I've noticed a vast divergence in fry care bewtween my sp winkelfleck and my sp Ipiranga and my sp Bluketa so thought i would mention it here in case there is something specific about the species or species group to explain:
My sp winkelfleck seem to care for the fry 3 or 4 weeks until they just sort of drift away or are chased away (previous frys have no problem praying on them) but eventually a few months later a few will show up.
My sp ipiranga seemed to care or at least hang around the fry 8 to 12 weeks (these fry grow 4x faster than any other species i've kept); and of course the male hang around the fry now that the mother has vanished (i presume she is nesting) - there seem no desire to drive the fry away or chase them (is the fast growing and lack of predation a species characteristic or mouth brooding behavior) ?
My sp bluketa are somewhat similar to the ipiranga in that the parents and previous generation don't seem to prey on the fry but the fry grow about the same rate or slower than the winkelfleck and the mother never really leaves the fry though eventually she might nest again.
My sp winkelfleck seem to care for the fry 3 or 4 weeks until they just sort of drift away or are chased away (previous frys have no problem praying on them) but eventually a few months later a few will show up.
My sp ipiranga seemed to care or at least hang around the fry 8 to 12 weeks (these fry grow 4x faster than any other species i've kept); and of course the male hang around the fry now that the mother has vanished (i presume she is nesting) - there seem no desire to drive the fry away or chase them (is the fast growing and lack of predation a species characteristic or mouth brooding behavior) ?
My sp bluketa are somewhat similar to the ipiranga in that the parents and previous generation don't seem to prey on the fry but the fry grow about the same rate or slower than the winkelfleck and the mother never really leaves the fry though eventually she might nest again.