Siamese Algae Eater Fry?

[Tooombsy]

Hi guys
 
Been a while since i last posted on here, was after some advice.
 
Last night i got home and found several fry swimming around my tank.
I recently adopted a few guppies that were destined for the the toilet from a neighbor that was moving away, and i assumed that the fry were from the guppies.
 
After looking closer they don't resemble any of the guppy fry i have had in the past.
They are long, slim and greyish in colour.
 
I have 4 SAE's in the tank and they sometimes dance around each other, also they occasionally try to dig a pit under the bogwood during this (not sure if this mating behavior or just playing/fighting)
 
I have tried to find pictures of their fry on the internet but it appears that they don't breed in captivity, or there is no record of it that i can find.
 
Have any of you ever heard of or seen this fish breeding before?
I will try and get some photos when i get home from work today for you to see.
 
Thanks for any replies

 

[Akasha72]

Hi, I have 3 SAE's and I'm sure I have a mix of sex as two bicker over the third. Like you, I have also read that they won't breed in captivity. I also can't find any information on determining sex so I don't know if I have 2 females and a male or 2 males and 1 female. I have never seen mine digging though. I've also never seen any fry or eggs. 
 
Please keep us informed as I am very interested to know if you have managed to breed them. Have you had a look on planet catfish? I know they are not technicly a catfish but there might be some info there

 

[Tooombsy]

Hi Akasha
 
Long time no speak, how are the cory's doing?
It's your fault i have 8 panda's in my tank lol
 
I checked planet catfish and can't see anything, ill get some pics when i'm home for you to see.
I'll be amazed if they are SAE fry, if they are it was an accident lol.
I had no intention of trying to breed them as i heard it wasn't possible

 

[Akasha72]

hi, yes I took a break from the forum for a while and I've only just come back. Reluctant to get involved too much now as I find it a little draining. My cories are just fine, in fact I woke up to what look like cory eggs on the glass this morning. I've managed to harvest 8 intact and they're currently in a pot with an air stone. We shall see if they hatch this time. I think they might be panda cory eggs as the panda's were frisky before bedtime. I now have 3 new cories (waiting for the lfs to get some more to up the number) they are smudge spot cories ... they seem rare in these parts as I'd never seen them before. Of course I couldn't resist buying them for that reason!
 
As for the SAE's ... it's all very intriguing. I didn't think it was possible either but we all know how these things can happen. It was a long shot suggesting planet catfish might have some info. They're not really a catfish but I thought I'd mention them in case they had some info to help. 
 
I've clicked on follow this thread so keep me posted

 

[Tooombsy]

I love my pandas, I siphoned out some of the small gravel I had and put a bed of sand down for them to dig in.
I got a photo of the fry, can only see one left this evening so hopefully the others are hiding in the plants.
The quality isn't too good

 

[Akasha72]

remind me what other fish you have in this tank? It might help to narrow down the culprit. I have to say I have no idea what they are at the moment

 

[Tooombsy]

A couple of guppies, 10 Cardinal tetras, 3 golden barbs, 2 peacock goby, 8 panda cory, 2 bristlenose pleco and 3 SAE.
I'm still thinking guppy but they look different to fry I had before

 

[Baccus]

From that photo I am inclined to think it is a guppy fry rather than anything else currently living in your tank.

 

[Akasha72]

just googling the goby's ... can't remember what they look like
 
hmm ... I am stumped. They could be guppies but as you say, they don't totally fit the bill. I've never seen young gold barbs but I'm presuming even as young fish they'd have the gold colour? They could be cardinals ... I can see a lateral line on them and that would fit. Definitely not cories (sorry) and definitely not BN's. 
 
I don't know for certain ... if it's definitely true that SAE's can't breed in captivity (why though? is it something to do with water parameters?, no-one seems to be able to answer that) then I'd be looking at the cardinals as the 'culprits'
 
EDIT:
 
Baccus posted as I was typing. So possibly guppies then?

just enlarged the photo ... they look different to all the guppy fry I've had. Time will tell of course

 

[Lateral Line]

Whilst my thoughts were, naturally, guppies, I agree with Akasha, they look a little different then guppy fry I've had... and I've had a few! Do they have a small adipose fin? Picture is not clear enough to tell.

 

[Tooombsy]

Hi guys. Thought I'd update you all. Only one fry survived and it's looking more and more like a guppy with each day.
I'm not surprised, although they didn't look like guppy fry I had before, I knew it was a long shot that they were SAE fry.
On the plus side, one of my male bristlenose has been in the plant pot for a while, shone a torch in there earlier and he is joined by plenty of little wrigglers hopefully they will be out for some photos in a few days

 

[Akasha72]

well, they never fail to surprise us do they! The fry really did not look like guppies at all. It looks like the theory of SAE's not being able to breed in captivity has some grounding now. I still can't help wondering why they won't breed in a tank though
 
Congrats on the baby BN's too. It looks like your having a baby boom 

 

[Tooombsy]

Hopefully it will be the pandas next, though they may still be a little too young lol.
I checked in the cave last night, there must be at least 50 baby BN
The egg sacks appear to have been consumed but daddy still wont let them out of the cave. 
I placed a nice slice of cucumber outside the entrance before i left for work so hopefully they will venture out today

 

[Akasha72]

I believe Dad only lets them out when he's confident they're able to survive. I've never had a BN breed, my two turned out to be two boys and one had to be re-homes when fights broke out. I'm just going from the things I've read. Good luck with them .... and don't forget the pictures when they venture out

 

[Tooombsy]

Maybe because they are in a community tank he is keeping them a little longer.
Don't worry pictures will follow soon i'm sure