Interesting Cac spawning story

[guppygirl]

So, about 3 weeks ago my pair of cacatuoides spawned for their first time (see my post in the beginner's corner). The babies are doing well and growing rapidly (lots of personality and markings even for fry so young!). Three days ago the male started showing a lot aggression toward the female - chasing her around the tank and dispersing the fry. I was afraid he would eat the fry so I put a plastic floating "breeder" in the tank and put him in it. This afternoon the female was showing a lot of interest in him, showing her belly with an obvious ovipisitor extended. I had to leave the house for a few hours so I planned to let him out when I got home. However, when I got home, guess what I found? Pink eggs attached to the outside bottom of the breeder! This is one of those breeders used for livebearers that has slits on the bottom for water to pass through. Apparently they had gotten sperm to pass through as well! :wink:He was still in the breeder and she looked very pleased with her ingenuity. I have since let him out and she is still chasing him around the tank, probably hoping to let down some more eggs. I'm leaving the young from the first spawn there for now, they're only 3 weeks old and don't seem like a threat to the new eggs/young. If anyone suggests taking them out please let me know. Anyone have similar stories? Also, how long between spawns for your pairs typically?

 

[apistobob]

This is actually quite common. The conditions we provide our fish are often so good that breeding females will quickly ripen new eggs and spawn again while the fry from the previous spawn are still quite small. You probably have nothing to worry about with the first fry eating the second batch. Instead, your problem will be that as soon as the second batch become free swimming the female is likely to eat the first batch. At this time the fry from the first batch are perceived by the female as a threat to the new fry and the first fry are still accustomed to being cared for by the female. The fry are attracted to the female who sees them as a threat and eats them. I have seen this lead to a constant cycle with successive batches being eaten as new ones emerge. If this happens with your fish you will have to make a decision. Remove one batch of fry or, allow a batch to be eaten. In my experience it is unusual to get multiple spawns of cacatuoides in the same tank unless there is a significant age difference in the spawns. Fortunately, anything that happens is fascinating and adds to your store of knowledge.

Best of luck.

Bob

 

[dw1305]

Fry

Hi all,
Hi Guppygirl, pleased to hear things are going well.
I have had 3 different sizes of fry, plus adults in the tank at the same time.
I think this is because I have very weedy tanks with a large amount of cover, and I never get very many fry surviving from any spawning.

Usually if I have more than one female with fry that are the same size, the dominant female will steal the fry from the sub-dominant.

cheers Darrel