Finally! My female Apistogramma is yellow!

[Don90]

Hi people, my Apistogramma sp. mamore red female is finally yellow!

And she's even displaying to the male for the first time!

I noticed she turned yellow about 2 days ago.

But heres the problem..... The male doesn't seem to be interested.....

The male hasn't been flaring for a weeks.....I wonder whats wrong with him.

Here's a really lousy picture of the pair.

[joopsg]

I think the pair had spawned and the female is trying to protect her brood of fries.
The male is not not interested, it is now terrified of the female.

[Don90]

hmm but I can't find any eggs in the tank...

[taygu]

Not easy to spot the eggs if you do not know what the spawning site is.

Check to see where the female is always and look for the eggs in that area.

[WaterH2O]

I agree not easy to find where the eggs are. I didn't. It only until I see fries around that I know that they have spawned. Bro time to start guard duty and observe the tank.

[mictok]

Usually the female will move around the spawn area.Try puting some food in and observe,she will eat a bit n swim back to the spot and swim out to eat again.Her time at the spot will increase when the fries is going to hatch,just to make sure they dont wonder off.
Some protective female will hide the eggs inbetween leaves like Java or nanas,some will relocated the eggs underneath drift wood that cannot be seen.
I use to have a pair that like to hide it at a dark corner of a stone cave that I created.

[Don90]

UPDATE!!!!

I SAW FRY!!!!!!!!

They're with the mother now!!!

But heres a big problem...

I got too many dithers!!!

6x pygmy cory, 7x cardinal tetra, 1x emperor tetra, 1x red lizard cat, 2x zebra oto and 1 oto.

All in a planted tank...

HOW TO REMOVE LIKE THAT!!!!

[mobile2007]

Congrats. 2 ft or 1 ft tank?

Oto and cory looks to be harmless. Tetra might be able to fend off by the mother.

[Don90]

2ft tank....

The mother is quite small...

the spawn also abit small... about 10+ fry I think?

Should I feed bbs now?

Luckily I have some bbs I prepared for my betta spawn!

Talk about right timing!

[Don90]

Oh no....

I can't find the female and her fry.....

Is it possible that she hid the fry somewhere?

I can't seem to find her anywhere....

And how to feed the fry when they're all hiding?

[genes]

They are probably hiding with the tetras you have in your tank. I would suggest to siphon the fries out using an air tube the next time you see female herding them in the open and raise them in a tank of their own.

[Don90]

Hi genes, is it advisable to siphon the fry when they're still with their mom? Do they need the mother now?

btw, I didn't see them eat bbs when I fed them just now!

why is that so?

[DCguy]

Once the fry are free swimming (now) they do not need the mother to care for them. You can safely siphon them out and put them into a rearing container. Be very careful to maintain high quality water in the container. It is best to start with a small container so that the fry stay concentrated.

I use the small containers that hang on the tank rim. I siphon the fry into one along with enough water to fill it. I then hang it on the inside of the tank so that the temperature will be the same as the tank they were spawned in. I always add a good amount of Java Moss and the fry will pick tiny foods of of it. It is very important to do frequent small water changes.

I also will usually add a couple of small snails to eat any left over food. Feed very tiny amounts of newly hatched brine shrimp a couple of times a day. Micro worms are also good if you have them.

As the fry grow larger you can transfer them to larger quarters. I generally move mine to a two gallon tank and then on to a larger grow out tank.

Good Luck!

DC

[mictok]

They are probably hiding with the tetras you have in your tank. I would suggest to siphon the fries out using an air tube the next time you see female herding them in the open and raise them in a tank of their own.

JUst to add on,do it as 1 operation till all the fries are siphon out.If you fail to do it the female may eat up the fries.Try to do it in the open area as the female will hide the fries once she detect danger.

[sgbetta]

bro another and last altnative is to remove all dithers.but if you really do it don't disturb the female too much.It might alarm the female and it might eat the fries..Good luck and congrat to your newborn

[WaterH2O]

Am glad for you.

[Don90]

Hi all, thanks for the advice.

The female doesn't really bring them out in the open.

She only moves them around the java moss.

Its very hard to catch the fry when they're all hiding in the java moss, as I have a VERY BIG clump of moss...

Now my dithers are all at the left hand side and my apistos are at the right hand side of the tank.....

Can I just leave the fry to the mother?

Only thing is I haven't seen them feed yet.

[genes]

Hi genes, is it advisable to siphon the fry when they're still with their mom? Do they need the mother now?

btw, I didn't see them eat bbs when I fed them just now!

why is that so?

Squirt the BBS at the area where they are. They will eat. But problem is, the BBS may also invite other predators like your tetras to the area.

Once the fries are free swimming, i feed them for a few days before i siphon them out. Continue feeding with BBS after that.

[Don90]

I've decided to let the fry stay in the tank...

The mother is doing a great job defending the brood. And also, the place I position the tank, makes it very hard to siphon the fry due to the angle I have to work with.

The fry are now nibbling on the moss....

I will add some BBS tomorrow.

[Ian Lim]

Bro, congrats. Let nature runs it course, when we try to outwit nature normally things get worse, leave them alone and as long as you don't frighten the female and feed them properly, it should take good care of the fries.