[Nuchal Man]

Your experience with breeding this fish is similar to mine. I along with many of my fellow GCCA club members would say that S. marie are awful holders. They either hold for 10 days and drop, or you go to catch them to strip them and they spit. I finally got fry after my 7th spawn. I got the group from a friend and they were already proven breeders. I caught the female and stripped her after 7 days (She actually spit in the net). I hatched the fry as follows in a 2.5 gallon tank (this is how I hatch all my eggs artificially with almost 100% success):

1. 78 degree F water
2. a small sponge filter with an airstone inside
3. small 6 watt heater
4. a lot of methylene blue. 3-4 drops per gallon
5. kept in relatively dark part of the fishroom

I had many eggs that were unfertiziled that went bad and know others who have had the same experience. I did daily 1/3 water changes, and turkey basted the bad eggs out of the container. Out of about 70 eggs, I got 7 fry, 10% ouch. When I stripped the fish, the next day 30-40 eggs were bad. Not good results, but I got my BAP.

I don't think you are doing anything wrong really, just these fish are poor holders and must be awful at fertilizing eggs. Also when you catch the fish and they spit in the net, they probably damage a good amount of the eggs.

Hopefully you get a good spawn soon!

Sam

[dbrummitt]

Thanks ill give this a shot once i find some methyl blue or something like it and i will let everyone know im only 4 spawns away from hitting 7 so lets hope i get there sooner lol. Thanks Dustin B.