Angels - PageSuite

Sturisoma, gobies, killifishes, and other newly
imported fishes, I was able to obtain practically
anything and set up to breed it—paradise
indeed.
But what is the point of breeding aquarium
fishes in the wholesale trade? Uninteresting
species aren’t bred in Asia for economic
reasons. In the case of cichlids, some dealers
sell only the attractive males. How can anyone
become fascinated by our lovely hobby if
he or she misses out on observing courtship
and brood care? I believe it is important for
the hobby to offer a large variety of species
and not just the usual “bread and butter.” If
rare aquarium fishes can be bred in adequate
numbers in captivity, it is possible to dispense
with collecting in the wild.
It rapidly became clear to me how small
my home aquarium setup had been. The
scale on which I now operated was a lot
more demanding. Jobs such as breeding live
foods, reinvigorating breeding strains at the
right time, recognizing diseases early on, and
keeping filters functional took more time as
the size of the breeding unit and the number
of fish species increased.
The aquarium fishes from the East African
lakes are very robust, not very susceptible
to disease, and easy to breed. Problems can
arise with more disease-prone species. The
constant arrival of new fishes is accompanied
by a fresh supply of pathogens. It is very
difficult to perfectly isolate the breeding and
rearing areas from the newly imported fishes.
Water maintenance, varied feeding, and
regular monitoring of water parameters are
essential.
Food must also be provided for the numerous
different fish species. Artemia is easy.
My hatching containers hold up to 5.25
gallons (20 L) of water, so there are always
sufficient brine shrimp available. Plankton
is a more difficult affair. The cultures must
be constantly tended in order to be able
to feed rotifers regularly. I feed them with
condensed milk. I monitor the population
density of the unicellular organisms daily
with the microscope. Powdered and flake foods and various
sizes of granulate are used in accordance with the
species and size of the fishes.
Here are some of the species I breed and their peculiarities:
Synodontis and Aulonocara
For organizational reasons, our aquarium units are numbered.
Our Unit 5A, consisting of 90 large and 115 small
Above: This
incubator unit in
the laboratory is
used to hatch the
eggs of species
that don’t practice
brood care. The
eggs are placed
in the tubes, and
water is circulated
via a UV unit to
keep them in
constant motion.
Hatched larvae
rise to the top and
are washed into
the rearing tanks,
where they stay
until their yolk sacs
are exhausted.
Right: This block of
small aquariums is
used for breeding
Lake Tanganyika
cichlids. The fishes
are kept in pairs.
tanks with centralized particulate and nitrate filtration,
houses predominantly East African cichlids, Synodontis,
and Sturisoma.
When breeding Synodontis lucipinnis (often incorrectly
known as Synodontis petricola “Dwarf” (S. petricola
grows larger and has large spots on the head, while S.
lucipinnis has smaller spots) and S. polli, we use two-part,
closed-ended plastic pipes with a diameter of 6 inches
(15 cm) as breeding caves. In the upper half there is an
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