Sixty Gallon Journal

[gwand]

Entry #44
The fry are three weeks old and although larger than last week, are still small and vulnerable to predation. The parents have been exceedingly diligent defending the fry. They are always on guard duty. Pretty cool for first time parents. I do not know the growth trajectory for these fry but I thought they would be larger by now. They certainly are well fed.

 

[gwand]

Entry #45
The fry are a few days shy of a month old. I estimate there are between 10-15 survivors. The fry are a bit larger than last posting and more adventurous. Some of the little guys are straying too far from their parents. Risky business when there are 6 Alestopetersius caudalis and a Pelvicachromis pulcher that are dying to eat you. The parents are amazing in their vigilance. They have claimed and staunchly defended over 1/3 of the tank’s foot print. I am sure that the parents must be hungry and exhausted being on guard duty 24/7. I try to target feed the parents so they do not have to go far away from their fry to eat. I feed the Alestopetersius caudalis and a Pelvicachromis pulcher on the extreme opposite end of the tank. I have been over feeding the predators to lessen their desire for predation. I’m not sure that strategy is working.

 

[MuddyWaters]

I love watching the kribensis guard their babies. Especially cool is the little jerky motions they do, presumably to communicate with the babies? I wonder if anyone has done a study to see how that really works.

I'm interested to see how your fry do long term. My kribensis have had 4 groups of babies that I know of, and I have 1 baby that survived (that I've seen). He is pretty large now, so he must have hidden a LONG time before coming out.

I have baby black mollies in there- 5 or 6- that have survived to be big enough not to be eaten. Interesting that the mollies would make it but the kribensis babies would not.

Some one told me taht Corys especially love Kribensis babies or eggs, so maybe that's my problem. I have 5 of them. It's a big tank and basically a jungle though- and I have little tera-cotta caves for them (and they use them).

 

[gwand]

Entry #46
The a. thomasi fry are now a month old. Guess what? Another pair of a. thomasi had a hatching of fry today on the opposite end of the tank. The six a. caudalis and the last two a. thomasi are squeezed together in the center of the tank with ferocious parents on the extreme ends of the tank herding them to the center. Havoc in my tank. This is not what I had planned. I wanted this to happen in my new breeder tank. I “complained “ to Gary in a PM. lol. Well, we will just have to see how many survive. Good thing I have the infusoria ready. The month old fry look like giants compared to the day old fry.

 

[gwand]

Entry #47
The older group of a. thomasi fry born Christmas Day are becoming increasingly bolder. They are beginning to explore the tank without parental guidance. I’m increasing the size of their food pellets now that they are larger. The fry born the beginning of the week are being fed live BBS. The tank is tense with four vigilant parents and two sets of fry.

 

[gwand]

Entry #48
The a. thomasi fry born Christmas Day are just about free of parental care.

 

[gwand]

Entry #49
Watershed moment, pun intended. I see fry swimming on the other end of the 4 foot tank. This is the first time they’ve crossed the midline of the tank. They will soon be juveniles.

 

[gwand]

Entry #50
I count 15 fry or should I say juveniles that have survived. They are healthy and quite active utilizing the entire tank. Not bad for an unplanned breeding.

It’s a different story for the fry born on January 21. I no longer see any of them. The parents were not as vigilant in guarding them. It’s possible that a few will show up at a later date.