Recently Mr McCarthy prepared the Gudgeon aquarium for the birth of the new Gudgeons. The other fish were moved out of the tank. We noticed the male fanning the eggs to help protect them. Later that week, the male fish was removed to prevent the male from eating  the eggs.

They Hatched Last Wednesday

We were very excited when we found out that the gudgeons had hatched. The baby gudgeons are very small and you can’t see them that well. Their diet is also very small. They eat crushed brine shrimp and micro worms. We crush it up so that they can eat it. The micro worms are also very small. They actually look like liquid when they all clump up in the container but you can see them when separated. Later we will have to get more tanks for the gudgeons when they grow up otherwise there won’t be enough space. By using a heater the gudgeons laid their eggs earlier than they would otherwise. They normally only lay eggs in summer so by making it warm, they think it’s already summer.

Video 1: The male is fanning the eggs to keep them cool.

Video 2: Two day old baby Gudgeons

Facts About Purple Spotted Gudgeons

Purple spotted Gudgeons can grow up to 6 -12 cm long.
Their scientific name is Mogurnda Adspersa.
They lay their eggs on solid surfaces.
They normally don’t continuously swim.
Males will clean the spawning site.

Articles written by Thien- An, Sama  Lingampally, Christina Sirisay, Kiara Earl

An important part of the fish farm is aquaponics. This happens through the Nitrogen Cycle. The Nitrogen Cycle turns waste made by the fish into food or nutrients that the plants need.

This is what happens.

Firstly the fish waste/fish poop mixes with the bacteria in the water. Then that becomes ammonia. Ammonia can kill the fish if there is too much of it but bacteria will attack this and turn it into Nitrites.

Too many Nitrites can still kill the fish but it’s not as deadly as the ammonia. When bacteria attacks the ammonia, it becomes nitrates. The plants will take the nitrates out and these help the plants grow.

You can see the amounts of ammonia and nitrates using a testing kit. You can buy testing kits in pet shops and Woolworths and also online shops. The testing kits come with a test tube, 2 solutions and a chart telling you how much ammonia or nitrates is in the water.

By Samadarshi Lingampally & Thien-An Dang