Hoplosternum thoracatum

After BN's, these are my faves. As catfish they are very active and interact well with all in the community tank, apart from apple snails that is, as when we first got some of each from the same auction, we quarantined them together, and the next morning they had plucked them from their shells with so much as a hint of garlic

We've always fancied spawning these but never tried as a local couple bred these very well and with great success and so didn't want to be stuck with fry we couldn't move on, we did bother. It seems now though that they no longer are breeding these and a couple of LFS have mentioned that if we bred them we could offload them all with them.

Well, we put them in a 30" tank 3 days ago, Wayne did the big water change today as they acting "different", well, they've only gone and spawned ain't they

I've managed to get a pic, and will try and upload all my pics tomorrow and have a mass splurge on posting them

So, you have been warned :afro: Bom-chicka-wow-wow

I'll wait for the next post "when" we see some pix of the critter to pose my question
J

No question now , a quick copy and paste reveals the answer ,
Hoplosternum thoracatum : aka Hoplo catfish
Kool fish , did you know in OZ only the females are illegal, apparently wholesalers and importers are meant to pick out the ones with the orange highlight on the pectoral fin.
There must be quite a few species that the OZ government really don't want multiplying and getting in our local waterways.
J

Any pics yet lol

OK

We lost the eggs, they weren't viable, although the female had laid them, they weren't on a bubble nest, and we're guessing this is why we lost them

Here are the eggs that were laid

And here is a pic (Bad one lol) of the female

A quick query , does the female have orange /red leading edges on the pectoral fins?
J

Kurosaki J wrote:

A quick query , does the female have orange /red leading edges on the pectoral fins?
J

No, that is on the male, and the easiest way to tell the difference.

Went to check on them last night, and the female had laid eggs on a piece of piping and the male seemed to be trying to move them up to the bubble nest, but this morning I can't see them at all. Hopefully they are not yet visible through the bubbles.

A ha , there's the difference in sexes - the male has the highlight on the pectorals.
Good to hear that they spawned again , it shouldn't be to long before you baby Hoplo's swimming around-- keep us updated Angi.
J

Kurosaki J wrote:

A ha , there's the difference in sexes - the male has the highlight on the pectorals.
Good to hear that they spawned again , it shouldn't be to long before you baby Hoplo's swimming around-- keep us updated Angi.
J

Yep, the difference can be quite marked sometimes too .... some get really bright flashes.

Up date on the eggs, they are all in the bubble nest. Wayne lifted it to take a peek and the male went for him

Most dads I know will have a go at you if you interfere with their kids
J

Since my last post on the hoplo's they have spawned again another 3 times, and eaten the first 2 spawnings. Can't get close enough to see if they are actually fertilised or not. I'm seriously thinking of removing the nest this time and trying to artificially raise them.

If they are spawning costantly for you I'm sure you'll figure it out in no time .
Here's some good JU-JU for you Angi
J