Hatching Nothobranchius Guentheri

[Schuyler]

I was given some eggs from a local breeder a few months ago. Now they're finally ready to hatch.

I set up a Tupperware container that holds roughly 1 gallon of water and put in a small sponge filter. The water is mostly from my shrimp tank which is full of microorganisms.

Initially I was using a jar with the coconut coir that held the eggs but it was about an inch deep on the bottom and I was worried the fry would be buried. After about an hour I moved it over to another large flat container like the one in this picture.

About an hour later the reflections of their eyes were visible in the coir.

Using a turkey baster, I moved the fry to the clean container with the sponge filter. This way the left over coir can be dried and saved to try again in a few weeks just in case she eggs weren't ready. Also, some eggs have a built in protection against "false spring" and need to be wet twice before actually hatching. I'm not sure how often that happens with n guentheri but it couldn't hurt to try.

All the online instructions mention how small the fry are but I still feel like I want prepared for just how small they really are. Here is a picture of a fry with a seed shrimp for scale:

The water has some salt to reduce the risk of fungal infections.

A huge thanks to the guy who gave me the eggs: @Zach T

Edited December 14, 2022 by Schuyler

[Patrick_G]

Very nice! Did you find some Vinegar eels for them? 

[Schuyler]

On 12/13/2022 at 4:01 PM, Patrick_G said:

Very nice! Did you find some Vinegar eels for them? 

Not yet. I have an infusoria culture and I'm going to do some BBS. I may order vinegar eels online though.