Babies - Yay - Shock - Horror !

[madpiano]

ok, I have to admit that I was thinking about giving up my tank. I havent been looking after it since ages. I did buy a pair of Aggassizis at the beginning of the year, the male looks great, the female is tiny and doesnt seem to be growing ( about 3 cm). I didnt think they would ever breed, especially as my water is a bit too hard. Over the last 6-8 weeks I really neglected the tank. Didnt change water, didnt cut the plants and the front glass was covered in algae (tank is next to a window). I didnt feed regulary and sometimes I forgot to swicth on the lights in the morning. Today I decided it is time to change the water, allthough I left the plants alone, as I quite like the jungle look. I hoovered around the floor a bit while changing the water saw nothing bad and finished. Later I decided to do some fish watching and shock horror saw tiny little critters swimming about ! I saw about 3 babies, wasnt sure what they were and then the tiny female Apisto started defending the area, so they are apistos !
I probably hoovered some up today :-((( and I am not sure if any will survive (I have Catfish and a shrimp in there), but I am amazed that they bred at all, especially as they must have been breeding in the open (the cocnut cave is fully overgrown with Java Moss). The female is not very aggressive and allows the neons in the area, but chases the catfish, though not very far. Daddy is completley oblivious. There is some dense plant cover in there (allthough not in the area where the babies are), so I am hoping for the best. No idea what to feed them, I have baby flakes so I put some of those in, but they probably find leftovers on the tank floor anyway ( I feed 99% flakes).
I think once these babies are grown, I will try the neglect routine again. My Nitrates are too low whatever I do (they bareley managed a reading on the test strip today), my plants have gone mad and my fish seem to enjoy it....

 

[madpiano]

Update on the Baby-shock: One male survived and is doing well. He is about 0.8cm now and mummy is still defending him (even against brine shrimp!). He has no colour yet, so I am not sure if he will be as pretty as daddy, but he seems to be doing ok.

 

[Neil]

Just imagine what might happen by removing predetory species and throwing in some fresh water might yield! I have the same thing happen to me sometimes, as well. I neglect a tank... algae dominates (which is likely the source of the food to keep new free-swimmers going) and water changes are far and few between (possibly creating are stable water parm. level, as long as the biolode is not high)... and the pair breeds, when they didn't during better care. As the guy in Jurrasic Park said, "Nature finds a way".

Neil

 

[madpiano]

hmm, I like my cherry barbs.....
Did a water test today and I have 0 Nitrates, hardly any Phospahtes (well, algae are good for something....) and the water had gone really soft.
As you said, the water conditions were probably stable due to no water changes and the fishload is well below max (its a Juwel Record 96 with the internal filter removed, so about 29 G and there is hardly any fish in there). Maybe thats the way to go. Understock, load with plants and leave well alone. I am sure the parents will get better with looking after the babies