WOOO BABY APISTOS!!!! : )

[Seb R]

Well my apistos have babies, think I've got about 15 tiny lil ones swimming about. The mum is really great, she picks them up and puts them in a pit they made.

Soo happy I will try to get some good pics of the tiny little things!!!

Oh any advice from more experinced apisto owners?

(oh they're my first ever cichlids to have babies!!!! )

 

[Seb R]

oh specifically does anyone know the kinda growth rates I can expect?

should I remove the male? the female always shoos him off whenever he comes near.

What and When should I feed them?

thanks

 

[One_Trick_Pony]

seriously if you need to get rid of any of them i would love to take a couple off your hands

 

[Peter Lovett]

Hi Seb

Well congratulations.

What Apistogramma do you have are they in a community and how long has the tank been setup.

When I spawn mine i alway leave the male in with the female. Though it may appear that the female does not want him around she's really just telling him to go and do his job which is to look after the outer border of the territory. If however the female spends more time chasing the male than sending with the fry it's best to remove the male.

When it comes to feeding the fry will find enough food for the time being. But if you can get a brine shrimp hatcher get some BBS going and feed a small amount of these 3 times a day, if that is possible.

The female will look after her fry for about 6 to 8 week or untill she is ready to spawn again by which time they should be about 8mm long.

One other good thing to do is to leave a light on somewhere near the tank. not too bright but enough for the fish to be able to see at night.

If there is any thing else you want to know just ask.

 

[Seb R]

Well so far she keeps shooing the male off, but its not a big 'baby saving' issue right now, I've seen him pick up fry his mouth and deposit them somewhere (for no real reason really lol) so I dont think he wants to eat them. I got some BBS kit stuff but found you need an air pump too

So far I put a lil bit of liquifry in, dunno if taken, but I think the lil ones have been eating stuff off some of the decor in the tank.

The tank has probably only been set up a month ) , I put the apistos in pretty early (only 1 week) but I used water from the tank that was previously in its place so its ok water. Oh apistos on thier own.

I was wondering if I would be able to do a teeny bit of tank cleaning using a sypon? would this stress the female if I did? Its just that the day I found the babies I was about to do a bigf tank clean

 

[pnyklr3]

You should be able to buy frozen BBS at your lfs. You won't need an air hose for that! If you do decide to vaccuum, make sure it is well away from the fry...they are liable to be sucked up. Not sure about fry, but the females will eat eggs and wrigglers if they feel the safety of the spawn is threatened (I know this makes no sense). Good Luck!

 

[Seb R]

Update: Well so far they are all still here, hallelujah!!

Growing so fast its weonderful to see. Today I set up a BBS growing thingy so new BBS in approx 16 more hours. Oh finially got to do a small clean aswell so hopefully, fingers crossed it is all going ok!!

Oh can I feed the lil ones brine shrimp eggs? Do they eat that?

heres a bit of an unclear pic of the mum and her babies

 

[Peter Lovett]

Nice pic what type of cac are they.

No they don't eat the eggs they need to be hatched.

 

[Seb R]

They're Apistogramma Cacatuoides Orange flash. They both the most colourful apsitos I've seen when they court.

Well I'm trying to hatch BBS right now, got all the apparatus a few days ago.

I'm a bit confused though, when should I actually start giving it to them? some sites say conflicting things, any advice?

 

[Seb R]

Anyone?

When should I feed?! and what?! infusia or BBS?

 

[pnyklr3]

No later than when they are 2-3 days old (free-swimming days). By this time the yolk sck should be completely absorbed. If you have live plants in the tank, I believe that some nutrition can be found around there with things growing and the like. If no live plants. You should definately be feeding the BBS right now. HTH

If anyone can add their 2 cents, be my guest!

 

[Seb R]

Got alot of plants and algea stuff and I think they have been pecking at it.

With the BBS (its a bit of a newbie question ) )

I've got all of the tiny lil BBS pretty much hatched with more on the way, how do I get it from the salty BBS water to the fry's mouths?

I dont want to get salty water squirted at the cute lil fellas, and I've tried using a tissue as a filter for the BBS, but it doesnt seem to work!

Any old hand's experience with BBS would be very VERY much welcome!

 

[pnyklr3]

Well, I haven't done it myself, because I am too lazy and can buy it at my lfs.

Check out this Pinned Topic about hatching brine shrimp. There is a part about extraction.

HTH.

 

[Seb R]

I have also been wondering about something else. So far its all been good, but I have one (as I call it) chaos factor I cannot control, my male.

So far whenever he has come near the female moves him away. But now he is getting quite interested and I'm not sure if im loosing babies . I'm not sure yet, he was good when they were fisrt around, moving them with his mouth. What should I do if I get too suspicious.

I'm not too keen to mive him as my other tanks (look below) would not really be suitable.

 

[pnyklr3]

You have a few options:
1) Leave the male in the tank. The female will do a decent job of fending him off, and if she doesn't, it could just be a lack of experience. They are likely to spawn again, and get another chance to do a better job.

2) Move the male. I think that he would be alright in the other tanks (except the pond) in your sig, but I'm not certain. My apistos are in a community tank without any problems. However, I wouldn't needlessly move him around.

3) move the fry into a growout tank. This is a problem if you don't have an empty cycled tank already up and running, but the best option out of everything.