Misgurnus anguillicaudatus Reproduction /RMF       12/13/14
Greetings WetWebMedia Crew, I've had a little trouble getting my Dojo Loaches to spawn. These are wild caught Dojos. I live in an area where they have been introduced about 200 years ago and are quite common(if you know where to look). I have stocked them in larger ponds and have seen some reproduction(the problem with pond raising them, they are impossible to remove). I have separated 8 fish and stocked them in a 40g breeder tank.
This tank is well planted with a smooth but larger size gravel and has been stocked with Dojos for over a year. I keep nitrates very low(I'm OCD about water changes).
<A good place to be>
Water temps run cool around 68F with borderline "hard water", PH at 8.1. I've also stocked 4 females swordtails with 1 male(which spawn like crazy), mainly to supply live fry for my Dojo and to act as a dither. These are very unaggressive swords, I've never seen them harass the Loaches at all.
The Dojos have settled nicely and are quite tame, they run towards the glass when they see me(they recognize me as their feeding servant). I feed them Hikari carnivore tablets, Omega veggie flakes, Tetra flakes, a little Nori, Hikari blood worms(on occasion), Hikari algae tabs and live compost worms. I think they receive a fairly balanced diet. I have been able to identify the males from the females and have noticed the females swell with eggs and noticed spawning behavior(males nudging females in the genital area). I have basically been trying to induce spawning as I would a Corydoras. My questions are should I expect 1 spawning per year?
<Yes; but... I have some ideas re inducing such... will state at the end>
Should I separate a female with 2 or 3 males?
<You could try this>
I vacuum gravel at least once a week, wonder if I vacuum eggs as well.
Any other tips would be appreciated. Thanks for the greatest reference site out there. Brandon
<Like other loaches and relatives, I'd experiment with lowering the water level down (about half), and try lowering the temperature a handful of degrees, AND use some rain-water of low pH mixed in when you see that your females are full of roe. Even arranging an "indoor" rain machine with a submersible pump and a length of PVC or other pipe with small holes, shooting on the inside panel may stir your Dojos on to spawning. Bob Fenner>
Misgurnus anguillicaudatus Reproduction /Neale       12/13/14
Greetings WetWebMedia Crew, I've had a little trouble getting my Dojo Loaches to spawn. These are wild caught Dojos. I live in an area where they have been introduced about 200 years ago and are quite common(if you know where to look). I have stocked them in larger ponds and have seen some reproduction(the problem with pond raising them, they are impossible to remove). I have separated 8 fish and stocked them in a 40g breeder tank. This tank is well planted with a smooth but larger size gravel and has been stocked with Dojos for over a year. I keep nitrates very low(I'm OCD about water changes).Water temps run cool around 68F with borderline "hard water", PH at 8.1. I've also stocked 4 females swordtails with 1 male(which spawn like crazy), mainly to supply live fry for my Dojo and to act as a dither. These are very unaggressive swords, I've never seen them harass the Loaches at all. The Dojos have settled nicely and are quite tame, they run towards the glass when they see me(they recognize me as their feeding servant). I feed them Hikari carnivore tablets, Omega veggie flakes, Tetra flakes, a little Nori, Hikari blood worms(on occasion), Hikari algae tabs and live compost worms. I think they receive a fairly balanced diet. I have been able to identify the males from the females and have noticed the females swell with eggs and noticed spawning behavior(males nudging females in the genital area). I have basically been trying to induce spawning as I would a Corydoras. My questions are should I expect 1 spawning per year?
Should I separate a female with 2 or 3 males? I vacuum gravel at least once a week, wonder if I vacuum eggs as well. Any other tips would be appreciated. Thanks for the greatest reference site out there. Brandon
<Like most loaches, breeding Misgurnus species in home aquaria is rare.
Clown Loaches, Weather/Dojo Loaches and other valuable loaches are bred on fish farms through the use of hormones, either pituitary or gonadotropin, injected into the fish to stimulate egg production. The eggs are then manually "stripped" from gravid females, fertilised in vitro, and the eggs and fry reared separately from the adults. Young fish are then used commercially in various ways, which in the case of Weather Loaches includes their use as lab animals and even as food. Anyway, if you use Google Scholar you can find technical details on Misgurnus breeding without too much bother, though you may need an academic library account to access complete papers. In all probability, breeding under the uniform conditions of an indoor tropical aquarium will not be possible. Misgurnus spawn in spring after being exposed to a quite cold winter, so in this sense they rather resemble Goldfish, which are notoriously difficult to spawn indoors but breed like rabbits in ponds. In other words, you'd want to overwinter your Misgurnus somewhere chilly, maybe a cold basement or garage, where the water is somewhere around 8-10 degrees C, maybe even a little colder.
They'd eat very little in such cold conditions, and whatever they did eat would need to be very low protein (again, just as with Goldfish and Koi outdoors during cold winters, which all but stop eating below 10 degrees C). Perhaps the odd wheat germ pellet could be offered, or strips of Sushi Nori. Nothing meaty at all. Try and minimise photoperiod too, to maybe 8 hours light per day, to replicate the long cold winter nights. Photoperiod is an important "clue" to season for many animals. After a couple months you'd gradually warm them up again, increase the amount and quality of food (add bloodworms and similar to mimic the appearance of insect larvae in spring). All else being equal, such an approach would give you the best chance of stimulating spawning, which supposedly happens among aquatic weeds. But realistically, unless you chuck your Misgurnus into a pond and let them get on with it, these fish are unlikely to breed. Cheers, Neale.>

Sexing Dojos, Weatherfish Loaches Hello, I was wondering if I could get some advice on how I to tell the difference between a male and female dojo. Is there a way?   Thanks, Terry <Hey Terry, from what I have found, the difference is in the pectoral fins.  The males have larger pectoral fins than the females, and the two first spines are stronger than the rest hope this helps.  Best Regards, Gage>

Fish Questions?? Dojo repro.   2/26/07 Hey I was wondering what a dojo's eggs look like? <Mmm, small (about 1 mm. in diameter), round, light brown...> Mine are male and female I think. And they have been swimming and curling around each  other. I think my female has had babies but I am not  sure. We found a whitish gold pod in our tank. It is short and round. Thanks, Serenity Strong <Mmm, this pod is "not it"... Please read here: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-Address&rlz=1I7PCTA&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=misgurnus+reproduction&spell=1 Bob Fenner>