Rare Apisto(rositae) observation..!!

[MickeM]

I just got a surprice I`d never thought I would ever see..
Absolutely the most odd place for an Apisto-female to keep her larvae / fry.. (yet)!!

As we know, Apisto females like to relocate their offspring when they notice that they start hatching ..
.. and often then, where it is quite dark.. (in a cave or beneath any tank-decoration..)
Since only half of my 50-60 liter tank has gravel/ sand on the bottom, the female (rositae) would not place the little ones directly on the glass bottom or under the root .. or in a coco shell..or under a rock..
... So obviously(!!?!!) she chose a floating plastic screw-cap from a deodorant that I put in the tank as protection for the former inhabitants.. fry of Epiplatys lamottei ...!!

The 4cm female can hardly seat herself inside the screw-cap ..!!!

As a result of her choise of position, she had obvious problems to manage to keep the small wriggling fry left in the screw-cap.. floating with the opening slanted downwards !!!

She acted like a brood-caring Betta male .. picking up the little ones in the mouth to spit them back into the screw-cap ... Absolutely amazing to see .. !!
I have now added several coco-caves as an alternative for her..
Just hope I did not scare her and the male so they fail with their task ..

/Micke

 

[TCMontium]

Yeah, it sounds amazing to see. Maybe we can see some photos or a video too.

 

[gerald]

""Fish aren't meant to be in a box, kid. It does things to you." -- Gill, from Finding Nemo.

 

[MickeM]

Yeah, it sounds amazing to see. Maybe we can see some photos or a video too.

I`m afraid not .. I was too late with the camera/phone..
The following morning she was still determined about her choise, but at the afternoon she had moved them to one of the new coco-caves placed at the bottom... beneath the floating screw-cap..
Maybe she got tired of the endless job (with the increasingly active and constantly falling larvae/fry..) ??