▷ Thorn eyes in the aquarium | Pangio | Information, keeping and breeding

Data sheet thorn eyes

German name:
Thorn eyes (often also spotted thorn eyes)

Scientific name:
Pangio

Origin:
Asia – Sumatra, Borneo, Java, India, Bangladesh

Size:
10 centimeters

Aquarium

Length:
60 cm

Contents:
From 54 liters aquariums

Lighting:
Shady

Furnishings:

water values

Temperature:

24-28ºC

PH value:
6 – 7

carbonate hardness:

3 to 8° dH

total hardness:
9 to 10° dH

Nitrate:
20mg/l

Behave

Number:
2+

Area:
Everywhere

propagation:
egglayer

Lining:
omnivore

Behave:

Curious, preferably nocturnal

Difficulty level:
Beginners with advanced knowledge

Stance of Thorn Eyes

Thorn eyes © Sabine Schaumburg – Click to enlarge the image

Thorn eyes are very peaceful animals that easy to maintain are. According to specialist books, thorn eyes come from soft, warm waters. However, they seem to feel comfortable with higher values ​​as well. Nevertheless, the natural conditions should be imitated as closely as possible.

Dark, fine gravel or sand is suitable as soil. Especially small ones Thorn eyes prefer sand. For larger thorn eyes, 2 millimeter gravel can also be used. The ground is rummaged through, similar to what armored catfish do with their barbels. Plants are not dug up. At most, they deepen their lying hollows under stones or roots.

In nature, they mainly chew through sandy soil and feed on the microorganisms found there. Therefore there should be at least one sand corner in the aquarium.

The aquarium should be partially densely planted be. Thorn eyes like to hide under small spear leaves or dark cryptocorynes.

Several thorn eyes should always be kept together. Thorn eyes behave relatively lively from 4 animals. While it’s often said that thorn eyes are only active at dusk or at night, they’re also active during the day when they’re really comfortable.

Thorn eyes young and old © Anne Brüninghaus‎

If thorn eyes remain hidden in the long run, it should be checked whether the lighting is possibly too strong.

A small cave should be in the aquarium. Thorny eyes squeeze in there, lie there close together and sniff each other.

Because they squeeze into the smallest cracks, a piece of filter mat should be attached to the intake pipe instead of the basket for external filters.
As a side effect, the filter does not get dirty as quickly. On the other hand, coarse dirt that is not sucked in gets stuck on the mat.

When changing the water, care must be taken that the thorn eyes are not sucked in as well, because they are very curious.

Thorn Eyes usually get very old. After some testimonials nch they can about 10 years old.

They are very sensitive to copper, so if using medications containing copper, try to exit the aquarium at the top.

The temperatures should be kept at approx. 24 to 26 degrees lay. According to one report, Pangio semicincta died because temperatures in summer were around 29° for a long time. According to other experiences, such temperatures in summer are harmless for a few weeks.

But there is also a report that Pangio pangia and Pangio kuhlii sumatranus only became really active at slightly higher temperatures of 27 to 28°.
As a rule, however, higher temperatures above 26° are not recommended.

Thorn eyes jump out of the aquarium

Pangio kuhli – Spotted Thorn Eye Source: Image on Wikimedia Commons License: CC Attr. SA 3.0 Author: Linton Tuleja

Thorny eyes like to dart along the panes, mostly at night – they can also shoot out of the tank.

They jump through even the smallest gaps, so the pool must be well sealed.

The aquarium should have one cover disk have. openings, e.g. B. for cable bushings, should be blocked with filter floss or other suitable materials.
Open pools must have a sufficiently high frame.

If the distance between the water surface and the edge of the aquarium is greater than the length of the thorn eyes, they usually do not come out of the aquarium at the top either.

Catch thorn eyes in the aquarium

© Mirko Rosenau Fotolia.com

Because thorn eyes squeeze into the smallest crevices, they are very difficult to catch. Even in an empty 54 liter aquarium, this can be a time-consuming operation.

A self-made fish trap, into which some food tablets are placed, can help with catching. If the animals have not been fed for a few days, they may go into the trap.

To do this, a plastic bottle is cut apart. The top of the bottle is flipped over and tucked into the rest of the bottle. The trap is filled with water and food tablets and placed in the aquarium. Smaller bottles can be placed at least partially in a net so that they can be easily pulled out of the aquarium.

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gender differences

The sex can vary in animals recognized about 2 years ago since thorn eyes are usually fully grown by then. The females can be recognized at times by the relatively strong approach to spawning. Males are quite thin again a few hours after regular and vigorous feeding.

The females can then be recognized by the strong spawning approach or abdominal circumference.

Females have relatively small, transparent, rather round pectoral fins (pectoral fins are the paired fins behind the head). Males have significantly larger and mostly more sickle-shaped pectoral fins.

The second fin ray is thickened in males. This can be seen with a magnifying glass. In males, at least the front edge of the fin is often colored yellowish-brown. These features are best viewed from below in a small vessel.

breed

The Breeding of thorneyes is so far only random and succeeded without intention. Targeted breeding has not yet been reported.

Spawning appears to be highly dependent on water parameters. All known spawning attempts found z. B. in very soft water.

Random breeding seems to take place mainly in filters. Possibly the current plays a role. Thorn eyes may need narrow crevices through which they squeeze in order to strip the eggs from the abdomen. This is indicated by various reports after which Thorneyes died from spawn hardening.

If a single thorny eye or several thorny eyes are constantly swimming along the panes, or making circles, occasionally touching down on the ground and then continuing to circle, the animal or animals may be looking for a partner.

Causes can also be temperature differences when changing the water, minor changes in the pool, e.g. B. when cutting plants, changed water parameters, people in front of the aquarium, etc. The behavior could therefore be stress-related, since individual thorn eyes also show behavior. However, I could also observe 2 animals that were constantly swimming with and around each other, which could possibly be interpreted as courtship behavior. However, my water parameters (Gh 12) probably prevented a possible spawning.

Sometimes 2 animals constantly swim with and around each other. It may be courtship behavior.

Supposedly, a slight green tinge can be seen on the abdomen when a female is carrying eggs.

The animals are probably stimulated to mate when the water level slowly rises above sea levelLowered to about 30 to 40% over 2 to 3 days becomes. The water should be changed daily and the animals should be fed a variety of foods.

According to the literature, most often spawning takes place near the surface in the vegetation thicket. In hobby breeding, thorn eyes seem to like to spawn in a high flow internal filter just after a cleaning when the flow is particularly high. To do this, it must be possible for the thorn eyes to migrate from the aquarium into the filter.

Before spawning, the animals show typical migratory behavior. The otherwise shy animals swim up and down the panes for days. They may attempt to hike upstream into fast-flowing streams.

They eventually disappear into the filter, where they stay for 2 to 3 days. The spawn may be deposited in the filter in areas with sharp-edged lava debris or similar.

Pangio kuhli – spotted thorn eye Source: Picture on Wikimedia Commons License: CC Attr. SA 3.0 Author: Guppy789

The thorn eyes probably leave the filter in the opposite direction to the intake, i.e. where they came from. After some time, the eggs or young are flushed alive through the filter turbine into the aquarium.

Access through the filter turbine must not be possible for adult animals. Otherwise the animals will be seriously injured.

Maybe there doesn’t have to be sharp-edged debris in the filter, but the filter only has to offer narrow gaps for scraping off the spawn. It might make sense to build a comparable system and let it flow through strongly.

A spawning cave can be cut out of filter foam or built out of rocks. The filter outlet is extended with a hose to the ground and a little further horizontally. A heap of stones is laid out on the ground and covered with half a flowerpot. The hose is inserted into the stones to create a strong current. Thorneye eggs are green. Brood care is not operated.

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Water values ​​suitable for breeding: