# Rhinogobius zhoui fry



## MirandaB (17 Oct 2021)

It's taken me far too long to get to this point but finally I've managed to hatch some Rhinogobius zhoui fry!
Early days but it's a good start


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## Aqua360 (17 Oct 2021)

Wow! Well done


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## MirandaB (17 Oct 2021)

Aqua360 said:


> Wow! Well done


I don't know how these fish manage to reproduce in the wild,the water must be extremely clean where they come from as both the eggs and fry are very susceptible to fungus and bacteria.


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## Aqua360 (17 Oct 2021)

MirandaB said:


> I don't know how these fish manage to reproduce in the wild,the water must be extremely clean where they come from as both the eggs and fry are very susceptible to fungus and bacteria.


What's your set-up?

I haven't even seen these fish before, but I'm assuming on the face of it that they would be a challenge to breed!


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## MirandaB (17 Oct 2021)

Aqua360 said:


> What's your set-up?
> 
> I haven't even seen these fish before, but I'm assuming on the face of it that they would be a challenge to breed!


Just a basic hillstream set up,sand substrate with cobbles and pieces of slate set up to use as caves.
High flow with plenty of oxygenation and a temperature of 21 degrees although that rises in the Summer months with ambient temps.
Most of my other Rhinogobius species are relatively easy to breed and have large clutches but these are completely the opposite....sods law as they are one of the prettiest lol


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## Aqua360 (17 Oct 2021)

MirandaB said:


> Just a basic hillstream set up,sand substrate with cobbles and pieces of slate set up to use as caves.
> High flow with plenty of oxygenation and a temperature of 21 degrees although that rises in the Summer months with ambient temps.
> Most of my other Rhinogobius species are relatively easy to breed and have large clutches but these are completely the opposite....sods law as they are one of the prettiest lol


Better sense of achievement I guess!


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## Garuf (17 Oct 2021)

MirandaB said:


> Just a basic hillstream set up,sand substrate with cobbles and pieces of slate set up to use as caves.
> High flow with plenty of oxygenation and a temperature of 21 degrees although that rises in the Summer months with ambient temps.
> Most of my other Rhinogobius species are relatively easy to breed and have large clutches but these are completely the opposite....sods law as they are one of the prettiest lol


What else are you keeping?


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## MirandaB (17 Oct 2021)

Garuf said:


> What else are you keeping?


Various other species of Rhinogobius,Sicyopus rubicundus,Stiphodon atropurpureus and several species of hillstream loaches not all in the same tanks though 
With rising energy costs I'll be slowly moving away from tropical and concentrating more on the cooler temperature species which to be honest I do get the most enjoyment from.


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## Garuf (17 Oct 2021)

Nice selection. If I wasn’t a renter I’d have a fish room with a similar spread in a heart beat. 

It’s drilled into so many of us that “tropical fish need 25c” and in my experience it just isn’t true for the majority of fish that I’ve kept. 
These days I look at seriously fish and read around and if they need warmer than 20c I don’t keep them, better still if they like it a little cooler still, my room temp is 20-22 in winter tank temp is usually around 1c warmer than ambient and 26ish on the hottest summer day and I haven’t noticed any illness, stress, going off food, white spot out breaks or anything traditionally attributed to lower temps.


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## MirandaB (17 Oct 2021)

Garuf said:


> Nice selection. If I wasn’t a renter I’d have a fish room with a similar spread in a heart beat.
> 
> It’s drilled into so many of us that “tropical fish need 25c” and in my experience it just isn’t true for the majority of fish that I’ve kept.
> These days I look at seriously fish and read around and if they need warmer than 20c I don’t keep them, better still if they like it a little cooler still, my room temp is 20-22 in winter tank temp is usually around 1c warmer than ambient and 26ish on the hottest summer day and I haven’t noticed any illness, stress, going off food, white spot out breaks or anything traditionally attributed to lower temps.


I'm hoping that lfs will begin to stock a better selection of temperate fish as there are some lovely fish out there which can easily rival tropical fish for colour.


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## Sarpijk (18 Oct 2021)

Would love to see the hillstream setup.


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## MichaelJ (19 Oct 2021)

MirandaB said:


> Early days but it's a good start


Congrats!


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## Steve Buce (19 Oct 2021)

Great work👏


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## jaypeecee (19 Oct 2021)

Hi @MirandaB 

A well-deserved pat on the back or high-five from me! Out of interest, what are you feeding the fry on?

JPC


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## MirandaB (20 Oct 2021)

jaypeecee said:


> Hi @MirandaB
> 
> A well-deserved pat on the back or high-five from me! Out of interest, what are you feeding the fry on?
> 
> JPC


Thank you @jaypeecee  on bbs,microfex and microworm.
They are pretty slow to absorb their yolk sac,took them about a week although I had them at a low temperature in the adults tank so next lot I'll up the temperature by a couple of degrees.


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## MirandaB (20 Oct 2021)

Sarpijk said:


> Would love to see the hillstream setup.


