Help!

[slotter68]

Hello all,

On inspecting my aquarium tonight I have 30-40 Firemouth Cichlid fry plus a similar amount of eggs. I only had that pair and an Odessa Barb and one large silver tipped tetra in the tank. There is an algae eating plec too. I have taken out the barb and tetra into a smaller tank, what should I do now?? What should I do to help the fry??

Many thanks

 

[minnnt]

Nothing. The parents will do it all themselves. Can't see how you have eggs and fry though? Are the eggs wrigglers or free swimming?

Welcome to the forum btw

 

[Gytas]

nice one and welcome

 

[slotter68]

Thanks Minnnt and Gytas, cheers for the welccome too! Minnnt I'm in Nottingham too, Ravenshead - so if you're needing some Firemouths I may have a few spare! In terms of the eggs I can just see some under the fry - maybe they are the eggs they hatched from?? Parents flaring their gills beautifully so trying to leave them be! As you can tell I'm no expert so any help appreciated!!

 

[minnnt]

Oooo... The posh end eh?

I will have some fry from you. I currently have an Ellioti from the same family, very pretty fish indeed!

Are the fry free swimming or just wrigglers? If they are wrigglers then they will still be attatched to the egg itself, then when they do break free they will still have the yolk sac attatched to them as they use up all the goodness in that first. FM's are pretty good parents, but don't be alarmed if they eat the first few batches as it's pretty normal with new pairings.

If you want me to pop over to have a look or help out with anything then just give me a shout.

 

[AquaJason]

The fry will still have the yolk sac attached to the abdoman(stomach) which is what it sounds like. T
he fry will feed off this for a day or 2, then you will have to supply food

 

[snake007]

If its ok, I would like to come and collect some fry?

 

[slotter68]

Thanks all for your replies. I didn't mean just under the fry I meant there is something that look like tiny eggs in the gravel and substrate - they are still there. I wondered if they were the egg cases the fry hatched from. In terms of the fry They are definitely free swimming and the parents appear to be looking after them rather than noshing on them!! You are all welcome to some fry but I want to make sure a few survive for me. How many can I have in a 60 liter tank? There are no other fish in there. Cheers - Simon.

 

[snake007]

Thanks all for your replies. I didn't mean just under the fry I meant there is something that look like tiny eggs in the gravel and substrate - they are still there. I wondered if they were the egg cases the fry hatched from. In terms of the fry They are definitely free swimming and the parents appear to be looking after them rather than noshing on them!! You are all welcome to some fry but I want to make sure a few survive for me. How many can I have in a 60 liter tank? There are no other fish in there. Cheers - Simon.

Do you mean how many firemouths in a 60 litre of fry?

I was wondering If I could come tomorrow and collect some fry if its ok with you?

 

[onidrase]

Thanks all for your replies. I didn't mean just under the fry I meant there is something that look like tiny eggs in the gravel and substrate - they are still there. I wondered if they were the egg cases the fry hatched from. In terms of the fry They are definitely free swimming and the parents appear to be looking after them rather than noshing on them!! You are all welcome to some fry but I want to make sure a few survive for me. How many can I have in a 60 liter tank? There are no other fish in there. Cheers - Simon.

0 imo. they grow pretty large. 30"x12"x12" should be bare minimum.

 

[minnnt]

As a grow out tank? Probably 10-15, but ideally a bit bigger tank would be needed. If yov mean as adults then the tank would be too small.

 

[Proxo]

What about getting some sort of plastic storage box and using that as a grow out tank?