Brichardi Fry!

[raeburter]

Hi, I just found some fry in my tank but the sad thing is that I only see 2. Also, what surprises me is that the male and female are very far from each other. The female is beside the babies and the male is hiding behind my filter. Is it possible the male is guarding some eggs there? Or have I actually by accident destroy some eggs when I was cleaning the tank 4 days ago? Also, my fry seem to be rather inactive and just lying on the bottom of the tank, I don't see it trying to eat the crushed food I put in the tank. Is there something wrong? Sorry for asking so many questions.

Update: I think I'm only left with one fry. I'm suffering from the One Fry Curse. Previously, I ended up with only one yellow lab fry.

The Lonely Dad Who Loves The Filter

Thanks.

 

[raeburter]

Help, Anyone?

 

[dthoffsett]

I don't know too much about brichardi, but from what I remember typically they raise their fry as a family unit. Are there any fish other than the brichardi in your tank? The only possible thing I can think of is that the male started eating fry and the female kicked him out of the "nest". You'll probably have to wait and see if they make up.

I doubt he is guarding eggs as they are substrate spawners, so the eggs would be on the "ground".

 

[raeburter]

I don't think the male ate the fry and there are no other fishes in it except the pair. Whenever I'm not at the tank, the pair are together with the fry. However, whenever I appear, the male seems to make a dash for the filter, like it's protecting something.

Thanks for responding.

 

[dthoffsett]

Have you taken apart your filter to see if any fry got sucked in? That could be why the male is trying to protect it.

 

[raeburter]

I checked and there's nothing behind the filter.
I seen videos of Brichardi parents swimming with their fry but then, the mum and baby seems to be just lying around and hiding. Is it normal?

 

[dthoffsett]

I checked and there's nothing behind the filter.
I seen videos of Brichardi parents swimming with their fry but then, the mum and baby seems to be just lying around and hiding. Is it normal?

Have you checked inside the filter? If some fry were sucked up the male may be trying to protect them.

As for mum and the fry, I'm just not sure as I haven't kept brichadi myself, my guess would be they are stressed about something.

 

[raeburter]

Hi!

Currently, I have another batch of around 10+ fry! But then, I observed that the fry from the previous batch seem to be kicked out of the usual nest. Is that normal?
Also, I saw the female actually putting the fry in her mouth. She seem like she was chewing on it. And I waited for like a minute or two but then the fry still didn't appear. Is the mum just protecting the fry in her mouth or is she actually eating the fry? Cause I haven't read on any website before saying that they are mouth brooders.

Thanks.

 

[kribensis12]

She is just cleaning/moving them. Since they don't have hands to pick up their kids, they use their mouths. The parents will protect the fry, and the fry will portect the next batch of fry so on and so forth.