Breeding Black Ghosts

This posts is the second part of my earlier post :)

There are 2 ways to breed the Black Ghost:

1. By pairing sets: Prepare a set of Black Ghost broodstock (3 male and 4 female) in an aquarium of 100 x 50 x 40 cm.

2. By massal breeding: Black Ghost could be bred in a pond or fiber glass container (2.5 x 1.5 x 0.5 m). Prepare broodstock preferably of 8 males and 12 females. The pH of the water should be maintained at 6.6 but it will be ok at a range of 6-7.

Things needed in breeding!

Black ghosts love to hide, and hiding spots are indeed needed in the process, this is according to the behaviour of this fish which prefers being in the dark. For the hiding places you could use various objects such as tiles, bricks, pipes. Size of the objects should consider to the size of the broodstock.

The next important thing we need is a media for eggs to stick on. In Indonesia we use pakis or ijuk. I am really sorry but I cannot find the meaning in English but its basically an organic material derived from plants (Sorry but I'll have to search for this). Basically the media is dark coloured, porous and consist of fibers. If this is not available, maybe something similar could be used. Because this material floats in water, then it should be arranged and try to put some weight over it.

Broodstock nutrition is an important factor. Bloodworms and mosquito larva are good examples for stimulating the ripening of the gonads. Hinder the use of tubifex worm because the fat content is relatively higher.

Water quality must be maintained therefore water must be refreshed.

Usually the black ghosts breed in night, and eggs could be seen sticking on to the media. Therefore the media should be removed from the breeding tank if in the eggs are present.

Eggs are placed in a separate tank until hatching. If its possible, apply treatments to disinfect eggs or dilute antibiotics to hinder pathogens to the eggs.

Hygiene is needed in all the process above.