My first ever Apistogramma!

[anewbie]

It is fun to watch mom and the frys - esp when mom starts telling frys what to do - if the frys scatter too much she will signal for them to come back or group up - and heard them around et all. For the species i had the frys were also very comfortable with Dad and if mom was busy they would run to dad to feel safer.

 

[Bakejullock]

My fry turn 1 month old today!

The remaining fry seem healthy and happy. The growth rates are inconsistent, with a handful being much larger than some of the others. I assume this is partly due to my less than consistent feeding schedule, and perhaps because I am feeding into a 10 gallon planted tank instead of a smaller fry box where I can assure everyone eats. Due to work and life I am only able to feed bbs twice a day, with a day or two a week being only once a day. I do my best to ensure everyone has full orange bellies but I can only do so much. Something to work on in the future.

My best guess is about 25-30 remain. Quite a loss from the 60-80 I started with. Is there a “standard” survival rate with Cockatoo’s that I should strive for going forward or did nature just take it’s course and it’s not as bad as I feel? Over the weeks I did discover 2-3 dead fry in the tank. Other than that, I am wondering if Mom started eating them without me noticing. She has been moved out to relax in a 29 gallon.

Having a lot of fun taking care of these guys and watching them grow up. The largest is over a mm long and appears confident and in charge. Excited to see as they start to mature and gain more color.

Thanks for all the advice everyone!

 

[Andrew H]

Very cool! When they start displaying to each other (if they haven’t already) it’s pretty funny / fun to watch. Seems like practice (though eventually not).