They did it!!!

[doczahi]

YES!

My A. cacatouides spawnes and some little fishies are swimming in the tank.
It is my first time and I am so proud and excited!

And now I have some questions:
1. I made some live baby arthemia and will feed with it. How many time a day should I feed the little ones? How do I make sure they eat?
2. When is the time they considered safe?
3. Do I have to take them or the parents out?

Thanks

Zahi

 

[cootwarm]

Hi Zahi,

You can feed them after they become free swimming. It's best to give them 2 or 3 smaller portions than one large feeding. The more often they are fed, the faster they grow. If you feed them 3 times a day along with regular water changes, the fry will grow quickly. But twice a day is good and they will get by on once a day feeding.

You'll know they've eaten because their full bellies will look orange.

So far ALL of my apistos have been good parents. Sometimes they'll have a little trouble with the first 1 or 2 tries, but are fine after that. I think their behavior is much more interesting when kept as a family unit.

Michael

 

[Apistt_ed]

..

CONGRATS DocZahi !!
It's been a long time you've been trying to breed your cacatuoides and finally success at last! I remember you trying so hard to get them to spawn and now it must feel great to get it right! The babies should be fine after you notice them frantically searching for food off by themselves and further away from the female. This doesn't guarantee anything when it comes to fish as we all know, but they should be fine. Not forgetting that the water changes have a significant part in them growing up fast. The more you change your water, the more it will only help. My cacatuoides grew a lot faster once I moved them into a larger grow-out tank also. I had bred them in a 15 gallon tank and moved them out once the pair had a new spawn. They were about 1/2 inch long and within 1 month, they had all grew to 3 times that!
ONCE AGAIN, GREAT JOB and take pictures when they do get a little bigger!

 

[tetraboy]

Congratulations!
I've been in the same situation for nearly a week now: the little guys are still going strong 8) .

I feed them 3 times daily, though it's difficult since I work shifts. When I work days I feed them once early in the morning before I go to work and twice over a short period in the evening when I come back. When I work nights I feed in the morning and afternoon and try to make it home to feed again during my "break" in the evening. There are still about 3 dozen "little white helicopters", so I must be doing something right.

I've got some baby brine shrimp stored in the fridge, not many though since I couldn't get a good batch to hatch for me (still working on that). Mostly I use liquid fry food with a little powered fry food mixed in. It may not be the best but it seems to be working. I've seen a couple of them eating small particles -they could be feeding on the little things that lurk in the tank 8O .

To deliver food I use a long-nosed eye-dropper: 1) just scoop a dropper full of aquarium water, 2) squirt it into a small cup containing my liquid fry food and whatever else I want to give, 3) mix, 4) fill the eye-dropper with it, 5) find where the young ones are in my tank -usually right by the mother- and gently release right over top of them.

Of course, I'm not sure this is the right way to do things but it seems to be working. I've had cacs before but never got quite this far. My last pair only produced a very few small babies that would disappear after 2 or 3 days :roll: .

P.S.: you might want to keep an eye on the father. I saw mine eat a couple of the young ones this morning . Usually though, the mother shoos him away gently before he can get close enough to eat!

 

[doczahi]

Thank you very much for the replies.

Indeed, I was trying a lot to get my apistos breeding with no sucsses.
I want to thank Randall for his never-ending patience and support. These little babies are mainly because of him.
Thanks again for all the forum members for their support and knowledge. I learn from you a lot everytime I enter the forum (eventough I do not always participate, I read EVERYTHING).
I hope they will manage to survive. I'll keep you posted.
Gotta go, the babies need feeding...
Bye
Zahi