Questions about Apistogramma fries

[FishSoup]

A few days ago i noticed both my female ap. borelli and female ap. sp."Wilhelmi" behaving aggressively to their mates.... and last night, both females were spotted bringing their own little group of free-swimming fry out for the first time

Just a couple of questions:

1.the sp. "Wilhelmi" are kept in a tank with a small school of 6 boraras brigittae as dithers... are the boraras fry-safe?

2. I've been feeding them BBS. While the borelli fry seem to be fine, the sp. "Wilhelmi" fry seem to be too small to eat the BBS... i was watching one particular fellow chasing a BBS and trying to eat it.. the BBS was too big and he gave up after a couple of tries are daphnia suitable as fry food, or are they also too big?

[genes]

1) Yes, the Boraras brigittae are potential fry eaters. They wouldn't miss the chance if any of the fries were to stray away from the female and swim towards them.

2) BBS and daphnia are fine. All my fries are fed on BBS without issues. I would refrain from feeding daphnia because they stinks and seems dirty. I'm pretty sure BBS will fit into the mouth of the A. sp. Wilhelmi fries as i have spawned and raised them using BBS before. Possibly the little fellow is unsure of the food and hence toying with it. Sometimes, the fries also peck on the flakes or pellets that the female sieve through her gills. Another food that i like to feed the fries with is ADA AP1. AP1 is powdery like and serves as an excellent alternative source of food for the fries.

[FishSoup]

Oh crap, i was hoping the boraras would be too small to eat the fry. Time to sneak up on the boraras.

i think i'll go down to Biotope tomorrow and look for ADA AP1. Anyone knows about the suitability of Hikari First Bites? I fed my Lamprologus ornatipinnis fry that.

Anyway, pics of the fry:

[genes]

They are small, but the fries are smaller. Try to throw some live adult brine shrimp to your boraras and see what happens to the BS. Even if the larger BS cannot fit into the boraras mouth, they would be pretty much maimed or killed.

[Cacatuoides]

I've always feed my fries with live bbs with ease.
With the hatchery, harvesting bbs everyday can never be simpler.

[FishSoup]

I think i'll probably feed the fry with a combination of hikari first bites and ADA AP1, and BBS whenever i can get them from c328 or other shops.

Cacatuoides: Care to share more about this hatchery dish you speak of? Where may i buy one? i have BS eggs, but they are so troublesome to hatch...

[doubleace]

Bro,
you can get it from here

[FishSoup]

Ah, i see. Thanks

[benetay]

Faster growth feed with live bbs. Remove all other fishes to prevent fries as food. Are both the apisto in the same tank? If so it'll be very difficult to distinguish females later on.

Congrats on the fries!

Cheers!

[FishSoup]

Thanks

The apistos are in separate tanks, so no problem there. What does worry me is where i'm gonna house the parents when the time comes for me to remove them. The males are in breeder boxes, eating well... how long til i remove the females?

Sigh... might need to set up new tank... if there is a need i might need to start selling other fish and decomming existing tanks.

Not helped by the fact that my agassizii also spawned a couple of nights back.

Stress..

[benetay]

That is one reason why apisto breeder always have lots of tank. One tank for each set of fish.
Female tank, male tank, fries tanks.

How long depends on when you plan to breed again. The female can be left in the tank with the fries before they fries start breeding with the mother.

1 pair of apisto need about 3 tanks. so 3 pairs = 9 tanks thats the minimum.

Cheers!

[FishSoup]

Looks like its time to set up new tanks then

[benetay]

Good way & good excuse for more tanks in the house!

Cheers!

[exotic_idiot]

Better to have a fish room where you can put lots of 3tier stands with lots of tanks.
But not many people's families very encouraging about turning one of their rooms to keep fish.

[FishSoup]

Is there something about the water these couple of weeks?! My apistos are going crazy...both of the other apisto pairs also spawned!!!!

The agassizii is leading around some newborn fry, and the gibbiceps female is as yellow as a lemon, zealously guarding a large batch of eggs in the pot in the cube tank

Well now here's the problem.. the cube tank is heavily planted, it will not be easy to get the male and the microrasbora dithers out. Is it possible for me to remove the female and the eggs in the pot, instead of the male? or will the new environment stress her unduly?

[genes]

Cooler weather plus your water change should have incited them to breed.

[mictok]

Is there something about the water these couple of weeks?! My apistos are going crazy...both of the other apisto pairs also spawned!!!!

The agassizii is leading around some newborn fry, and the gibbiceps female is as yellow as a lemon, zealously guarding a large batch of eggs in the pot in the cube tank

Well now here's the problem.. the cube tank is heavily planted, it will not be easy to get the male and the microrasbora dithers out. Is it possible for me to remove the female and the eggs in the pot, instead of the male? or will the new environment stress her unduly?

Not adviceable to remove the female and the pot of eggs as the protective female will eat up all the eggs once i settle down in a new tank environment.If the condition doesnt allow you to take chance for the fries to hatch in the tank and survive,take out the pot without the female.While you dish it out,use back the same water from the tank so to reduce the temperature differents.Let the eggs settle at an isolated tank with moss and raise up the fries by yourself.You can contact me for more details,I had tried this for my 3 batch of Agassizii,Tri and Hongsloi fries.

[FishSoup]

Oh, that would be great!

Thanks mictok bro, i'll send you a PM.

i spent the whole night last night trying to catch the male and the microrasbora, without stressing the female too much... only managed 4 out of 7 microrasbora, and couldn't even come close to getting the super smart and super fast male gibbiceps. At the end of the night i really wanted to tear all my hair out.

[exotic_idiot]

Bro mictok won't the eggs gets fungus? I try this method before almost all fries gone.. Somemore my eggs all turn orange.. Should be hatching pretty soon.. In the end only saw one but still die..

Hello fishsoup, It's not that easy catching all these small fast swimmer but be patience my friend.. It's better to catch out all dither fish or you can leave them alone and the female will chase them away.. You'll enjoy seeing your female working hard chasing all fish swimming close to her fries..

[mictok]

Bro mictok won't the eggs gets fungus? I try this method before almost all fries gone.. Somemore my eggs all turn orange.. Should be hatching pretty soon.. In the end only saw one but still die..

This is the tricky part.If the eggs are lay in a breeding cave,turn the cave up side down to leave the eggs on the top.When the fries form up their tails,they tend to wriggler and drop off for the top to the base of the cave.This will prevent them from mixing with fungus and die on the third day.My last batch of Hongsloi I manage to save about 30 of them from about 40 eggs laid,only 2 didnt manage to escape and died.
Those that drop on the base will be left alone for the next 3 day for it to swim freely.When they swim and leave the cave,I will remove it and clean away the fungus.