I wish to be able to trace down the origin of my 2 strains of M. ocellatus, bought from Aquarium Glaser.
Although very distinct, they had the same catalogue code, nr. 425402, and misspelled "ocellatum" on the list. Both strains are German bred.
I contacted AG and asked about the breeder, and they said that they can't offer such informations- company policy. But they told me that it isn't a single supplier, but more, offering fish from their surplus.
I will describe them shortly, and the time when each of them was purchased, since these are the only relevant infos.
First strain: bought November 2012. High-bodied/hochruckig form, darker in colour. Quite late to show their gender, only in already large animals. Very robust batch of fish. I suspected a bit of sterility on them, considering the failures, but as time passed, they proved to be more fertile, leading me to the conclusion that the temporar infertility was more likely due to a too warm winter indoors. I have now about 100 babies of about 1-2,5 cm, depending on the spawn date, that are the best left from hundreds- I prefered to let them cannibalise their brothers to some extent, since no other selection pressure was present. Hopefully they will be even more fertile after a cold, but controlled hibernation at 2-10*C in my attic, and not being too "burned" after their first, too warm winter.
Second strain: bought July 2013. Slender form, quite similar to the Yangzi strain (my lost ones
) received from Charly Demant years ago. Even from a smaller size, males are quite easy to discern, contrary to the first strain. That was the case for my Yangzi animals. The batch was quite unhealthy, only 10 animals left from 20, 5 of them being lost during the first week, and 2 already dead in the bag. One still agonising now. They showed some bacterial affection (mostly ulcerations, a bit of exophtalmia) and it was incurable, even with Furanol. I saved of dropsy my best and productive female from the first strain using Furanol, even from the stage of obvious swelling and protruding scales, but no use for them! Every fish that arrived with even a slight simptome was eventually lost, but the untouched ones prove to be fish of beautiful shape, no difformities. So, I suspect it was only about a low immunity phase due to- more likely- keeping them indoors, too hot and/or for too long. Maybe parents spawned indoors, early in the season, since the youngs were quite big in July? Anyway, they will receive a controlled, but long hibernation, and I expect strong babies from them.
Well, I hope that the AG suppliers may be amongst our forum fellows, or at least someone may know about them. I really wish to know about their origin, being, as said before, a "location freak"
.Thanks in advance!
Cheers,
Fabian