Once I get their breeder box out and them into their own tank I'll do a photo but it's seriously nothing like your beautiful set up @Sarpijk


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## MirandaB (31 Oct 2021)

Just one more waffer thin Microfex


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## Conort2 (31 Oct 2021)

MirandaB said:


> Just one more waffer thin Microfex


Looking good! How many do you recon have survived out of this spawn?


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## MirandaB (31 Oct 2021)

I've got 11,lost 1 which didn't absorb the yolk and 1 which was a belly slider unfortunately.
Very happy to have 11,it was far more than I could have hoped for


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## MirandaB (16 Jan 2022)

A bit of a mixed update on these unfortunately as for unknown reasons exactly I messed up.
A week or so after the above photos were taken I decided to move them to a small tank of their own and within 2 days lost all but 2 of them.
The tank had a mature filter and some plants added,water tests were fine but for some reason I started to lose them 😢
In desperation I put the remaining 2 back in the breeder box in the main tank and they've been fine ever since although they are quite aggressive with each other so they are going to have to go in a bigger tank soon.
They've turned out to be female which I'm fine with as extra females is never a bad thing....unless it's a livebearer lol.
As fate would have it I have hopefully managed to source some wild caught ones so I can get a proper breeding group going (if my husband asks they cost £5 each )


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## jaypeecee (16 Jan 2022)

MirandaB said:


> The tank had a mature filter and some plants added,water tests were fine but for some reason I started to lose them...


Hi @MirandaB 

I'm sorry to hear that. Were the water parameters in each of the tanks pretty much identical? And, do you mind my asking which water parameters you tested? Plenty of aeration? What about feeding - did that change in any way? It's obvious from previous posts that you are an experienced fishkeeper and breeder. So, when things like this happen, it makes it that much more difficult to pinpoint the cause, doesn't it?

JPC


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## MirandaB (16 Jan 2022)

jaypeecee said:


> Hi @MirandaB
> 
> I'm sorry to hear that. Were the water parameters in each of the tanks pretty much identical? And, do you mind my asking which water parameters you tested? Plenty of aeration? What about feeding - did that change in any way? It's obvious from previous posts that you are an experienced fishkeeper and breeder. So, when things like this happen, it makes it that much more difficult to pinpoint the cause, doesn't it?
> 
> JPC


Yes I'd matched the water exactly @jaypeecee,tested ammonia,nitrite,nitrate,ph,gh,kh and tds.
Flow was slightly more than they'd been used to in the breeding box but it was gentle and there's was good oxygenation going in,feeding was exactly as they'd been used to.
Initially I thought it might be because the tank was bare bottomed and the reflection might have confused/stressed them (breeder box is stainless mesh) so I added a light scattering of sand but to no avail.


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## jaypeecee (16 Jan 2022)

MirandaB said:


> Yes I'd matched the water exactly @jaypeecee,tested ammonia,nitrite,nitrate,ph,gh,kh and tds.


Hi @MirandaB 

Is it tap, RO or rainwater with added remineralizers?

JPC


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## MirandaB (16 Jan 2022)

jaypeecee said:


> Hi @MirandaB
> 
> Is it tap, RO or rainwater with added remineralizers?
> 
> JPC


I use ro cut with tap water,usually a 70/30 ro/tap as I have ridiculously hard water here


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## MirandaB (30 Jan 2022)

New wild caught stock are here and settling in very well,so more breeding will commence in the not too distant future.


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## shangman (30 Jan 2022)

MirandaB said:


> New wild caught stock are here and settling in very well,so more breeding will commence in the not too distant future.View attachment 181081View attachment 181082


They look absolutely gorgeous in your tank, great how their colours match the rocks, looks lovely and natural. 😍


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## MirandaB (30 Jan 2022)

shangman said:


> They look absolutely gorgeous in your tank, great how their colours match the rocks, looks lovely and natural. 😍


Thank you, was a bit of a throw together if I'm honest but I'll improve it over time hopefully


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## MirandaB (30 Jan 2022)

I just won't mention the ceramic turtle caves,they're not my choice,the Rhinogobius seem to prefer them over anything else I've found


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## MirandaB (15 May 2022)

Got a good sized spawn from one of the young pairs and I've managed to hatch around 26 this time which is a vast improvement on last time


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## tam (15 May 2022)

Very cool. I've zero experience with this sort of fish, but have you considered some indian almond leaves in with the fry? They provide a bit of cover and food source as they start to break down and get a bit of bio film and are meant to be a natural anti-fungal etc.


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## MirandaB (15 May 2022)

tam said:


> Very cool. I've zero experience with this sort of fish, but have you considered some indian almond leaves in with the fry? They provide a bit of cover and food source as they start to break down and get a bit of bio film and are meant to be a natural anti-fungal etc.


They have some pieces of clay pot to hide under,they're just removed for the photo 
I might try some IAL leaves now they're moving about but for the start they need to be kept in pretty much sterile conditions and must be kept on a mesh base.


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## MirandaB (28 Jun 2022)

Little update.....all doing very well and not lost any moving them to a bigger tank this time and I have another batch that hatched a week ago


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