# My First Spawn Attempt- HMDT x VT



## Misakitty (Dec 8, 2011)

I've got to take the plunge at some point, and I'm very excited to give breeding a try. My first choice met with an unfortunate heater accident before I could start the process, and the male is recovering. Luckily I had a back-up couple that was next on my list. If I'm successful with this attempt I do have a plan I want to pursue, so here's hoping. 

I read everything I could find on the matter and tried to replicate the 'typical' starter setup with the 10 gallon tank using what was available. Some things are hard to find locally for me, and the big chain stores don't really carry them, but I'm getting there piece by piece. I think the hardest thing to find was the glass!












This picture was before I added the water sprite.



This is the male, Feodor!










He's had a harder time than any other male I own with learning to build a bubble nest. I had to coach him prior with a piece of bubble wrap which he loves. Oddly though when I put him in the spawning tank he ignored it and started building it on the back wall. :roll: I hope he gets it straight before we start.


And this is the female, Sunset!












She's got a great temperament and doesn't seem interested in hurting him thankfully. She was acting ready almost as soon as I put her in the tank.












Snapped one pic of them acclimating before she went into the glass. They're covered and resting for the night. I can't wait to start in the morning. :-D I've been planning this for quite a while and had to keep delaying for various reasons, so I'm glad I finally get to give it a try. I'll be trying to get videos of it if I can catch them doing anything interesting. Feodor was acting camera shy- I guess he has performance anxiety. :lol:


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## sparkyjoe (Feb 27, 2012)

Good luck!


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## indjo (Jun 6, 2010)

Looks good, good luck.


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## MaisyDawgThirteen (Dec 7, 2011)

They look nice!  Good Luck!


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## tpocicat (Aug 8, 2011)

I love their colors, best of luck.


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## lilyth88 (Mar 15, 2012)

These are going to make some beautiful babies! Good luck!


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## BeckyFish97 (Apr 9, 2012)

Awesome fish!Hope everything goes well for you!!!


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## Misakitty (Dec 8, 2011)

Thank-you, everyone! He had the nest in the right place this morning when I uncovered the tank.  I'm going to grab some food and then let her loose. She seems really anxious to get started, probably because she's ready to explode with eggs. :lol:


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## Misakitty (Dec 8, 2011)

They're spawning right now! As soon as I let her go they swam around a little, no nipping or aggression, went right under the nest and started. So far he's having a hard time getting a firm embrace on her, and she's eating any eggs that fall to the bottom. It's nerve wracking to watch; I want to tell him not to forget the eggs on the bottom! I don't know if any fertilized eggs have made it into the nest yet, but from looking at how full she is still they'll be at it for a while.


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## MrVampire181 (May 12, 2009)

Wow! Can't wait to see them grown up!


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## Misakitty (Dec 8, 2011)

Now I think he's just lazy! She's stopped eating the eggs, and it looks like now she's the one doing all the work putting them in the nest. He just struts around looking all proud of himself. Poor Sunset! :lol:


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## Misakitty (Dec 8, 2011)

Thank-you for all of the encouragement.  They're nearing the end, and it seems that Feodor finally got the hang of it. I'll be posting a video after I get it all uploaded.


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## Misakitty (Dec 8, 2011)

Feodor and Sunset First Spawn - YouTube


Here is the link of the clips from the spawn. Sadly as soon as I removed Sunset, Feodor spiraled into depression and did not want to do anything. He mouthed a few of the eggs and spit them out, but he mostly ignored any of the ones that fell from the nest. The nest itself hasn't had any tending and is slowly losing pieces. He looks pathetic; I read about this happening after removing the father from the fry, but I didn't expect him to be upset from removing the female. Now I wish I'd left her in there longer to see what would happen. She seemed to be teaching him what to do. 

I've collected what I could to artificially hatch, but I don't know if any of those are even viable eggs. It looks like there was around 150 eggs total from the spawn, possibly more. A few are still clinging to the nest, and I'll know tonight if they're alive.


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## BeckyFish97 (Apr 9, 2012)

Omg that vid is awesome, and completely hilarious!!!also, sunset was MASSIVE LOL!!!


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## Misakitty (Dec 8, 2011)

BeckyFish97 said:


> Omg that vid is awesome, and completely hilarious!!!also, sunset was MASSIVE LOL!!!



I know she was huge! I didn't want to wait any longer before releasing her because she was starting to drop eggs. She looked like a blimp. :lol:


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## lvandert (Feb 23, 2012)

good luck with the artificial hatch!


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## Misakitty (Dec 8, 2011)

Thank-you, Ivandert. I'm going to need it since I hadn't really prepared for this outcome. I've tried to read up on it a bit. There are definitely some changes going on with some of the eggs, not all of them though. I'm trying to get a look without messing with them too much. 

