Chaetostoma Eggs

Basic info on Chaetostoma catfish (Wide-Mouth, or Rubber Lip pleco)

Very good algae eater from cooler fast flowing rivers in South America. Leaves most plants alone, likes rockwork and a good hiding place. Normally readily available. I picked up my first 2 at Petsmart, and my other 2 at a LFS.

Can be combative with other plecos or conspecifics. I'm going to try to get another bunch that look like the set I have and see if I can get a colony going.

Very adaptable, and as long as it has a hiding place can survive very adverse conditions. These guys weren't always catered to. They used to be cleanup fish.

--Mia
 
Here's a pic of the male...
chaeto_maleB1.jpg


--Mia
 
Small update:

The little guys are starting to stick to things, mainly under their hatching rock. All still have yolk sacs, and bumble around when they attempt to swim.

As to food:

Any suggesstions would be much appreciated,. I expect them to eat tomorrow or the next day and want to be ready. I'm so far planning on spinach, romaine lettuce, very softened cucumber or zucchinni, crushed peas, algae covered plants, java moss, liquifry, finely mashed paste of flake, and algae covered rocks from my other river tank.

Their mouths look very big compared to most fry I've had before.

--Mia
 
I can only reply from my experiences breeding ancistrus. My biggest problem seems to be keeping them fed adequately - I use crushed, dampened flake, bit of shrimp and bits of boiled veg and load them up. I really overfeed, but it's ok , I keep them in a pretty small tank and do lots of water changes twice a day. Try running a sponge filter - all sort of stuff gets stuck to it, and they can browse on the surface of the sponge.
I had problems with an internal power filter in that they would crawl inside it and get killed. I removed it and found the sponge much better.
Good work , good photos! Ask on the forums on planetcatfish.com, they might have some experience.
 
Update.

Well I have about 5-6 six little guys left. They're about 3/8 of an inch long. Most are gray, though they become almost clear when frightened. For some reason their bellies are black when full.

They seem hardy enough now, but a few didn't make it during the changeover to food. The ones I have seem to graze the rocks a bit, and seem mainly interested in liquifry and ground up flakes. Tried veggies, but very little response. I'm kind of treating these guys like hillstream loaches, in that they don't actually eat algae, just the little things that live in it.

--Mia
 
Well, not a big update but a few more observations. They are exactly like miniature bulldog catfish. They stick to rocks extremley well, and hide most of the day. Every once in a while I catch one on the glass.

They have also moved beyond liquifry for the moment and seem most interested in ground up flakes. I've seen some chasing it, kind of like stalking real live food. I guess the nice thing about current loving fish is the current can trick them into thinking the food is alive.

Total is up around 7-8 now, as once I started the flakes in earnest they started coming out more.

--Mia
 
Lovely! You really should get in touch with the fellows over at Planet Catfish and see if they would be interested in publishing your efforts. Quality pics of the eggs and fry are rare!
 
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