What would you do?

[TankWatcher]

My male Apistogramma Bitaeniata died last night & I'm terribly sad about that. He must have made one last valiant effort, because tonight when I got home from work, Mrs Bitaeniata brought out her free swimming fry.

This is her 2nd try. Last time, she lost her final remaining fry at 23 or 24 days.

It is really important to me that these fry have the best chance of survival, doubly so as it seems that my enquries today are that I probably will not be able to source a replacement male in Sydney Australia.

The only fish in the tank, other than mum & fry, are 2 otos. I think otos are strictly vegetarian, but someone told me they might eat the fry?

I'd really value knowing if anyone thinks I should:-

1. remove the otos
2. put the fry in a breeding net (but it would be still in the same tank)
3. Leave them with mum

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

 

[tjudy]

I would leave them with the mother for 2-4 weeks, then move them to a small growout tank where you can do frequent (daily) waterchanges and give them lots of food. They will grow more quickly that way.

 

[charon]

1. remove the otos
2. put the fry in a breeding net (but it would be still in the same tank)
3. Leave them with mum

Hi

Ad1.) It's not necessery - they don't touch the fry...
Ad2.) It's not a good idea - they won't have place enough...
Ad3.) Leave fry, and remove mum - it would be the best and the most safe option

Best regards
charon

 

[Mike Wise]

If you lost the all of the fry from the first spawn after 3 weeks of life, it more likely indicates that something was wrong with feeding & tank maintenace than problems with the aquarium residents. Do as tjudy recommends. Clean water is more improtant than heavy feedings in my opinion.

 

[TankWatcher]

Thanks heaps all.

Ok, I will up the water changes then (they are currently 50% weekly). I worry that I will suck up these tiny little guys when I water change. I can do basic water change easily enough just taking it from the water column, but doing a gravel vac with them in the tank is a little scary to me.

Will taking it from the water column with no gravel vac be enough?

If I remove them, will mum accept them back in the tank later when they've grown?

 

[Cathy G]

I'd just change the water in the column and forget the gravel for a while. Do you have any idea how you lost them before? Did mom or dad suddenly eat them? If so, I'd remove Mom.
Cathy

 

[tleehm]

Do not re-introduce fry back with mum after removal. Done such experiment once (with only 2 fry returned) and mum went mad and ate them (fry was only taken away for 48 hours).

Thomas.

 

[ProF_FR]

Hi,

Personnaly i do keep the water clean and feed them generously only, mom does the rest, she will care of her fry if she's in good life conditions.

I noticed the same thing as Mike, when i lost the fry after 3 weeks or so, that was always due to my lack of care ( water change and food ).

ProF

 

[tleehm]

Keeping up the water change is very important, as I just discovered I got a bit slack with one of my tank and all fry have disappeared (after being 2 weeks old).

Thomas.

 

[TankWatcher]

Thanks all. I moved the fry last night to a small holding tank, where I can better manage the target feeding & frequent water changes, either daily or every other day. I moved mum with them, so that she could continue her care, but the move seems to have stress her & she dropped her breeding/guarding dress. This worried me, so mum is back in her own tank & the fry are on their own.

I hope it works out and thanks for all your help.

 

[AdamT]

Well, it sounds as if your course is already set. I will offer an idea then as an exercise only.

Why either remove them or leave them with mum when you can do both? When my community tank residents produce fry I go in with a relatively large diameter hose and manage to siphon out 15 or 20 of the fry. The rest remain in the tank, and mom gathers them back up again after a short while. The community tank results in the remaining fry being gone in a couple of days, but if your tank is appropriate for raising fry, why not break up the group? You know the thing about eggs in one basket.

Make sure you keep your parameters appropriate so that you get a balanced sex ratio (unless you want to tilt it toward males, maybe). It would be a bummer to raise Mr. Bit's last hurrah only to find out you have only one sex.

 

[TankWatcher]

Thanks AdamT

That is more or less what happened. I knew that I hadn't caught all the fry, but as mum's guarding dress had been put away, I thought she would eat them - so they weren't mentioned in my last post. When I got home from work yesterday, I wondered why she was a lovely golden colour again & it seems that she has gathered 6 or 7 fry that remain in the tank & I will definitely leave them with her now.

What are the right parameters for male fry - I don't know about this? The tank is low pH - at least under 6, as my test kit goes no lower. Water is very soft. The water is conditioned by ADA Amazonia soil & it keeps these parameters steady. What do I need for males?

Thanks again.