Watching Kribensis spawn from inside the cave

[Lowells Fish Lab]

Hey all,

I recently made myself a spawning cave that allows me to watch the activities inside through a camera feed. In case you have ever been curious what it looks like when Kribensis spawn, here it is! Can't wait to try this out on apistos.

[Colu]

Great ideal you can also monitor the development of the fry 

[Tihshho]

This is all sorts of awesome. Besides have you're own Nat. Geo documentary going on you could just setup a bunch of cameras and have them record/stream so you don't have to look in tanks to verify when/if there are eggs for cave spawners 🤣

[Brandon p]

I have a live stream on one tank. It’s not as clear as this and won’t go that close. This is wonderful.

Edited September 13, 2021 by Brandon p

[Lowells Fish Lab]

On 9/12/2021 at 5:06 PM, Colu said:

Great ideal you can also monitor the development of the fry 

This is what I'm most excited for. I record them 24 hours a day so I'll be able to see how it all goes down.

[Lowells Fish Lab]

On 9/12/2021 at 5:38 PM, Tihshho said:

This is all sorts of awesome. Besides have you're own Nat. Geo documentary going on you could just setup a bunch of cameras and have them record/stream so you don't have to look in tanks to verify when/if there are eggs for cave spawners 🤣

Thats pretty much how it's gone. I actually have the front of the tank covered with a black plastic sheet to keep them comfortable coming toward the front of the tank where the cave and camera are. My only view of the tank has been through a camera for several weeks waiting for the spawn. Just happened last night.

[StevesFishTanks]

cool idea

[Tihshho]

On 9/12/2021 at 8:50 PM, Lowells Fish Lab said:

Thats pretty much how it's gone. I actually have the front of the tank covered with a black plastic sheet to keep them comfortable coming toward the front of the tank where the cave and camera are. My only view of the tank has been through a camera for several weeks waiting for the spawn. Just happened last night.

If the tank had an auto water change system and auto feeder, this might be extremely useful of a setup for wild caught species that are shy. I wonder if this would assist in some species being able to provide hobbyists more F1 fry?

[ARMYVET]

This is awesome!!!

What camera are you using for this?

[Lowells Fish Lab]

On 9/13/2021 at 7:06 AM, ARMYVET said:

This is awesome!!!

What camera are you using for this?

It's actually a fairly inexpensive webcam. Spedal I think is the brand. I also use a small LED to get some light into the cave. Doesn't seem to disturb the fish

[ARMYVET]

So the camera is outside the tank looking into the pot? 

 

[Lowells Fish Lab]

On 9/13/2021 at 7:50 AM, ARMYVET said:

So the camera is outside the tank looking into the pot? 

 

Right, I'll have to take a picture. The camera's lense is poking through a circular hole in the center of a black cardboard panel so that all the fish see is a black wall. The flower pot open end is up against the tank glass. LED is positioned slightly above the camera angled down so that just enough light makes it through the gaps to light up the cave. The camera is sensitive enough to record in very low light but it drops the frame rate horribly.

Edited September 13, 2021 by Lowells Fish Lab

[Lowells Fish Lab]

Eggs are hatching right now, about 48 hours after being laid. For much of this evening the mother has been vigorously pumping water onto the egg cluster, enough to really rattle them around and much more intensely than yesterday. I think she might be helping them to shake loose. Wigglers are highlighted in yellow on the cave floor.

 

[Odd Duck]

On 9/14/2021 at 1:16 AM, Lowells Fish Lab said:

Eggs are hatching right now, about 48 hours after being laid. For much of this evening the mother has been vigorously pumping water onto the egg cluster, enough to really rattle them around and much more intensely than yesterday. I think she might be helping them to shake loose. Wigglers are highlighted in yellow on the cave floor.

 

Very cool!  Interesting observation about the extra fanning.

[ARMYVET]

I would love to see a video of this.  This is so cool.  I have to figure out a way to do something like this myself.  Thank you @Lowells Fish Lab for the inspiration!

[Lowells Fish Lab]

By morning they've all hatched. I skimmed through a bit of the footage and was able to see several falling loose from the cluster with the help of their parents. The male and female both spent a good deal of time shaking and prodding the eggs. This morning they are sitting on the wigglers. I noticed last night that the wigglers don't seem to be "sticky" like the rams and apistos I've watched. They are loosely swirling around the bottom of the cave in the current created by the parents.

 

[Lowells Fish Lab]

Fry are starting to bounce and I expect many of them will be swimming by the end of tomorrow. At one point last night I think I made the parents nervous while I was netting some fish out of an adjacent tank. I checked the camera and found about half the number of fry remaining that I had seen previously. Later when the tank lights went out but the dim cave late stayed on, I saw the female do laps in and out of the cave, returning that half of the fry from some hiding place elsewhere in the tank. They were prepared to evacuate!

[Lowells Fish Lab]

Fry are all free swimming now and starting to graze for food in the sand. I've seen some exploring but in general they are still staying low, directly under the parents. Before I'm satisfied with the cave cam I would really like to see the fry cloud exit and then re-enter the cave. I'll play flight of the valkyries and it will be glorious.

[Lowells Fish Lab]

 

Alright this is odd. The fry are climbing all over the male and pecking at his body. Are they slime coat feeding?

 

[Lowells Fish Lab]

I have always fed the adults baby brine shrimp and with the LED used to illuminate this cave, the shrimp tend to accumulate inside where the adults have just plucked them out of the water column. I fed them this evening and noticed that it really looked like the fry were going after them too. Judging by the fat and orange colored stomachs of the fry, it certainly seems that they can eat baby brine shrimp on their first day free swimming. To me this is very exciting. Once baby brine shrimp get involved, it's game over.

[Colu]

On 9/19/2021 at 1:46 AM, Lowells Fish Lab said:

 

Alright this is odd. The fry are climbing all over the male and pecking at his body. Are they slime coat feeding?

 

I have never heard of kribensis fry eating the slime coat  I no discus some other fish do it does look like their eating off the male you could be the first to document this  

[Lowells Fish Lab]

Alright so here's how the grand exit goes down. A parent sits in the doorway and then slightly outside. The fry cautiously drift toward the parent until they are also outside. Then they all take off into the tank and do their exploring.

I think I'm going to leave this here. I'll actually be placing a cave in the rear of the tank where they will be more comfortable and take my cover off the tank so that I can watch them leading the fry around. Thanks for following along, this was a great experience being able to watch this happen so closely.

Edited September 21, 2021 by Lowells Fish Lab

[Crabby]

This is incredible! What a great execution of an idea that so many breeders have had. I hope you’re making a video from this for your YouTube? Can’t wait to see it if you do.