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Time to separate fry or parents?

Aquaticus

New Member
Messages
6
So, I ended up leaving my Apistogramma cacuatoides fry in with their parents in a 20 long with a lot of plants and oak leaves. This tank also has my 10CW010 corys. The fry are at least three weeks old and 1/4" long, and the parents are still taking good care of them. Both the male and female chase the corys away from the group of fry, which they lead around the tank. I'm wondering if I should:
  • Leave them all together until the fry are large enough to BAP
  • Move the parents to a different tank? The tank next to this one is setup very similarly with a Cory. sterbai sextet and a dozen Nannostomus beckfordi. I think that the 1/4" fry should be safe with corys, right?
  • Try netting out the fry. I think this would be too difficult, but I could probably do it if necessary.
My goals are 1) to get the fry to survive and 2) to see if I can get the parents to spawn again. Any thoughts or advice?

Thanks!
 

georgedv

Member
5 Year Member
Messages
335
Location
South Carolina
I was hoping someone more knowledgeable then myself would have responded. Your thread must have slipped through...very rare on this sight. Just curious as to what you did and if you got a second spawn.

george
 

Ekona

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Messages
453
You could potentially try any of those options and see what happens. I have a pair of A. agassizii in a 20L and what I am planning to do is, if they spawn and fry become free swimming:
1. Allow both parents to tend them for a while (there are no other fish in the tank). By doing this I am avoiding a disruption by trying the catch the male, which might frighten the female . Hopefully the pair will harmoniously tend the fry and they can grow out for a week or two.
2. If all goes well, after a week or two, remove the male, allowing the female to guard the fry. This will allow the female to feed without having the male wanting to respawn and being overly aggressive. She can begin to become gravid again.
3. After another week or two, remove the female to the tank with the other male. This will allow the the fry to grow out in their own tank, and the pair to respawn, in their own tank.
This is a tentative plan, subject to change depending on the behavior of the parents.
Hope you were successful with your spawn.
 

Aquaticus

New Member
Messages
6
I left the fry in with their parents, and the parents took care of them pretty much indefinitely. I ended up moving the fry to a 30 long for grow-out, and they are happily getting bigger, albeit slowly. There are about 40 of them. The pair did respawn, but I lost the female later on when I introduced some fish that had not been quarantined. It was a lot of fun watching them take care of the fry. The male really kept the corys away, even after the fry were fairly big.
 

Ekona

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Messages
453
Excellent - glad you had success with them. And sounds like you have a big group to work with for the next generation.
And thanks for the reply.
 

gerald

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Messages
1,491
Location
Wake Forest NC, USA
That's great that it worked out so well, but don't count on it happening every time. Often times a pair will spawn again when the fry are a month or two old, and will try to chase away their older fry. If they can't exit the parent's territory (which is probably the whole 20 gal tank), they may get killed.
 

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