Scooping fry

[georgedv]

I just spotted my Pelv. Taeniatus female with a bunch of fry. I removed the male about four days ago when I saw him beaten and hiding at the surface of the 55gal tank. The last time this female raised her fry, they all disappeared. She is young and with her second batch..so she has some learning to do. However, I would like to remove some of the fry and try my hand at raising them. I would like to know what your take is on this idea and whaty is the safest way to remove the fry?

thanks

g

 

[tjudy]

Is the spawning cave still in the tank? if so, is it an enclosed cave with a small opening? The female will put the fry back in the cave during the night. If you pull the cave before first light in the morning you can just set them with the cave into the tank you want to move the fry to. I usually move the female also, but if she has a history of eating the fry moving just the fry is best. If she is int eh cave, move her anyway and then net her out later in the day.

If the cave moving is not possible, you can siphon the fry out.

 

[georgedv]

She hides the fry underneath a driftwood cave. That eliminated moving the whole thing since there is no bottom, or enclosure.

I will try siphoning. The fry are free swimming and she moves them all over the tank to eat or 'play'.

Anything particular anyone has experienced while siphoning that I need to take into account. I siphoned some rainbows once and I got a little concerned about the power of the water flow. I didn't lose any...but different fish have different strengths. I filled a 5gal bucket 1/3 with water from the tank to give cushion so the fry would not bang against the bucket itself. Is this the general procedure you use?

thanks

g

 

[tjudy]

What I do when I siphon is make sure that the bucket they are going into is about 1/3 full of water, and the end of the hose in the bucket is not aimed at the wall of the bucket... no sense in banging them against the wall. I have never seen any adverse effect to siphoning fry.

 

[Lenny Llambi]

I am also a proponent of the siphoning method. If the fry are older (i.e. larger), make sure that you grab a big enough hose, as a lodged fry is not very easy to dislodge.

 

[RHS788]

I have used a small tube, as in an airline. I have it connected to a clear, solid plastic tube about 10" long that helps pinpoint the fry. Keeping the receiving tank at a lesser elevation differential: (less siphon-vacuum) decreases the speed and intensity of the joy ride. (I admit I don't think it would ever be a good theme park ride for humans.)