Dobbie is my large Celestial. This is only the second time in her entire life that she has spawned!!!

:
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I wonder if I should breed her?

Yay, go for it... You are going to start a large fish farm in Chicago soon... lol

So I put her in with the male and he is ignoring her.

Sigh. Stupid fish.

Maybe it will happen. Maybe it won't.

......PUT KERMIT IN WITH HER!!!!

...-runs hand across your face.- ...This isn't the male you're looking for. Put Kermit in with Dobbie. You can go about your business. Move along.



Wubbles: You're a Jedi, Daddy?!
Allen: ...Shh! It probably won't work on Carol, these tricks only work on the weak-minded!

OK - Kermit spent the day with her. I saved some eggs - no idea if any are fertile.

...OHHHHHH! Everyone, EVERYONE cross your fingers for Carol!

Kermit, hm? Is he still the wild one? He didn't mess Dobbie too much, did he?

oohh my fingers are crossed !!

Yup - "WildMan" was certainly interested in the girl. She is a BIG girl, too and held her own. They were in a 55 gallon tub ...alone and she had plenty of ways to get away from the body checks. I put in two clumps of "nesting material" at opposite ends of the tub and Kermit hung out in the grasses waiting for her to get close so he could "pounce". When she did, he drove her into the grass where she released eggs. When she was "out in the clear" he pretty much left her alone and she just hovered.

She is back in her own little space as is he. Other than 2 missing scales on her side, she looks to be fine. Kermit, of course, is barreling around in his tank, splashing and putting up a fuss. What a putz.

She dumped 1000s of eggs - I guess that is from saving them up allthose years! I do not see a great number of fertile ones, though.

v_v;...but there's SOME fertile ones...right?

In my past experience, I always seem to get more to hatch than I ever even thought were in a tank...... EXCEPT for this last time - I carefully saved all the eggs - and only got 2 - that is right TWO fry.

They are growing like weeds, though. I have no idea what they will be like - but they are BT Ryukin fry ...... (I had a UV going in the tank - that tends to squash the male's fertility!!! )

I expect there will be something there. At 71F, they are not expected to hatch until Friday, sometime. We will see.

All those fry in the pictures you posted died!? Or, do you mean you only got two show-quality broadtail ryukin fry?

Oh.... No. They are all fine and growing well!

The Broadtails spawned again about 2 weeks ago and, since the first round was so successful, I decided to keep that round of eggs, too. Only 2 fry hatched from that round. I had a UV going on the tank - and that is pretty much the death toll for fertility!!!

Sorry to scare you.... no .....all the fry are growing and doing well.

(Even the crystal Ranchu fry - I am actually seeing more and more in there that might be worth keeping! )

Wee! Whew! I hope you're not going to keep -all- the crystal ranchu fry Are any of your lionheads shaping up? ...Wow, I'm gonna have to set up some more tanks x_X;

Goodness - I could NEVER keep all the fry - I have HUNDREDS!

I put a spare light on the tank with the Celestial eggs today - approx. one day from hatching.

The light helped a lot. I have, literally, 1000s of eggs in there. I do not know what will hatch, but some are bound to. I guess I have to break out the brine shrimp breweries, huh?

I mixed pure Celestial to Celestial cross eggs in that tank with Celestial to Phoenixtailed Froghead. We will see what I get.

(I hope I get a whole bunch of nasty little Kermits! They will thrash around and bite everyone and everything and just be really bad boys, just like Dad. )

It's Friday!!! What's going on in the egg tank?

Nothing....... :

Maybe tomorrow they'll all hatch and you'll have a massive jelly pile of Kermit and Kermita Jrs?

Nothing yet. I am beginning to think that Dobbie did not have fertile eggs. That happens. I neither prepped her, nor expected anything from her. She has never spawned before and she is no spring chicken!

Today, I will dig through that tank and all the spawning material and see if there is anything I am missing. Otherwise, I have to conclude that there were no fertilized eggs for one reason or another.... either I have 2 dud males or, (more likely) that the eggs were simply not viable.

Sorry.

Oh poo. Well, at least neither Dobbie nor Kermit can say they died a virgin!

I don't suppose you found any surprise in your rooting around, did you Carol?

Sorry - nope. The tank has been emptied and sterilized and is expecting a fish that was "heron jabbed" to occupy it this afternoon.

I was just wondering, have there been any naughtiness going on with Kermit and a female admirer? ?

At this time of year, most of the fish are prepping for next year's breeding. They are glutting themselves on protien and fattening in anticipation of the cold dormant period. There is no breeding action occuring.

I AM prepping both Dobbie and Kermit for a try next spring, however. I think it might be kind of interesting. I am also looking towards breeding the black/white bubble eyes I have. They should be ready for a first season next spring. I may even see if I can cross them out to KErmit.