Apisto Borelli Spawn

[jeremiahtan]

Borelli Spawn.jpg

Hey Bros,

My apisto borelli has spawned Was very close to stop rearing Apistos when my Borelli females kept dying, I guess I finally understood why... The protective mother has been chasing them non stop and they lost appetite and died (I was thinking it was internal parasites again)

The borelli lives in a community tank and the spawn hatched a week ago I think. Wanted to follow stormhawk's advice and take out the eggs but I was having exams so I forgot to remove them while they were at the eggs stage, so when I finally saw the mother being very very aggressive, I suspected there were really eggs and I took the cave out. Unfortunately, I think the mother ate some of the eggs / fries, reason being I could only count 7 fries attached to the walls of the cave.

So this brings me to some questions regarding the spawn which I hope some bros can enlighten me with:

1. By removing the cave and the fries, the poor mother is now very very jumpy, she is swimming constantly at the spot looking for her children (damn that makes me sad). I am worried that she will die, if not at least being so traumatized that she will never spawn again. Is there anything I can do to help her? Should I remove her and place her in another tank so that she can forget about the spawn that I removed?

2. I have now placed the fries in a tua huay container that is large enough to fit the cave, must I aerate the container?

3. I will be feeding the fries microworms and baby brine shrimp. Is there anything else I must take note of?


Thanks in advance for the time taken to read this thread and your advice!

[doppelbanddwarf]

The female should be fine after a while.
However it would be better if you can get a larger container and fill it with the same water from the main tank for the fry so that you can better maintain water conditions. And yes in the meantime you should aerate the container.

[jeremiahtan]

Thanks Chongyu!

[Jitticus]

chong yu, what apistos are you keeping now? do you still have the A. abacaxis?

[stormhawk]

For a stressed apisto mother, you might want to keep the tank shady for the next few days. Reduced lighting would be good. Feed as normal. Captive bred borelli are frequently separated from the spawn, especially at the farms, so many of them make very bad parents since they do not take the "lessons" in brood care from their parents. Take this as a learning step so you are better prepared the next time they happen to spawn.

[jeremiahtan]

Thanks Stormhawk, I have since placed the cave back into the tank and the female is constantly hiding in it and occassionally coming out to eat. She seem much better now.

As for the fries, only one is free swimming, hopefully the rest will start to swim soon too

[stormhawk]

Give the fry some time. Post hatching, some will take up to 3 days to be free swimming. This is the period when the mother is most anxious, if you left her with the eggs.

[jeremiahtan]

Sadly, the fries all died, they have turn whitish while in the egg sac stage. I did not change the water, but why did they die?

Agassizi.jpg

On a side note, it seems that my Apisto Agassizi has stuffed alot of Gex soil rubble in front of the makeshift cave that I made. Does it mean she is going to spawn or has she laid eggs already?


Thanks for your help bros!

Jeremiah

[doppelbanddwarf]

Did you keep the eggs well aerated?

If the agassizii female stays inside or around the area almost all the time, she has probably spawned.

[Aquanoob]

It's ok, learn from experience and have better result the next time. Until now, I still have not make my german blue ram spawn survive more than 2 weeks after like 5-6 times. Better luck the next time.

[stormhawk]

If you remove the eggs out of the tank to a separate container, always place it first in the container while still in the tank. Exposure to air can be a bad thing. Another thing to take note of is that eggs turn white either because of the male's lack of fertility, or you did not use an anti-fungal agent like methylene blue in the rearing container.

[mincedmeat]

On the point raised by stormhawk, why would not using anti-fungal agent have an effect on the eggs dying? Are you meaning to say that the eggs could have died due to a possible fungal infection in the rearing container?

[jeremiahtan]

Did you keep the eggs well aerated?

If the agassizii female stays inside or around the area almost all the time, she has probably spawned.

I did not aerate it properly I think, as I did not use an air stone and the tube could have fell out when I was at school.. Shucks... Wasted man...

She still occassionally come out and roam around, but spend the rest of her time in the cave, looks like she has not spawn yet right?

[jeremiahtan]

If you remove the eggs out of the tank to a separate container, always place it first in the container while still in the tank. Exposure to air can be a bad thing. Another thing to take note of is that eggs turn white either because of the male's lack of fertility, or you did not use an anti-fungal agent like methylene blue in the rearing container.

Many thanks Stormhawk I will take note of that.

[jeremiahtan]

The female is now constantly staying in the cave only coming out to eat occassionally. But if she has indeed spawned, its a wonder why she is not as aggressive as my apisto borelli female, who chases everyone else away.

The male agassizi is allowed to stay in front of the cave, but she didn't chase him away. Out of precaution, I have transferred him to another tank.


Jeremiah

[joopsg]

Agassizi female are more comfortable with their partner around.
So far i never remove the male for my past breeding experience.

[doppelbanddwarf]

I think it depends on individual or maybe the variant, and perhaps whether there are dither fish? My first pair of agasszii, the female killed the male after spawning.

[jeremiahtan]

Hmmmm, looks like it will be a tough choice to make.. Nevertheless, it seems that the female did not spawn as she is now out of her cave roaming around the entire tank... So I decided to place the male back in and see how it goes...

Thanks bros!

[jeremiahtan]

I think that the female has not laid eggs yet.

Based on these two websites: http://aquaworld.netfirms.com/Cichli...a_agasizii.htm, http://www.thekrib.com/Apisto/A-agassizii-ryti.html, the female is still showing her under belly to the male and the female hides back into the cave when the male is around.

I guess I will wait for the male to kana wallop abit, then I will transfer him out.

[stormhawk]

Using an anti-fungal agent in the tank replaces the work done by the female in keeping them clean. The parents typically pick off the dead eggs, thus allowing the fertile eggs to hatch out eventually. In an artificial setting, with the eggs in a rearing tank away from the mother, the use of anti-fungal agents is a must, and aeration that creates a gentle water flow over the eggs is a must, because the female fans them regularly to ensure that they have enough oxygen to develop.

Following these steps, you ought to successfully hatch some eggs from a spawn that has been removed from the mother. However, this is not recommended since the young may eventually lose the "motherly" instinct, and fail at being good guardians and parents. It's always better to leave the spawn with the female so that she can carry out her duties. Artificial hatching should only be attempted if you feel that there is a risk that the eggs may be lost because of the parents eating them, or being inexperienced and allowing other fish to consume them. Some farm bred fish make horrible parents, where cichlids are concerned.