Tropical Fish Keeping banner

Spawning Farlowella (Twig Catfish)

17K views 95 replies 16 participants last post by  LisaC144 
#1 ·
I think it is particularly rewarding when fish feel so "at home" that they spawn, particularly when they are a species that are not that prone to spawn in community aquaria. Aunt kymmie had her discus spawn the other week, and that is just what I mean. Today it was my Farlowella, last week the Bolivian Rams [another story for another thread].

I put three Farlowella vittata (Twig Catfish, click on the name to see the profile for info on this fish) in my 90g flooded Amazonian forest setup last year, not knowing if I had male/female in the trio; with my eyesight even a magnifying glass wouldn't allow me to see the "bristles" on the male's snout:lol:. Solely due to their different girths, I had a hunch there were two females and one male. For the past several days one fish has spent a lot of time on the glass beneath the filter spraybar. A bit unusual in itself, since these fish occur in slow-flowing waters and in this aquarium very rarely stay close to the filter flow (which is pretty minimal anyway), although that can be a sign of trouble if they need oxygen. So I kept an eye on the fish, and I thought it looked quite plump.

This morning the pair were on the glass with a clutch of 8 eggs in between; as of a moment ago there are 10 more eggs. I took the attached photos which aren't that good with my cheap camera, but you can see the "plumper" female above and the thinner male below, and the fairly large eggs. I realize now that for the past few days the female has been cleaning the glass in preparation.

The authorities say this is not a particularly difficult fish to spawn, though as noted in the profile feeding the young is tricky. Fry of various fish appear every now and then in this aquarium, though I rarely witness actual spawning routines, since most of these forest fish spawn in the early dawn so it goes unobserved and many scatter eggs in plant thickets; some, like the Nannostomus eques pencilfish deposit them on the underside of leaves and I have several times witnessed that. This is not one of the species that I would have expected to spawn on its own initiative in a large community aquarium.

Byron.
 

Attachments

See less See more
3
  • Like
Reactions: Tankfull Tropicals
#63 ·
Once I get my tanks moved to the new place I may see if the LFS can order some for me. Do you think 3 is a good number of them for a 55 gallon?
 
#64 ·
Yes. I had one, then I got 2 more; they are in a 4-foot tank (90g). Many times you won't even see them; they lie motionless on a plant leaf or piece of wood. I usually only see all three when I feed the fish in the morning; the Farlowella know and will all be at the front in the open space where the sinking food is dropped in for them and the Corydoras.
 
#70 ·
This has been really interesting to watch Byron. I've read the whole thread sitting here. I have a 55g soft/still set up in my dining room with Pristellas, Bolivan Rams, and Angels right now. I'm looking for some bottom/algae fish and was going to get some otos until I found out about this fish recently.

I know you don't want to ship, and I completely understand, but, I'm in Portland. Any chance you'd sell me a trio when the time is right if I drove up?
 
#73 ·
This has been really interesting to watch Byron. I've read the whole thread sitting here. I have a 55g soft/still set up in my dining room with Pristellas, Bolivan Rams, and Angels right now. I'm looking for some bottom/algae fish and was going to get some otos until I found out about this fish recently.

I know you don't want to ship, and I completely understand, but, I'm in Portland. Any chance you'd sell me a trio when the time is right if I drove up?
Absolutely. Perhaps we could do an exchange; there is a fish store in Portland that is very good, or so I have been told, forgotten the name again, they have a website I know. Apparently they often have rarer fish. If interested, perhaps we could connect via email, and work something out. PM me. If you are looking for plants, esp swords, I can toss those in too. I have so many plantlets this year I am tossing them due to lack of tank space.

My camera is not co-operating much so updated pics are not yet available, but the first batch of fry are doing quite well. The larger last batch also seem to be managing on the algae in the tank, though a few have disappeared. They are slow growers, as to be expected from vegetarian fish that need to eat so much for the nutrition. Nothing against otos, I have a group in the 115g, and some of the rarer species like the zebra are beautiful; but these Farlowella are something else.
 
#81 ·
Update on Fry

Here are a couple photos, the best I could do out of many taken, of 3 of the 4 surviving fry from the original 7. The two together in the second photo are the largest of the 4, though still somewhat difficult to spot on the plant leaves. I moved these 4 from the 10g to the 20g last Friday and they are much more active, grazing plant leaves continually now.

