WTF Happened to my fry?

[archangelvk]

Hello guys, I have a question. My borelli spawned in my 23G tank around 3 weeks ago and I had around 25-30 fry. I fed them Microworms 2-3 times a day and changed 10-15% of the water each day as well. I also leave a light on in the room at night. The fry were free swimming for the past I'd say 10-14 days and two days ago I noticed that the 25-30 fry turned into 15. Then yesterday there were only 3-5, and finally today the mom did not seem to swim back to protect anything and there were none. In the tank there are ONLY 10 red cherry shrimp, the mother and father Borelli and a ton of java moss along with other plants. What happened to all my fry? If they died, shouldnt I have seen a bunch of bodies ? If the father had eaten them, wouldnt he have done so earlier? Is it possible that the mother ate them? What should I do next time?

Thanks in advance.

 

[yukondog]

I started separating my male from the fry [he eats them], I like using a 10 gal. as a breeder than removing the female after about 6-8 weeks and just use the 10 gal. as a fry tank, you'd be surprised how 22 fry can just disappear in a 10 gal.
What were you feeding the fry?

 

[archangelvk]

I started separating my male from the fry [he eats them], I like using a 10 gal. as a breeder than removing the female after about 6-8 weeks and just use the 10 gal. as a fry tank, you'd be surprised how 22 fry can just disappear in a 10 gal.
What were you feeding the fry?

I was feeding them micro worms. So you remove both the male AND female? Mine didnt even last 6 weeks. If I removed the female earlier, would that mess up the fry? Id prefer to remove the male and female into a mature 10G and keep the fry in the 23 G since it has more java moss.

 

[MickeM]

Hello guys, I have a question. My borelli spawned in my 23G tank around 3 weeks ago and I had around 25-30 fry. I fed them Microworms 2-3 times a day and changed 10-15% of the water each day as well. I also leave a light on in the room at night. The fry were free swimming for the past I'd say 10-14 days and two days ago I noticed that the 25-30 fry turned into 15. Then yesterday there were only 3-5, and finally today the mom did not seem to swim back to protect anything and there were none. In the tank there are ONLY 10 red cherry shrimp, the mother and father Borelli and a ton of java moss along with other plants. What happened to all my fry? If they died, shouldnt I have seen a bunch of bodies ? If the father had eaten them, wouldnt he have done so earlier? Is it possible that the mother ate them? What should I do next time?

Thanks in advance.

Hi .. !!
I have also experienced this problem sometimes..
If all is OK with the water quality and no illnesses or unknown animals are present I guess there are some other possibilities left..

- The male(or female?) sees the well fed fry as Microworms(live Brineshrimp) and mistake them for food ??
- Overfeeding killing the small/sensetive fry ?
- The food contains something bad ?
- The shrimps eats fry !?
- A strong filter sucks the fry in ?
- The regular water changes kickstart new spawning behaviours.. (aggressions, clashes between the male and female) ??
- The female constantly collecting the fry in a frenetic way (In a small/unnatural tank with no enemies?)... unaware of killing the fry (Unexperienced but protective/ stressed mother ) ??
- Unexperienced/Incompatible pair ? (I have actually seen a Borelli male taking over the guard of very young fry!!!.. chasing/biting the female)

As we all know..a tank is never exactly the same as nature..
and never forget Mike W:s classic statement... - "A community tank is NOT a breeding tank"

Please add a pic of your tank if you can!!!??? Then I/ we can compare it with our own tank set-ups ..

/Micke

 

[MickeM]

.... and also remember what Tom C have mentioned after many trips to Apisto-habitats in nature..

Fine sand/mud might be more important for Apistos than we think.. (De-stressing ???????)

https://apistogramma.com//forum/threads/substrate-for-tanks.17313/