[D-007]

Hi all,

My female P. Acei Ngara has been holding for about 2 weeks already and yesterday I finally got her transfered to a 10g so that the male and other occupants don't harrass her. The tank is bare bottom but does have several rocks/hiding areas in an effort to make her as comfortable as possible. The tank does not have lighting but I do put a table .

As she hasn't fed since conceiving, and now that she is in a tank of her own, should I put some food in there or wait until after she spits?

I'm also going to get this and have it ready for the young when they arrive:
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=10692&pvid=42626&productnum=0015546

Thoughts, any further advice?

Thanks,
D

 

[Gibbs]

I wouldn't worry about feeding her, she was obviously healthy before she spawned and these fish have no trouble going a month without food, if they did they would breed differently.
Once she has released her fry remove her straight away and feed her well.

Best of luck and congratulations

 

[D-007]

I wouldn't worry about feeding her, she was obviously healthy before she spawned and these fish have no trouble going a month without food, if they did they would breed differently.
Once she has released her fry remove her straight away and feed her well.

Best of luck and congratulations

Thank you for the reply and the commendation. I was thinking of leaving her in with them until she no longer takes them back into her mouth .... would that be a bad decision? My thoughts were by doing so, she could also eat some of the brine shrimp when I start feeding the young with them.

 

[Dewdrop]

She might eat the fry if you leave her in there with them. I'm not positive of this though so maybe someone else can say. BTW that's some gadget. Let us know how it works after you use it.

 

[D-007]

Well I've kinda been caught unprepared :roll: I went to check on her this afternoon and while she still has young in her bucal cavity, I saw a single fry dart into a cavity between two rocks.

So I had to make a dash to the local LFS to pick up a hatchery - all they had was the one that was used in Marc Elieson's article shown halfway down the page HERE but is was only $5 so for the time being it is what I'll use. The tank also has a light source on it now to make it a bit easier to spot the fry when she spits the remainder. I also picked up a breeder net to put them into when they are free swimming to isolate them from the mother who will be recovering into the same tank before going back to the main tank.

That was today's fun :lol:

 

[DragonGT83]

if its been 2 weeks since shes held the fry are pretty much free swimmers. if you don't have another tank keep a close eye on her so she doesn't suck any of the fry through any openings as this could very well happen. i've even seen my 1" youngsters eat newborn fry through various breeder baskets, just be cautious.

 

[cichlidaholic]

Give the fry the tank and put the mom back in the main tank. :thumb:

Kim

 

[D-007]

Well, I have about 17 fry that are now free-swimming and the mom is NOT eating them - even though I know she was hungry and they swam right next to her. She watches over them intently, especially when I'm near the tank.

I gave the fry some finely crushed flake for them to eat until I get the hatchery working right. I gave mom some food too which she readily ate. Either tomorrow or the day after, I'll put her back into the main tank. I just want to allow her to get some R&R so that she doesn't get sick or too pestered by the male when she goes back to the main tank.

I'm kinda proud of her for not eating them and showing how good a mom she is.

 

[cichlidaholic]

Leaving mom in for a couple of days usually isn't a problem, but I've made the mistake of doing it before (of course with some fry I really, really wanted) and within hours, she ate them.

They must not have too good of a memory! :lol:

I don't think I would starve myself for weeks and then turn around and eat the very thing I starved myself over!

Kim

 

[D-007]

Today, after removing all the decor, I put the mom back into the main tank. Then I carefully siphoned out some gunk, counted how many fry I had and put the decor back in.

I have 19 Ngara fry and will enjoy raising them.

Thanks to all who tagged along with this thread, I really enjoyed the input and advice, and if I can get the camera to co-operate, I'll get a picture in here to finish it off as I know we all love pictures :lol:

Regards,
D

 

[Gibbs]

Congrat

 

[Dewdrop]

Well done :thumb: Can't wait to see pics.

 

[D-007]

I know it's been a while but here are a couple of pictures of the youngsters from my 1st batch. Only 11 have survived until now and I put my losses down to the HOB I had running in the tank at the time. I have sinced changed the filter to a DIY one, feed them twice a day and doing a 10% water change every day.

The tank that they are currently in is a 10g but they will soon be moved to a 20g long which is currently housing my 2nd batch.

Yep, 2nd batch were released by mom on the 19th and she is currently in there with them but I've put here in one of those breeder net things by herself to give her R&R. She definitely doesn't like it but she won't be in there for too long. This also prevents her from being tempted to eat her young.

Here are the pictures:

 

[bac3492]

Congrats, this will be a constant situation with that male around. Even with just the one mom, she will be spawning all the time!

 

[Eric C.]

D-007, congrats on the fry.

I have a question about your DIY filter. How well does it work and what exactly did you use to make it? Thanks

Eric

 

[Nor Cal Cichlid]

looks like a slurpy cup. I see holes at the bottom with bio media inside and a house at the top looks no pump from the house though? Looks pretty neat a clever.

 

[Dewdrop]

Yeah a slurpy cup with an airstone in the bottom, rocks (looks like), bio media, and pot scratchers. I don't get how it would filter though. Would probably filter good if water was drawn through it but I don't see how that could happen. Hope somebody can explain. Maybe I'm missing something. I'm not very mechanical minded anyway :roll: .

 

[ashilli48]

It is the same principle as a sponge filter. The airline pumps air into the media and as the air bubbles travel up the void they leave causes water to rush in following the air bubbles. This eventually cycles the water in the tank over the media, feeding the bacteria growing there.

If you want to use your HOB in the future just put something over the intake, like panty hose, etc. I bought some pond filters (look like sponges) cut a length to fit over the intake, zip tied it to the intake and on the bottom to close up. Now the water flows but the fry don't. The sponge grows bacteria on it as well.

 

[D-007]

ashilli48 explained how it works perfectly :thumb:

It wasn't the HOB sucking them up into the filter, as I did use a fine mesh media bag over the intake. Not really sure what the problem was but once I switch filters, no more losses occurred :?

 

[Dewdrop]

Thanks for the explination ashilli48. I never understood how or why sponge filters worked either :lol: Makes sence to me now but I'm assuming it's really as much or more bio filtration as it is actually removeing particles, correct? Although I'm sure it removes some particles because in my little 1.5 tank that has no filter only an airstone, the airstone really gets gunked up. I always wondered why since air is coming out (I would think it would blow particles away) but even the stone itself is acting a little as a filter hmmmmm I might just fasten a sponge onto it. :thumb: