A cf Agassizii Alenquer Fry!

[Cichlid Junkie]

I have a reverse trio of A cf Agassizii Alenquer and was blessed with a brood of free swimming fry on Sunday I'm guessing there are about 50 of these little guys swimming around! I was able to snap a few pics with my cell phone of mom and her kids. There are quite a few laying on the substrate that are hard to see.

Initially I had my big male and the female in the tank with three black neons (15 gallon tank). Nothing was really happening between the two of them even though the female was trying to get the male to breed, so I put the juvie male in there to give it a shot and the alpha male wasn't letting his woman go, and bred with her, unknown to me.

On Saturday, I pulled the neons out and did a water change and left everything else alone. Sunday night rolls around and I'm sitting on the couch looking at the tank and think to myself, great...now I have water fleas swimming in there! lol That was when I realized I had a cloud of free swimming fry in the tank. I have since removed the juvie male to let mom and dad, more mom, raise these guys and see how they do in a calm environment.

It has been several years since I've apistos and raised fry so any pointers will be gladly accepted!

 

[sasikan]

that is absolutely beautiful (real nice set-up also)

 

[Mike Wise]

It's wonderful to see someone still has this species and breeding it. It hasn't been common commercially for several years now.

 

[animalmgc]

I'd be interested in a pair congradulations

 

[Cichlid Junkie]

They are real beauties. I actually bought them from a guy in Atlanta who posted here a while back (post # 23).

http://www.apistogramma.com/forum/showthread.php?9883-Apistogramma-cf.-agassizii-quot-Alenquer-quot&p=55165&viewfull=24#post55165

That was my big male just before he started to put on some size.

I was almost to the point that if they didn't breed real soon, I was going to break the pair up and swap with another local hobbyist to try and get them breeding. Glad I held out and put that juvie male in to spice things up.

Hopefully I will be lucky enough to be able to raise the fry and get a few pairs out to some folks who would really appreciate them, but I guess that would be putting the cart before the horse!

 

[Cichlid Junkie]

Its appears that the fry are good snacks and I'm down to about 4 fry. Mom still looks like she is keeping a good guard on them, but the male has been out and about a whole lot more which could be where the fry are going.

What are your thoughts on putting the remaining fry in a plastic breeder box in the same tank? They have been free swimming for 9 days that I know of and I think that would help their chance of survival.

 

[animalmgc]

bummer sry to hear wish u the best on future spawns
I would put the remaining fry in a seperate space put be concious of the temp of water
and daily water changes

 

[Mike Wise]

Small boxes aren't a good place for fry. I'd let this spawn be a learning experience - for both you and your female. Next time, once the eggs are laid, just remove all of the other fish (well, maybe leave 1 or 2 non-predatory fish for targets) and let mom raise the fry without interference.

 

[Hmoobthor]

nice...too bad fry are eaten

 

[Cichlid Junkie]

@ mike - Thanks for the tip about the breeder box. I saw somewhere on a forum, maybe this one, where someone used a metal/plastic coffee filter floating in the tank to raise the fry, which got me thinking. The only other fish in the tank besides mom and the fry is dad...guess he'll be coming out on the next go round!

 

[tompoz]

Could it be that actually lack of dither fish does not make parents caring enough?
As far as I know, it is a case for some Cichlids.
Or maybe it is one of the first spawning and they just do not yet know how to handle this properly?

 

[Cichlid Junkie]

I had 3 black neons in there, but pulled them out the night before the fry made their first appearance. It could be cause they are young parents. The good news is there are still 3 fry swimming with mom, so we will see what happens

 

[Cichlid Junkie]

Update: Mom still has 2 fry in tow as I think this is more manageable for her. She has dad cooped up in his shell and the only time he comes out is to eat. One of the fry is doubled the size of the other so I guess I have a 50/50 chance of a m/f combo...only time will tell.

Instead of looking at this breeding instance as a loss, I like to think of it more as I recreated the actual biotope where only 1% of the fry survive and grow to adult stage, just like in the wild! lol