Synodontis Petricola: Keep losing my fry

[RazzyB]

I’ve bread this catfish for 9+ years and love the species. A few years ago, I moved to Chicago and have hit a wrinkle in my ability to raise them past the first few days.

I have 9 adults in my breading tank, all of which are true petricola (5 are 1st generation from the wild).

My fish drop eggs and fertilize, where I’m able to capture them in a bowl filled with marbles. Typically, I transfer them to a 10g tank to hatch and raise with microworms. I get the typical white eggs and remove them, but have still seen 20-40 viable eggs every few weeks. Unfortunately, I can’t seem to keep the little guys alive past 24-48 hours as the fry die off.

I used to raise batches of 40-90 fry at a time while in Colorado, but this began happening after the move to Illinois. Over the past year, I have been successful raising only a mere handful of juveniles(10 or so total).

I use water directly from the well on my property, which has a water softener in the process and add Prime water conditioner during water changes. In Denver, we were on the city's water grid.

The adult fish in my other tanks have done well with no major issues over the past few years, and the cichlids have successfully raised fry.

I'm looking for any suggestions on things I can try to start finding success again?

[Birger]

Actually the more I review the profiles on line, the more confused I am about my species. Is there a tell-tale way to determine the difference between a petricola and a lucipinnis?
I was told they were petricola when I purchased them, but I suppose that does not make it so.

I thought this would come up...We'll get this out of the way first, with a good picture we could tell you... also look here http://www.planetcatfish.com/shanesworl ... lucipinnis


Your problem raising these fry looks to be a water quality issue, adults are quite sensitive to changes/toxins in their water chemistry and I suspect the fry are even more so.

You do not give any water parameters, if possible you need to have a full water analysis done on your well water. (post them here)

You could try using water from in front of the softener.

I have met some good Aquarists from that area... have you looked into any local clubs there must be some good ones, this would come with the benefit that they have experience with the local water conditions.

Birger

[Quantrel]

X2
Does your water softener use salt to soften?
As suggested I would give the unsoftened water a try and see what happens.

[RazzyB]

I am pleased to report that after only a few weeks, I have 100+ fry swimming, growing & thriving. Thank you for the tips on bypassing the water softener as that did the trick!

[amiidae]

My fish drop eggs and fertilize, where I’m able to capture them in a bowl filled with marbles.

Can you post picture of your breeding bowl ? Thanks.