| Hi Jason, thanks for starting this thread.
Some of the points already raised are interesting and useful for me.
I have set up four 1500 liters kiddie pools (rather similar to show vats) in a greenhouse for this breeding season. Each pair of pools is conected to their own filtration system. It will be running all the time. Last year it worked fine for me (I used only a pool with a smaller biofilter+UV lilght+small aeration pump). This year I have included substantial modifications to increase aeration and filtration efficiency. The critical point is screening the intake pipes (drains) efficiently in order to prevent blockage and fry being sucked into the filtration system.
Back to your questions, these are my opinions
I think you should try to spawn your breedeers in the smaller pond, in fact it is large enough for that purpose. You could also use a smaller foldable pool for spawning and later transfer the mopes with the egss to the small pond.
DIY a net cage using fine, soft mesh. That will help you and let you save a lot of time and effort. I didn't use it in the two precedent breeding seasons, and what a mistake. You can use this net cage both for spawning and for rearing the fry.
Get or DIY spawning ropes. Kazuya, a japanese breeder established in Spain cut white plastic bags in strips, tie them in large groups and let them float in the pond. Not smart, but efficient and cheap solution. I'm using spawning ropes. Clean well and rinse before using them. Don't place them in the pond until the day you have scheduled for spawning. You want to avoid buildup of biofilm and muck in the ropes.
Keep the bigger pond for green water and Daphnia+Rotifer culture. Use a siphon to make frequent water+live food transfers from your green pond to the fry pond. You can move the fry to the bigger tank later, when they are bigger and not restrited to feed on small live prey.
It is very easy to overexploit quickly the Daphnia culture, therefore you can DIY some hatching jars for Artemia, and of course get a supply of good quality Artemia cysts. Much better if you get decapsulated cysts.
In the meanwhile, try to avoid your biggest pond being colonised by predators. There is a vast array of them (both invertebrate and vertebrate as well) and they can ruin all your work. A single water snake can eat large numbers of fry in a short time. Same thing with some birds.
I will acknowledge other opinions.
Well, good luck to you and other members that might be spawning their breeders soon!
Diego |