Lake Tanganyika Species • Too many fish?

[mmerose]

My shelldwellers (N similis) are spawning - there is 1 pair taking care of fry (I don’t know how many - they are so small and move fast). There’s another pair guarding their space.

It is a 29 gallon. How many can live there safely/comfortably? I guess I could donate some to a LFS.

[DJRansome]

You are lucky if you get two pairs.

I would let nature take it's course unless you want to remove the fry now and raise them in a separate tank.

For me the caudo fry vanished after the parents raised them for a while. I had other fish in the tank...either the parents ate the fry to make way for a new batch. Or the other fish ate them.

[mmerose]

I have been really lucky - I have 3 groups of fry! The first group has done very well, so far. The biggest babies are now 1/2” lingand look like little fish now, with fins and all. One of them is now going a little further from their area. Is it out of danger, given size? I can’t count the fry but there must be at least 10-15 of them. The other groups have fewer.

If all of the fry make it to adulthood, will it be overcrowded?