Found Apisto cacatuoide Fry This Morning!

[LindaMC]

I've had this pair of orange flash for a while now and they have spawned quite a few times in the past but the female would always end up eating the eggs. Well this morning I was sitting at my computer when the light on my 10gallon tank went on, I glanced over at it and there in the back, just outside of the clay pot, was the mother and her fry.

There must have been about 15 or so, though I'm not sure how long they've been there. The female was acting pretty much the same way last night so they may have been around for a couple of days.

There are 4 small glo lite tretras in this tank too, the male has pretty much got them confined to the other side of the tank, although they do swim close but the mother's protecting the area around the pot.

I get the feeling that she's eating them because there seems to be less as the day goes on, I sure hope not. I'm wondering if there's a chance that some of these fry might make it, anyone? I'm also looking for any advice, other than pulling the fry, that people have to offer.

 

[dhm325]

Many Tetra species are excellent fry predators. They may be the culprits. Can you remove them without disturbing the pair?

 

[LindaMC]

No I wouldn't be able to move the tetras, they're too quick and would upset the tank, however, she isn't eating her fry, in fact, she seems to be a good mother. She keeps all her fry over my her side of the tank, just on the side of the clay pot and the tetras really don't seem to be interested in the fry at all. The glo-lite tetras are pretty small, about the size of neons.

It's funny, the male stays in the middle for most part but every now and then he'll swim over towards the clay pot; sometimes the female lets him stay and sometimes she'll chase him away. Yesterday afternoon, I watched her swim over to the male in the middle for no reason and then turn around and sort of back in to him, anyone know what this means?

The fry are too small yet to even count but there appears to be about the same number in there as yesterday.

I've been feeding the tank twice a day with First Bites by Hikari, although it's very hard to know how much to add and I think I've been killing my tank with too much food but not sure. I soak the food in tank water for a little while and then try to dump it right over the area of the fry. Another question is how long before I can do a water change, this is a planted tank?

 

[Mike Wise]

When a female eats her fry, she usually eats them all at the same time. I imagine that the glow-light tetras might be taking a few, but it is more likely that the fry are not getting enough nutrition. Definitely try using live food if you can. If not, feed frozen BBS and powder food, but do a 10% water change at least once each day to keep the pollution under control.

 

[Mike Wise]

sometimes the female lets him stay and sometimes she'll chase him away. Yesterday afternoon, I watched her swim over to the male in the middle for no reason and then turn around and sort of back in to him, anyone know what this means?

The female is gently saying "stay away from the fry". If this does not work, she will actually attack the male. Large colorful males that are too close to the fry attract predators in the wild.

 

[nightowl1350]

If you can get a microworm culture that would give the fry some live food. Check with an aquarium club near your or see if you can order them on line.

Congrats on the fry! My aisto C's so far have eaten all their eggs or wigglers The only way I can raise any is to pull the spawn.