Raising Borellii fry

[Andrew H]

Hi all, I had a young pair of Borellii “pantanal” in my 60 gallon (48” long) and was very sad to lose the male recently (slowly stopped eating, then declined rapidly, no obvious symptoms or issues with the other fish). However, in a twist, the female emerged from a cave a day later with fry, and I’m now attempting to raise them. I’ve put a divider in the tank so they are separated from the community fish (8 rummynose, 40 chili rasbora, 6 Cory - yeah, I know) am doing frequent water changes, and feeding baby brine shrimp 3X daily. The maternal care is amazing to watch!

Two weeks in there are about 10 fry (that number has held steady since I separated), maybe 2 mm long. I know it’s far from certain they make it, but a few questions. First - things seem fine now but how long should I keep them with the mother and how long until I’m in danger of another round of breeding? Second - I’m thinking about viable configurations when they are bigger. Let’s assume I could setup one more 10 or 20 gallon tank, that i could re-home some of them, and that I’m not looking to have more fry immediately / am concerned about inbreeding. If I have enough cover in the 60 would multiple males be possible? I had assumed no, but read apistobob’s guide on dwarfcichlid.com and saw that was a configuration he has been successful with (plus Borellii are relatively peaceful).

Any advice is appreciated-

Best,
Andrew

 

[Mike Wise]

A. borellii fry are slow growers, but after 2 weeks they should be >2mm. Perhaps the bbs isn't reaching the fry?? I keep my fry until the female shows a lack of interest in them. As for age at breeding, I doubt they will be breed-able for 7 - 8 months of age. In-breeding is less important with wildcaught species than highly inbred domestic color strains. My rule of thumb is to allow each apisto to have a territory of 1 ft/30 cm diameter, but I wouldn't add more apistos that can breed into a community tank.

 

[Andrew H]

A. borellii fry are slow growers, but after 2 weeks they should be >2mm. Perhaps the bbs isn't reaching the fry?? I keep my fry until the female shows a lack of interest in them. As for age at breeding, I doubt they will be breed-able for 7 - 8 months of age. In-breeding is less important with wildcaught species than highly inbred domestic color strains. My rule of thumb is to allow each apisto to have a territory of 1 ft/30 cm diameter, but I wouldn't add more apistos that can breed into a community tank.

Thank you, Mike. My wife just reminded me it’s been just 1 week, so perhaps we’re not too far off the growth charts. I got a 14” pipette to deliver BBS and can see they are definitely eating now. I presume it will be possible to sex them prior to breeding happening…

 

[FishManDan]

I presume it will be possible to sex them prior to breeding happening…

Yes- definitely!

 

[Andrew H]

I presume it will be possible to sex them prior to breeding happening…

Yes- definitely!

Thanks Dan, they’re over a cm long now and displaying all sorts of behaviors (tail slaps etc). Fun to watch. I think I can see some extended dorsal fins on some so maybe those are males or maybe it’s still too early to tell.