# Breeding peacock gudgeons ?



## redpaulhus

Has anyone here bred _Tateurndina ocellicauda_, the peacock gudgeon ?

I got a trio from a friend about a month ago, and the females quickly plumped up and colored up. The male hung out for a few days, then scoped out the caves and nooks&crannies (three tiny flowerpot tunnels, plus a half-coconut and a few pieces of driftwood).

Normally the females are out and about and ravenous (eating daphnia, whiteworms, grindal worms, blackworms, 'squito larvae, and frozen cyclopeeze, frozen brine, and frozen bloodworms). The male pops out now and again for food.

Last week I noticed the male had been in hiding for quite some time, and the females were also scarce - and then I saw a few (6) fry, almost livebearer size (i'm guessing they were about a week old at that point).

I started adding microworms to the tank (they looked big enough to eat micros).
A few days later I could only find one fry.

The females have continued to hide, and the male has only made one brief appearance - I'm assuming that there's at least one more batch of eggs in there.

Any suggestions ?

I'm thinking about moving the females to a different tank (probably in with my pearl gourami and panda cories) - but I'm not sure I will be able to catch them out of that tank later (its pretty well planted).

I'm also thinking of moving the male to a different tank (I want to fatten him up a bit, the friend I got them from mentioned that the males can slowly starve if they keep guarding successive batches of fry without a break).

I'm afraid that they have been munching on the fry. I don't plan on "mass producing" these - I got them because I like how they look/act, not to make $$ -- But I would like to raise a batch to adulthood.

They are currently in an All-glass brand 15g "designer" tank - 13" wide, 13" long, 23" tall. Filtration consists of one well seasoned "dirt magnet" brand sponge filter (It was the easiest one to move from an established tank when I got this tank). I had an old (non-wheel) Penquin mini HOB filter on there as well (with a sponge over the intake) but I turned it off to keep the currents milder.
There is a nice clump of java moss, plus some java vern and anubias attached to the driftwood.
The only other occupant is a tiny (.75 inch) baby ancistris.
I'm hoping there is enough infusoria in the sponge filter and on the plants to feed the fry for the first few days.

I occasionally hatch brine shrimp, and could setup a culture station (2 or 3 hatcheries 12 hours apart) if need be, but I've been leaning towards microworms just because I can keep the cultures going so easily, they are always ready if I need them.


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## Z Man

I hope I can help. Here is an article from my site. I have bred them many times this way. http://members.aol.com/WnyZman/gudgeon.html
You can e-mail me privately if you wish.


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## Larry-T

I've bred them quite a few times. I generally keep a pair in a 10 gal tank with a couple of PVC pipe caves and feed them on brine shirmp, frozen bloodworms, and similar food. When they spawn, I remove the cave (with the eggs) and put it into a hatching container with a little acryflavin and an airstone. You need to feed the fry on brine shrimp and smaller food, like microworms and vinegar eels. I also keep java moss in the fry tank since they can feed off the organisms growing on the plants.

While they're easy to breed, the fry seem to take forever to grow. It will be the best part of a year before they're large enough to sell.


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## redpaulhus

Thanks Guys !

Z-man - your site was one of the first things I read (before getting the fish) !!

It sounds like I'm on the right track, I just need to setup a few more tanks and move the parents...


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## Z Man

I am so happy that you got information from my site. I know I haven't updated it in a real long time but the info there still works.


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## TheOldSalt

I've seen peacocks in the store carrying around egg masses in little sacs. I haven't bred them myself, but I did notice this odd habit.


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## Z Man

Sorry but I've never seen that. They usually placed them in a small PVC tube and they hang from the ceiling and the male alone takes care of them.


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## redpaulhus

To bring things up to date - I've got a number of generations going in that tank now (I still haven't freed up space for the adults in other tanks (I want to give them a break and condition them up some).
I think my largest fry are now big enough that they are picking off newly hatched fry, but since I'm not looking to crank these out I'm not overly worried about how many I get.

However I've got a new dilema - hydra.
yep, I've been feeding lots of baby brine (and microworms) and they hydra have gone wild. they are growing on the spawning caves (flower pots) as well as on the java fern and anubias.

any suggestions on a hydra predator that won't eat the free swimming fry ?

Worst case I can take the decor out and treat it, but I'd rather go with a biological control if possible.


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## Z Man

Purchase "Fluke Tabs" at your local fish store. Use 1/2 tablet for each 10 gallon of water. I usually crush it up in a shot glass with a little tank water and just dump it in the tank. The hydra will be gone in quick order. Just and hour or so. It will not bother anything else in your tank.


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## Damon

Hmm, didn't know fluke tabs would work. Interesting tip. If you have hydra, congrats!! You have some of the cleanest ideal water around!


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## TheOldSalt

I usually just put a few pennies in the filter for a few days until they're all dead, or a few drops of coppersafe, but I figured you were looking for a drug-free way of handling them.
Come to think of it, I've only had Hydra 3 or 4 times in over 30 years of fishkeeping, so I'd probably be inclined to keep them around in a separate little tank. The local high schools would probably *LOVE* a nice donation of them for their biology classrooms, since the biosupply companies serving schools charge exhorbitantly high prices. Just a thought. Come to think of it, I might like some myself for that very purpose.
Anyway, I can think of a lot of fish which eat hydra, but not any that wouldn't likewise be a big risk to your fry. Something nagging me in the back of my mind says I know the answer, but I just can't think of it.


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