I'm guessing the ones that look bigger and sort of hollow with a curled sliver of white to one side were successfully fertilized. I don't know if I should remove the others yet or give them more time.


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## lvandert (Feb 23, 2012)

I'd give them time, there can be a few hours between your fist and last egg. I gave my eggs a good three days before I called it when I did the artificial.


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## Sketch (Apr 17, 2012)

oooo this is an interesting thread! Hopefully some will hatch!


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## Misakitty (Dec 8, 2011)

I'll be thrilled if I get even just a few healthy fry out of this. I wasn't looking for a particularly big spawn on my first try. I'm conditioning the pair again for a second round, and hopefully he's learned something from this experience. 

I might see a few tails, but I'm not sure yet.


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## Misakitty (Dec 8, 2011)

I see one pair of beady eyes! I hope it's alive, and I don't see any others quite yet.


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## Misakitty (Dec 8, 2011)

I found a second pair of eyes with a tail, but I don't know if it's alive. I'll give it till tomorrow and then call it if I don't see any activity, clean it out, and start over.


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## lvandert (Feb 23, 2012)

Yeah I had a few still borns. It is kinda frustrating...


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## Misakitty (Dec 8, 2011)

I have one swimmer! It's hanging on so far, spinning around in its little cup. If it makes it to tonight I will try to feed a tiny, tiny bit of egg yolk water. I'm hopeful!


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## tpocicat (Aug 8, 2011)

Here's wishing the best of luck to you and your tiny fry!


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## ZackyBear (Dec 1, 2011)

I love how at :43 seconds of the video of their first spawning, Feodor looks over as if someone said something offensive xD Very entertaining to watch~! I will be stalking this thread~


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## Misakitty (Dec 8, 2011)

Feodor has quite the snobby attitude now and refuses to eat his icky old pellet food. :roll: I'm conditioning him again for spawning at the end of next week with Sunset. 

I've got a tricky situation though. My one little fry is doing ok as far as I can tell. He's still in the floating cup in the heated spawn tank, which is pretty gross and really needs some maintenance before I use it again. I'm trying to figure out how to clean that tank without the temperature dropping for the fry. I only have the one heater. Does anyone have a suggestion?


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## jeffegg2 (Apr 5, 2012)

Misakitty said:


> Feodor has quite the snobby attitude now and refuses to eat his icky old pellet food. :roll: I'm conditioning him again for spawning at the end of next week with Sunset.
> 
> I've got a tricky situation though. My one little fry is doing ok as far as I can tell. He's still in the floating cup in the heated spawn tank, which is pretty gross and really needs some maintenance before I use it again. I'm trying to figure out how to clean that tank without the temperature dropping for the fry. I only have the one heater. Does anyone have a suggestion?


Vacume and water change...


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## lvandert (Feb 23, 2012)

hmmm...I left him in the cup and did a slow water change. I siphoned out a bit, put more in. Wait a while for the water to fully adjust and then do it again. Changing out my 5 gallon took all day at the pace I went LOL


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## Misakitty (Dec 8, 2011)

Ugh it will probably take all day in the 10 gallon haha. I'm paranoid about the heater, but it should be ok if it's just a little bit at a time. I'll be going at turkey baster pace. :lol: I gave the little guy some real food but can't tell if he ate any of it since it was so small. I'm definitely going to be investing in a second heater sooner rather than later. 

On a fun note, the bundle of java moss I bought for the spawn tank at the lfs had some exciting hitchhikers on it. The leaves finally got big enough to identify frogbit I believe, my first surface cover plant! I had to grow it a week or so before I could tell what it was. It will make a great addition to the spawn tank when it gets big enough. The moss is still in quarantine and will go into the tank before the next Feodor/Sunset spawn.


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## Misakitty (Dec 8, 2011)

Just for fun: 



Sole Surviving Fry - YouTube



It's super tiny and hard to see, and if you have any sneeze spots on your computer monitor you may mistake him for one of those. I did my best, but he wanted to hide from me. I can't say I wouldn't do the same in his position.


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## Misakitty (Dec 8, 2011)

I'm very excited; tonight when I went to feed my little guy, I noticed what looked like another pair of eyes staring up from under the cup!

Somehow another fry managed to escape being gathered as an egg, hatched, and missed the tank bottom cleanup! I added him to the little baby cup, and I'm still completely amazed that he was still in the tank and had survived. :-D I had tried to get all the eggs in the artificial hatching, and then I tried to get rid of all the leftover gunk and eggs just the other day. I wasn't paying a whole lot of attention to what was getting suctioned out, so I do not know how he managed to stay in there!


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## lvandert (Feb 23, 2012)

I have a sole survivor, he's 3 weeks old now. Good luck with yours


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