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Hi All,
I have tried to send this info a couple of times over the past week. Apparently our network is eating outgoing
email. If this ends up as a multiple post, I apoligize for the waste of band-width.
Anyway. Over the past 9 months, I have had 6 spawnings of SAEs. Two unexpected, and four planned. The mortality rate of the eggs/babies has been extremely high. I presently have approx. 50 sub-adult/babies that have survived. I'm hoping these will give me a viable stock with which to breed.
Since I'm not sure this will get through our great hunk of wires and boards on the hill, I'll make it brief and
just touch on the highlights.

Some of the basics.

Tanks:
Varity of sizes. 10 to 90 US gal
Water: Ph 6.5 to 7.6
dH soft to moderately hard/hard
kH 3.5 to 5.5 per Tetra Kit
Moderate to Heavy planting
most with some type of peat filtering
substrate: vermiculate/gravel covered by sand
Fish:
Purchased a babies ( < 1 inch) 8 initial, 7 true
SAEs, 1 false. Lost two as jumpers, when I turned my back with the top open. They were purchased for algea control, and were teamed up with 4 Farws. and 4 dwarf clown Plecos. They do a super job.

IMO some of the necessaries. CLEAN, fresh water. I have had no success using aged established tanks. I routinly do a 10% water change every 2 to 3 days. I used a system presented to me by Shane Linder to create a Spring Flood/Rainy Season. This results in an almost 95% water change during the flooding part. This coupled with an abundence of food, live and frozen, triggered the spawning.
Next. A good, not necessarily strong, current in the tank. Preferably along its length. But some quiet areas for
the actual spawning. The mating dance is preformed in the current, the spawning in calm areas. The spawning dance is similiar to what has been discussed on the list the past few days. I have never seen a sign of territory claiming by the SAEs.
Lots of plants the eggs can be hidden in. I use lots of Java Moss in the calm areas of the tank. The SAEs are egg scatters. They will eat the eggs after the spawning is done, and any SAEs not involved in the spawning will dart in to devour eggs. Usually the all 5 SAEs are involved.
Green water. I know. Why would you want to add algea to a tank. I add about 10% green water to 90% fresh ( I should mention I have a well, so I don't have to pretreat my water). I think this simulates a natural food source to the parents.
I have come to suspect ( only a guess at this time ) that the water depth is responsible for the high mortality.
Posibbly the SAE fry need to get to the surface, Similiar to Corys, to gulp air. My reasoning is that with the last spawn I lowered th water to approx. 8 inches, and had the best survival rate yet. I couldn't lower it any more because of a spawn of Panaque Nig. and Apisto Cauc. in the tank.
I will post a more detailed letter of each spawning, especially the last because of the survival rate, when I,m
sure that my email is going somewhere besides oblivion. Thanks for your time and patience,
Doug Underwood