I have various stages of fry still in the 10g, including 54 about-to-hatch eggs I moved from the 90g today.

A lot of the fry did not survive long. As the published reports all mention, feeding the fry is the real challenge, as they require very soft algae. I am sure the original 4 have survived because they had fresh green algae. Even with the 10g in front of a west-facing window with a fair bit of direct sun and an overhead light, I have been unable to keep sufficient algae; these fish are voracious algae eaters. I have tried blanched spinach, raw spinach, zucchini; now I have dry oak leaves in the 10g. I'm trying the oak leaves because as they break down they apparently exude very nutritious food for fish fry, and the Farlowella fry in the 10g have been eager to graze the oak leaves, so this may have better results.

Third photo is the male Poecillocharax weitzmani who just happened to stop motionless for a couple minutes while I was trying to photograph the fry; I have a pair in the 20g, which is otherwise full of small plants culled from the main Amazonian setups. And a shoal of Corydoras pygmaeus and C. habrosus.

Byron.
 

Attachments

#83 ·
They're looking good Byron. I've gotten hooked up with a job recently so there should be a check soonish and so some gas money to get to BC. Let me know when you think these guys are ready for a trip.

Have they shown any interest in algae tablets yet?
 
#84 ·
They're looking good Byron. I've gotten hooked up with a job recently so there should be a check soonish and so some gas money to get to BC. Let me know when you think these guys are ready for a trip.

Have they shown any interest in algae tablets yet?
Not that I've seen. With the middle group of fry I have them in a fry net in the 10g and I am putting sinking pellets (algae) in there along with the oak leaves to see. They are down in the tablets (they fall apart and the fry "sit" in the stuff) periodically but I can't tell if any is being eaten. The larger 4 now in the 20g are working on the plants, and tablets go into this tank regularly for the corys, including a couple of veggie ones, so I will keep an eye on them.

I want to do my best to ensure they will survive the move. It would be a shame if you came all this way only to have them croak on the way home.

Byron.
 
#85 ·
No, I agree. There's no need to rush things. I'd rather have them survive as well. I'll be better off to make the trip with a couple paychecks under my belt anyway. Just glad to hear they're doing well and getting bigger.
 
#86 ·
Very nice pictures. They had some of these in the LFS the other day but they were almost $30.00 so they will have to wait a while before I can afford them.
 
#90 ·
Provided they survive [there are just 4], I'm trading them to burnsbabe who intends to drive up to get them along with some plants. I have mailed plants with varying degrees of success, but I do not want to attempt live fish.
 
#91 ·
new pic of Farlowella fry

Here is a photo of the two surviving Farlowella fry from the original spawning which was back in July 2010. One is to the left on the upper surface of a leaf, the other to the right on the underside of another leaf. They are about 1.5 inch long but this is a thin fish so they are still very "small." Also slow growing. I have not seen the other two of the original four for several weeks now and I'm sure they are gone.

There is also one fry from the last spawning, doing quite well in the 10g. When it is a bit larger I'll move it in with these two, but the other is only about 3/4 of an inch and might get nipped by the Poecilocharax weitzmani. There are also some Corydoras pygmaeus in this tank, and they are spawning again today, or to be more accurate, the males are very friendly with the plump female.

Byron.
 

Attachments

#93 ·
When they were in the 10g, I think so. They frequently went through the motions, there were 7 of them, and I would see 3 or 4 males very chummy with a very plump female, following her everywhere and nudging her constantly. When I moved the Farlowella fry in there, I dumped in more plants and encouraged algae to grow (it's in a southwest window), so it's impossible to see anything through the thicket of plants. I also had the Boraras brigittae in there. When I moved the 4 oldest fry to the 20g, i decided to remove the adult fish from the 10g to give the youngest Farlowella fry more "privacy":) and to net out the pygmys I had to dislodge the chunk of wood. Something skitted across the sand (this is the tank with sand) that was about 1/4 inch and coloured like a pygmy, and I don't know what else it could have been; it vanished back under the wood, and I've periodically watched for signs of whatever it is but nothing so far. I haven't messed with the tank; once the last Farlowella is out, I will tear it down as the algae on the glass next the window is very heavy. But I'm leaving algae for the Farlowella that will eat nothing else.
 
#94 ·
Sweet photos Byron. You're right that these guys are very slow growing fish. But then again, you would be too if all you ate was algae! :lol:
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top