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Blackwater spawning sites in nature?


Lowells Fish Lab
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I have a question for the brain trust:

Many egg scattering species seem to gravitate towards plants when spawning. Whether it's because they provide cover or an area likely to house first foods for their fry, the attraction to plants can be almost magnetic. What I've been wondering lately is what the equivalently attractive spawning site would be for species that live in tannic water without submerged vegetation. Take cardinal tetras for example. What do they want to scatter their eggs over? Leaf litter under the cover of a fallen branch? Do they burrow into leaf litter or loose substrate?

I suspect that many black water species would happily spawn in vegetation if given the opportunity but I'm still curious, what structures can we recreate to simulate a natural spawning site?

Thanks in advance.

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On 9/11/2021 at 11:13 AM, Lowells Fish Lab said:

I have a question for the brain trust:

Many egg scattering species seem to gravitate towards plants when spawning. Whether it's because they provide cover or an area likely to house first foods for their fry, the attraction to plants can be almost magnetic. What I've been wondering lately is what the equivalently attractive spawning site would be for species that live in tannic water without submerged vegetation. Take cardinal tetras for example. What do they want to scatter their eggs over? Leaf litter under the cover of a fallen branch? Do they burrow into leaf litter or loose substrate?

I suspect that many black water species would happily spawn in vegetation if given the opportunity but I'm still curious, what structures can we recreate to simulate a natural spawning site?

Thanks in advance.

I’d love to hear from our intrepid Amazon adventures. From footage I’ve seen, the overhanging canopy stream / riverside provides tons and tons of roots, while pods, leaves, etc breakdown producing tannin-stained water.

To replicate this in home aquaria, I’d order loads of tannins-producing dried leaves, cones, pods, etc online. And I’d create a rack across the back with porous mesh to plant emersed plants in whose roots would cluster down and fill the back of the tank. 

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If you look at when these smaller black water species spawn, it's generally in the flooding/rainy season. When the tides rise the forest that was once above ground is seasonally submerged as part of the water way. That's where things like cardinals spawn. The shallower areas allow them to grow without many issues from big open water predators and the area is still packed with terrestrial vegetation that has yet to die back from rotting/not being able to transition. This would mean small branches with greenery, grasses, small bush like foliage, etc are all spawning sites. From the old books I have it seems that the black water species are happy spawning in captivity over leaf litter or loose peat like substrate as well. Times have definitely changed and so have the methods, so I bet you'll find varying info depending on the era of when it was documented. 

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