Nice Surprise

[Fantazia]

Hi
I went round to see my friend last night to see how her blue acaras, where getting on, they had settled in really well, i noticed though that the smaller one was hiding round the back more, near a stone, when i bent down to have a look at her, i noticed she had laid loads of eggs, and she was guarding them, it was fantastic, my friend has never had fish lay eggs in her tank before, this is the first time, we where both thrilled,
We dont know the first thing about breeding fish, should we leave her and the eggs where they are, and not touch anything, will they hatch do you think, the bigger acara, goes round occasionally to see how she is and fans them, like she does, she also puts them in her mouth, its fantastic.
Do you think he could be the father, or was she pregnant when she came we have only had them 5 days, they have been flirting alot with each other.
What about water changes etc.
We dont know what ot do for the best, should we leave her and let her get on with it, we dont want to stress her out anymore than we have to.
Whats the best thing to do. Does anyone know any good websites about fish spawning, breeding. We are so proud though

 

[mostanks]

 

[Fantazia]

Can anyone answer my question seriously B)

I have edited this post

 

[Mackie]

Yeh...if they stay the same colour then it means they've been fertilised by the male but if they go white it means they have not. If they have been fertilised one or two may go white but she will no doubt pick them off before the fungus spreads. As for wether or not you should take them out i would personally leave them there untill they become wrigglers as taking them out just now would mean you would have to artificialy fan them. Don't try and pick them off though, take the stone out with them still attached.
What else are they in with and how big is the tank?

 

[Gibbo]

Is this the 55 gal tank? Leave them be if fertilized. Buy some liquid fry food (for egg layers) and follow instructions on bottle.
The female, after a courting period, would've laid eggs on the rock and the male fertilizes them after. She usually lays a string, or line, at a time and he fertilizes these then she starts to lay the next line and so on and so forth. They are very attentive parents and can fend off larger fish with ease. As Mackie says, look out for the other fish in with them either because some species will eat fry while others can be attacked by the Acaras. After about 10 days of caring for the fry the Parents will probably breed again, turning on the original young and chasing them off or even eating or killing them. It would be a good idea to try and move the fry at this time by gently siphoning as many of them off as you can with some narrow piping and moving them to a nursery tank. By this time you can feed them on powdered flake and other fine foods. They will grow quickly - mine reached 1" in 6 weeks!

 

[Mackie]

If she has any nocturnal catfish in there it would be wise to remove them (the catfish, not the eggs) or keep the lights on at all times as it will not take them long to find them once the lights go out.

 

[Fantazia]

No she has no nocturnal fish, its fantastic nature, my friend turned the light out, in the tank about 9.0clock and we went and checked everything an hour later, and the acara, was sitting, or laying right over the eggs protecting them, its absolutley incredibe how they behave.
They where a bit bigger yesterday aswell, you could see them, the day before you had to really look to see them, but as i say yesterday you could see them a bit more, they are a yellow/cream colour,
should i not to do any water changes, because it is due this weekend, if i do it really carefully and not touch anything, do you think she will be okay, or should i leave it a few more days.

 

[cichlidmaster]

Do water changes in small amounts. Do not go anywhere near where the clutch of eggs are as this may spook the female and she may end up eating them.

It is a good bet that the eggs are viable since the parents have not ate them. Then again this being their first spawn (for you anyway) they still might.

Not trying to dampen you joy, just these are things that sometimes happen.

If you decide to remove the eggs, do as Mackie said, remove the whole stone, but place a container in the tank and place the stone in the container. It is imperative that no air hits the eggs or they will fungus and go dead.

As for leaving the fry in with the parents, most if not all S/C American species after brood care is complete will normally leave the first brood alone while spawning again. I would worry more about the other fish in the tank picking them off. The parents should continue brood care for longer than ten days after the fry are at the free swimming stage.

In the case of severums, mine continued brood care for almost 6 weeks at which time I did just what Gibbo suggests. Siphon most of them out, but leave some. If you remove all the fry this may cause the Pair bond to be broken between the parents.

Congradulations and enjoy the process. It is indeed a marvel to behold.

CM

 

[mostanks]

fantazia-i'm sorry you feel that way about my reply.i admitted i don't know much about breeding was just having some fun.


my apologies if i have offended anyone w/my reply,i have deleted/edited it.not that there was anything bad but obviousely someone didn't like it.

 

[cichlidmaster]

Hey Most,
I found it quite refreshing

Should have left it be!!!!

 

[mostanks]

Yeah well it struck the wrong nerve on fantazia i honestly didn't think what i posted would upset anyone,but oh well

 

[Mackie]

Yeh....looks like she took it the wrong way.

 

[slt]

hehe some one else in trouble its usualy me

 

[mostanks]

yeah but i'm not a trouble maker like you

troublemaker-troublemaker-troublemaker-troublemaker

 

[slt]