Spawning Cynolebias constanciae
by Charles Drew
Periodically I go back to a fish that I have not had for years. Sometimes to see if I
will have better luck spawning them now than I did years ago before R.O. units and the
many more years of experience. Constanciae was no exception. Sometimes called the
feather-fin pearl fish because of its long dorsal and anal fin with extended rays.
Although not brightly coloured it is still very attractive with a light brown base colour
and large brown spots and a sprinkle of near-white pearl-like tiny dots. They were first
found in a farm pond in South East Brazil. For a long time it was thought to be their only
place of existence. They are still considered highly endangered although well established
in the hobby.
I was at a killifish club member's home when I noticed some swimming in one of his
tanks. By the time I left I had two pairs in a bag. I put them in a small long low tank of
about three gallons using one third tap water and two thirds R.O. water. I then took a
margarine container and cut a two inch hole in the lid. Next I filled it with some water
logged peat moss from my softwater peat barrel. A few marbles or a small stone will help
weigh it down.
By the next morning spawning had started. A pair had entered the container and the male
was pressing the female into the peat moss. I allowed this to go on for two weeks. In the
wild, the pond that they live in dries up during the summer months or warm season. The
eggs that were spawned in the humus on the pond bottom lie there and develop while waiting
for the rains to come and refill the pond. In the aquarium we have to duplicate the dry
and rainy season. I took the container of peat moss and dumped it into a fine fish net to
drain out as much water as possible. Next I took an old newspaper, opened the center and
put the moss on it and then closed it again. By the next morning all of the surplus water
had been drawn out of the peat moss. I then packed it in a plastic bag tied it tight and
put it in a dark place at room temperature.
Incubation is 12 to 16 weeks. When it was time to hatch them I dumped the moss into a
plastic pan and covered the moss with about a half inch of old aquarium water. An air
stone was put in the pan to help agitate the water. Almost instantly some of the eggs
started to hatch. If only a few eggs hatch, catch the fry in an eyedropper and re-dry the
peat moss and try again in two weeks. As luck would have it I had at least one hundred and
fifty plus hatch out - far exceeding any hatch that I had years ago.
The fry eat live baby brine shrimp as a first food and grow quickly. Mine are, at ten
weeks old, sexable and ready to sell. Although an annual fish they can live close to two
years. That means they can outlive a guppy or most Bettas. Unlike many Cynolebias
males they are peaceful with each other and don't tear one another to shreds like many of
their cousins do. Although they prefer live or frozen foods, mine do eat one meal a day of
flake food.
This is an interesting fish about an inch and a half long and you should not be scared
off by the word annual.
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