South American Cichlids • Help with Gold Severum babies

[william biehl]

i have had two gold severums in my 55 gallon tank for several years. Here recently they have started to breed and have babies. the first batch of babies were eaten, i'm not sure who, within three days. second batch of babies......same thing.
so i bought a small 5 gallon tank with filter, heater, etc. then when the third batch of babies came.....i took a bunch out and put them in the 5 gallon tank, which was filled with water from the 55 gallon tank. all was well for a day or two, then i woke up and now there are two left! what happened??
what am i doing wrong? i would lover to be sucessful with this as i love the severums. i don't know what to do next. i fed them baby brine shrimp.
any help or advice, would be very very appreciated.
thank you.

william

[sir_keith]

The fry of many SA ciclid species are very sensitive to water chemistry, most especially angelfish and discus, but other species as well. It's not something that can be measured with a test kit, because although your water parameters may appear OK, your fry are still dying. The solution is frequent, even daily, water changes, and meticulous tank maintenance. Good luck.

[sir_keith]

Also, what kind of filter are you running on the 5g tank, and is it fully cycled? Remember, tanks don't 'cycle,' filters 'cycle,' and unless the filter on the 5g tank has a sufficient number of nitrifying bacteria, nitrogen cycle management in this tank will be amiss. Just adding water from the big tank is not sufficient to establish a functioning nitrogen cycle in the 5g, because very few of these bacteria are free-swimming; rather, they colonize solid surfaces, such as the bio-media in your filters. Good luck.

[william biehl]

thank you guys for the feedback.......
it's really frustrating......i have one tiny microscopic little guy left but i have a feeling, it's not for long.
assuming, and hoping, that the parents will have another batch....what would you recommend to keep them living this time?
i would love to keep them alive. bigger tank? bigger filter?
thank you for your help.

bill
new orleans

[ken31cay]

I would use cycled sponge filters and do daily > or = 90% water changes. For the water changes, fill a 5gal container with water each day (conditioned, heated) to use for the following day's water change. If you 're consistent doing this daily then this will match the water parameters of your tank/new water very nicely and so that should take care of any water/environmental issues you were having.