How many fry to grow out in a 10 G

[Drammy]

Hi all,

The subject says it all really...

What is the maximum number of fry (Apisto Agasizii) I would be advised to grow out in a 10 G tank?

Cheers,
Drammy

 

[Mike Wise]

500 if you did a water change every 5 minutes!:biggrin: Sorry, I just had to do that. Seriously, it depends on what you mean by grow out. If you mean to adult sexable size, then probably 10 to 15. It really depends on the species, size of the fish, amount of filtration and water changes, food, decoration, etc.

 

[Drammy]

Fair enough...

The species is Apistogramma Agasizii.
I want to grow them to adult sexable size.
sponge filter.
50% water change every 2 days.
BBS & microworms
6 or 7 plants and eco-complete substrate
26 degrees C
8ppm Nitrates, 0 Ammonia and Nitrite


I think I have 15 fry at the moment in this tank (after 2 and a half weeks) which I am quite pleased with as its my first attempt...

I wish I had a camera that could take decent pictures of them - I have a farily decent compact camera but it auto-focuses so pics of fry (and even adult fish) come out quite badly...

 

[albert_abadicio]

If these fry just got into the free-swimming stage, I suggest you fill the tank a little above 50 percent or if you have a spare 5 gallon tank, that would be a better alternative. This is assuming you still have a batch of less than 30 fry. This is to give your fry less effort in trying to catch food and to avoid uneaten food. In my opinion, in this critical stage, a very large tank space would contribute more harm than good.

When they reach their 2nd or 3rd month this is when you start giving them wider room to grow. But then again this should also be gradual. In my opinion, you could probably use your full 10 gallon tank once they reach their 4th month.

You should transfer them again once they start showing aggression to one another and probably end up with a 35 gallon tank before you can start sexing them. The tank sizes can always be variable depending on how many fry/juveniles you end up with.

Congratulations on your batch of fry and best of luck!

Albert

 

[Apistomaster]

A 10 gal tank is too small, imo, to raise more than a 8 small Apistogramma spp such as A. borelli.
I once raised about 60 A. agassizi to adult size in a 2oLong but that was only possible by religiously changing 80% of the water daily plus feeding them 4X a day on live bbs an frozen blood worms. I could have wiped out at any time had I let the water quality sip one iota.
I tried just to see what could be done but such intensive fish culturing methods are not my SOP.

 

[Drammy]

Thanks for your advice guys.

Unfortunately I have no alternative tank - missus' orders! I'm already riding my luck at 3 tanks!

Anyway I counted 17 fish at last count and thats about 6 weeks in. They measure about 7/8ths of an inch at the moment.

I'm doing 50% water change every 2 days still and am feeding 4 times a day on microworms, freshly hatched bbs and decapsulated bbs.

I've got the nitrates down to under 5 ppm now.

Seeing as I have no options is there anything else I can do to improve their chances? Apistomaster's comments have concerned me that they may not make it...

 

[electric eel]

i just sold the last of 15 to 20 double reds that i had in a 10gallon tank(were never in anything bigger except when they were spawned) some of the males were up around 2" and sexable even by me(and thats saying something cause i have a hard time with the little guys)i know it was'nt an ideal situation.i think it helps if there is nothing in the tank but some sand and a sponge filter because that way there is nothing in the tank that the dominant fish can claim as territory so even though there is aggression it gets spread out.i know for a fact this works with tanganyikans(leluipi,brichardi etc) cause i have done it many times although not with a 10 gallon tank.i grew out about 150 leluipi(with daily water changes) to smallish sellable size in a barebottom 55 though(with very few losses) add some cover and things get ugly though.i did'nt do crazy water changes on the double reds either maybe 25% biweekly.the line of agazizi i have seem pretty darn hardy other then i lost the whole first batch of 30fry when i first pulled them at approx. 1/2" if i remember right.