• Hello guest! Are you an Apistogramma enthusiast? If so we invite you to join our community and see what it has to offer. Our site is specifically designed for you and it's a great place for Apisto enthusiasts to meet online. Once you join you'll be able to post messages, upload pictures of your fish and tanks and have a great time with other Apisto enthusiasts. Sign up today!

We have eggs what now?

Kozik

New Member
Messages
8
Hi everyone,

Looking for some help here I came home from work and found my female cacatouide being very protective around some drift wood she usually never chases other fish. The driftwood has an awesome spot for hiding my female is the only fish that uses it. So I start doing a water change and while I'm doing it I took a look at the driftwood and as I suspected eggs all along the top.

What do I do now? From what I've read it will be 2-4ish days before the eggs hatch, 2 or so days till wigglers, and 4-6 till free swimming, correct?

What do I feed them? I'm planning to get bbs eggs tomorrow and setup for hatching. When do I drop this in there to feed this to them? As soon as they hatch?

Is there anything else I need to do or just make sure I have bbs for them to eat?

This is a 20 gallon high with 1 male 1 female cockatoo and 2 male dwarf gourami.
 

regani

Active Member
5 Year Member
Messages
429
Location
Brisbane, Australia
Freshly hatched brine shrimp when they are free swimming works fine, the fry are big enough to eat it. I usually use a small pipette or syringe to squirt them right where the fry are for the first few days, but the mother will take them to wherever the food is as well.
The dwarf gourami may pose a problem depending on how keen they are on live food, e.i. the fry, at which stage the mother may pose a problem for the gouramis, depending on how easy it is for them to get away from her...
 

Kozik

New Member
Messages
8
I figured the gourami might be a problem but I don't have anywhere else to put them :S if I put them in my other tank they will eat all my cherry shrimp that I'm trying to breed.

So basically from now until they are free swimming I don't have to worry about feeding them? Just when they are free swimming have the bbs ready?
 

regani

Active Member
5 Year Member
Messages
429
Location
Brisbane, Australia
The first few days after hatching they won't really move around and stay in the cave. They 'feed' from the yolk sack that is still attached to them at that point. Only after the mother takes them out of the cave they will need some food. So if you have the BBS ready then that will be good enough. Rotifers from squeezing out a sponge filter will also work and micro worms are another option for live food as they are easy to keep and harvest
 

tobocrs

New Member
5 Year Member
Messages
7
Location
Central Arizona
I agree with regani: no food needed until the yolk sacs are absorbed, then a pipette of bbs 3-4 times a day is perfect.
About the gourami: can you rig a tank divider? I remember that the ones commercially available are for the 20 long, but there are plenty of DIY solutions online
 

Kozik

New Member
Messages
8
I read that tank dividers don't work well because fry can usually get past them, is this true?

After hatching bbs how long are they good for fry? I will probably only have 1 hatchery setup unfortunately.
 

Kozik

New Member
Messages
8
So I woke up this morning and checked up on them and the eggs are gone, it has been about 60 hours so I figured they hatched. Looking around the area where the mom still is I can't see anything... Does this mean she ate them? She is still defending the area so does this mean there is something there and I'm just not seeing them? Or is she just doing that out of habit now?
 

Kozik

New Member
Messages
8
Hey never mind I see what looks like the eggs on the bottom now, can't really see any fry but I do see a bit of movement. I am assuming that is the fry eating the egg for nutrients right now?
 

Mike Wise

Moderator
Staff member
5 Year Member
Messages
11,202
Location
Denver, Colorado, U.S.A.
You will need at least 2 hatcheries. In a typical hatchery, BBS rarely live more than a day or 2 after hatching - and lose nutrient value as they age, if not fed.
 

gerald

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Messages
1,491
Location
Wake Forest NC, USA
I hatch 3-4 days worth of BS eggs at a time, and refrigerate them in a shallow dish immediately after harvest. That stops the molting and loss of nutrition, so I only need to start a new batch twice a week. I transfer them to new clean seawater for storage, not their hatching water.
 

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
17,916
Messages
116,204
Members
13,028
Latest member
JaconieMalonie

Latest profile posts

Josh wrote on anewbie's profile.
Testing
EDO
Longtime fish enthusiast for over 70years......keen on Apistos now. How do I post videos?
Looking for some help with fighting electric blue rams :(
Partial updated Peruvian list have more than this. Please PM FOR ANY QUESTIONS so hard to post with all the ads poping up every 2 seconds….
Top