Spawning! Should I Pull the Eggs or Trust the Female?

[GDD]

HI Everyone

I'm trying to decide on the best course of action to maximize the fry survival. I have read two main schools of thought and I'm unsure which route to take for a higher survival rate:

1. Leave the Eggs with Mom: Trust her maternal instincts. I know Apistogrammas are fantastic parents, and she will clean and defend the eggs/fry. (Risk is she may eat the first spawn due to inexperience or stress).
2. Pull the Eggs for Artificial Hatching: Remove the cave/eggs to a separate container with an airstone and antifungal (like Methylene Blue) to ensure the highest hatch rate, free from predation. (Risk is a lower hatch rate due to lack of fanning/cleaning, or damaging the eggs during removal).

I am particularly interested in the experience of those who vary their methods depending on the specific Apistogramma strain or species they are working with.

Please share your reasoning for using one method over the other when dealing with different Apistogramma strains!

Thank you!

 

[MacZ]

Leave the Eggs with Mom

No matter wich species of Apistogramma, no matter which colour breed. Always try this way first. The yield will probably be average, but the fry are usually healthier and grow more evenly. And quality is important to most buyers, especially if it's in bulk.

Pull the Eggs for Artificial Hatching

Has to be done typically with certain breeds of Mikrogeophagus ramirezi, though.
In Apistogramma this is rarely necessary, usually if the female is sick and/or died after spawning it makes sense or if she's really, really inept at caring for the fry even after several spawns.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Leave the Eggs with Mom: Trust her maternal instincts. I know Apistogrammas are fantastic parents, and she will clean and defend the eggs/fry.

One hundred percent what @MacZ says. Apistogramma females are usually good mothers.

You should find that fry survival increases if you have a tank with a <"lot of moss and structural leaf litter">. The other essential is some live food to <"stimulate the fry feeding response">.

Remove the cave/eggs to a separate container with an airstone and antifungal (like Methylene Blue)

If you need to do this (and it would be very much the method of last resource for me) you can use Alder (Alnus) "cones" as your <"antifungal"> - <"Medicinal trees: The Common Alder">.

cheers Darrel

 

[Mike Wise]

I agree with both above. Apisto fry orient to signals given by their mother. Without a mother they tend to remain mostly motionless on the bottom (a survival behavior) and don't actively feed. I would only pull eggs if the species was extremely rare and their natural habitat was destroyed. Then I'd consider it after a couple of unsuccessful spawns.