How long will female cac guard fry?

[strohl71]

I have kept various apisto's in my planted 38 gal display tank for many years. There have been numerous occasions where females have laid eggs.

I currently have a trio of cac's in the tank along with tetras (cardinal and red phantom), an ancistrus pleco and a few oto cats.

I just noticed today that one of the females was being particulary aggressive and all the other fish (except the male cac and the pleco) were staying put on the other side of the tank. To my surprise I could see several small fry free swimming through the plants that the female was guarding. I have never had fry that I know of before, so that is pretty cool.

This tank is obviously not a breeding tank. It is and has always been a display tank. There are tetras that will eat the fry and two aquaclear filters that will suck them up. I do not have any additonal tanks to transfer them to.

My question is how long will the female diligantly guard her offspring? Do these fry stand any chance at all or are there chances basically zero?

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
She will guard them until they can look after themselves, when she will totally abandon them. If the numbers fall very quickly, whilst they are still small, she will eat them to conserve protein for another spawning attempt.

You may get some survive in the community tank if you can supply them with enough cover. Java Moss and/or some leaf litter is really good for this as it offers a food source and cover. You may not need to cover the filer intakes if they are not at the bottom of the tank? if they are near the bottom it would be best to put a sponge over them.

cheers Darrel

 

[strohl71]

The fry are taking cover in a big tangle of anubias, java fern and java moss. The filter intakes are about halfway up the tank (I do not keep them towards the bottom because they just clog up too fast with plant debris).

Sounds like a few of them may have a shot.