|
Spawning Jaguar Factoids |
|
Basic
Diet
|
Dead
goldfish -- one or two per day |
|
Conditioning
Diet
|
O.S.I.
goldfish pellets |
|
Breeding
Quarters
|
20H
with under gravel filter and cave |
| Dither
Fish |
None
(not enough room) |
| Female |
6
inches |
| Male |
7
inches |
| Temperature |
78
F |
|
Water
|
Did
not check. Just aged water. |
| Behavior |
Both
mellow at all times |
|
Spawning
Clues
|
None |
LA
Male jaguar in front. Female in back. In their 20H spawning tank 20 minutes.
The
Pair: About two months ago, a customer traded in a pair of
"mated jaguars." Since we didn't have a large tank to
house them in, we put them in two side-by-side 10 gallon tanks right above
our feeder goldfish tanks. There were six or so other larger jaguars
in the same row.
LA
Spawning tank with cave and plastic plant for cover for the female.
Their
Diet: A couple rows below them we keep a row of thirty 10-gallon
tanks full of some 1,000+ feeder goldfish. Every morning as we
inspected the tanks, we'd find about a dozen dead goldfish (except in June
and July when losses double in young feeders). Rather than throw
away a freshly deceased goldfish, we fed them to our jaguars (and some of
our other large cichlids) -- much to the consternation of Mike who only
eats live goldfish. Anyway, we thought we'd put them together and
report their spawning procedures.
LA
Sandstone spawning site with a bit of Java moss.
Accoutrements:
We gave them an instant cave (for the usually less aggressive female)
made from two upright resin rocks with another resin rock on top. We
also found a flat piece of sandstone for their spawning site. We put
it right in front so the voyeurs could enjoy the show (and we could easily
photograph them). We partially covered it with gravel so they could
enjoy digging their own pit to spawn in. Nobody much disturbed them
because they were in a row of tanks about ten feet off the ground.
We added a bit of greenery for Feng Shui, then left at five to go to
class.
LA
They spawned with no fuss or muss.
The
Spawning: When we turned on their lights the next morning, the
eggs were already on the sandstone -- about 1,400, quite a few eggs for a half-grown
female. Only then did we realize that amber-colored eggs show up
poorly on yellowish sandstone. Surprisingly, the parents did not
scour the Java moss off the sandstone. Usually, the parents damage
their lips by scouring the spawning site (and lip-locking which we saw
none of).
LA
The female was very protective of the eggs.
LA
She hovered over them and kept them aerated and clean.
LA
Here's a better view of the eggs. She even spawned on the sides of
the rock.
The
Eggs: Judging from the huge quantity of eggs, we should have
used a larger piece of sandstone. The white eggs are dead
eggs. After getting bit a few times, we extracted the eggs for a
better photo opportunity. She was ticked off, but only
momentarily. She went right back to work as soon as we replaced her
eggs.
LA
Here's what their eggs look like even closer. The white egg is dead.
LA
One day later. More white eggs and some cleared patches. The
male stays away.
LA
Just a bit closer view. Lots more dead (white) eggs. Still hundreds left.
April 3, 2006.
They
ate every egg April 4, 2006. Next time the eggs get removed.
LA
Still a nice looking couple.
© 2006
LA Productions
aqualandpetsplus.com
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Sixth Avenue
Corner
of Sixth & Euclid Avenues
Des
Moines, IA 50313
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283-0300
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