The whiptail catfish, like most (if not all) of the Loricariidae
family hails from South America. It is, therefore, easily kept in
clear, well filtered, species tanks as they are compatible with
virtually any other fish requiring the same conditions (except other
males of the same species). In spite of its sucker mouth and the
reputation of other members of this family, I have found that the
whiptails have absolutely no interest in cleaning algae from my
tanks. My fish subsist totally (and quite happily) on basic flake
and sinking tablets.
My fish are maintained in soft, clear, acid water, which are the
conditions most easily maintained on my water supply; thus my preference
for South American fishes. Their tanks are kept at room temperature,
although this winter I did need to add a heater to a bottom tank
that was quite cool. Basically, I have maintained them from 68 degrees
to 89 degrees, but either extreme should be avoided.
My saga of spawning these fishes is a long one, beginning in late
1990. I had seven fish in a 30-gallon “long” tank. In
early 1991, I read an article suggesting that Loricarids would not
(or may not) spawn with more that one male in the tank. I since
then know this not to be the case with Loricarids in general, but
it was a key factor with the whiptails. The following is an excerpt
from April 1991 from a journal I keep:
4/15: Took very heavy female whip and largest male from the five
in 30 gallon long tank and put them alone in a 30 long – 2/3
full – old water, new gravel – 1 piece driftwood –
1 cliff and cave – one 3” length PVC – one split
PVC. Female took to driftwood, male to cliff and cave. Water change
daily for the 1st week, then every other or 3rd day. Room temperature
(70ish degrees). Feed Nutrifin basic tablet (for bottom dwellers)
nightly. Offered live black worms – she ate some. Offered
zucchini – they didn’t touch it.
4/25: Yesterday was very warm out (in the 80’s) which drove
tank temp. up. Found them both in 3” PVC pipe later today.
Pipe was perfectly positioned for me to get a clear view. In the
evening they were side by side (facing away – tail end to
me) male slightly ahead of her – they were spawning. She had
one egg under her and was nudging his middle. Both their tails would
go up - but nothing else seemed to happen. As I watched, she occasionally
nudged him but not much else. I went back in an hour and saw big
green eggs OUTSIDE the front of the tube (behind them). As I watched,
what apparently had happened, and continued to happen was as she
would raise her back end and “whip” her tail, the eggs
would get caught up in the current she made and fly out of the tube.
4/29: a.m. – no change. Both in tube. Maybe a few more eggs.
Early p.m. – still in tube – he was much more active
raising his back end and moving around a little. Maybe 70-80 eggs,
none in the tube. A little later he was out of the tube near the
eggs. Then they were both back in the tube – then they were
both out of the tube. As of lights out – both in tube. All
eggs out of tube – some as far as 4”-5” away!
The notes end abruptly on 4/29 because the following morning the
eggs were gone. The whips proceeded to spawn every two weeks or
so. I should note there that back then (when I had no life), I kept
better notes and statistics (Fish spawned after the cat went out,
but usually before the plants were watered, etc.) and of interest
in my journal was that they spawned (coincidentally?) on the day
after a new or full moon. At some point I also added an internal
power filter to create a current. In the meantime another pair was
removed to another tank (leaving 3 males – two of which killed
each other) but unfortunately the tank was not covered and the female
was found dead on the floor one day. The remaining males now reside
in separate community tanks.
After a few spawns, the pair managed to keep all the eggs in the
tube (to this day they always spawn in the PVC tube) but they would
still disappear. He was apparently not guarding well enough because
I now know her to be the culprit. Eventually they progressed to
the point where he guarded the eggs well and they actually produced
fry! Then the fry would disappear! Sometime in June, I decided it
must be her (no wonder she spawned so readily, on that diet!) and
removed her after the next spawning. Success! With spawning anyway.
Raising the fry proved to be another problem. I kept the fry in
a “shoebox,” feeling that food would be easier to find
and water quality easier to maintain (daily water changes –
no filter because I was afraid it would trap the fry). After losing
a few spawns to fungus, I tried a small 2.5 gallon tank with a sponge
filter. Success! For two weeks or so until the fry died of starvation.
The yolk sac was gone after a week or so and I fed green flake,
zucchini, even algae scraped from other tanks. The adults never
ate any of this stuff so I don’t know what made me think the
fry would!
The adults stopped spawning in July for a long time. My interest
turned to other fishes and the whiptails got along in a community
tank. Wanting the tank space at home that winter, I brought the
pair to my office. In a tank of their own they resumed spawning.
(As I wrote this, I remembered my note in my journal about the temperature
rising before the initial spawning, and I realize that when I brought
the fish here to my office I put a heater in the tank. It's a possible
coincidence, but worth noting.) I lost a few spawns because in this
heated tank the eggs hatched quicker (six days as opposed to nine
days for the previous spawns), and I didn’t get the female
out soon enough. Another spawn was lost when I remembered to pull
the female but didn’t pull the internal power filter. Some
of the fry were pulled from it, but were later lost. It became necessary
to move the tank (vacate the office) and the day it absolutely had
to be done the fish were in the tube spawning. I dropped the water
level VERY low and carried the entire tank (15 gallon), fish and
all to a new spot. The eggs flew out of the tube and all over the
tank. I siphoned out all I could and brought them home to a ten-gallon
tank with a sponge and airstone, not even knowing if they had been
fertilized. Many of them fungussed and every night I picked out
good eggs from clumps of fungussed eggs. The good eggs hatched and
the fry were raised on spirulina powder and baby brine shrimp! One
and one half years of failure had come down to three important factors:
1. remove the female
2. water quality
3. spirulina
With these three factors
in mind, and hopefully some tidbits of information contained herein,
hopefully others will be able to avoid the many problems I encountered.
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