[Bubba Will]

Hi,

I have a 20 Gal Reg with 200 GPH HOB filter and a large sponge filter. As far as caves and such I have 2 6" clay pots and 4 3" PVC "T" connectors. I have 2 pairs of cons, One male is about 4.5" and the female is about 3" - 3.5". The second pair is very small male is 2" +/- and the female is about 1.5", I only bought the second pair due to the female's coloring. The small female has a belly the color of a red neon tetra with nice green and yellow fins. I have a 60 Gal grow out tank waiting for fry to set up. The Cons are to supply feeders for my 75 Gal CA tank and I plan on keeping some of the exceptionally colorful offspring I think. I refuse to buy feeders from shops due to fear of introducing parasites and such. I have a spare 10 Gal I can put the small ones in just in case there are aggression issues, but all seems calm its been about 10 days now. Should this be okay? Please let me know what ya'll think I am open to all constructive comments and viewpoints! I will try to post a few pics ASAP as well...

 

[MonteSS]

I would put the cons in the 60g and use the 20g for a growout.

....Bill

 

[Bubba Will]

I was thinking the 20 would be too small for the number of fry... I don't know how fast they grow but I figured 100 or so fish would overwelm a 20 before my fish ate them all.

 

[MonteSS]

You can not keep two pairs of breeding cons in a 20g. So you dont have much of a choice.

....Bill

 

[mlancaster]

Hi Bubba Will,

I agree with MonteSS. You could possibly do one pair in the 20 and one in the 10; but I still think both in 60g with distinct breading sites on each side with a line of sight barrier in the middle would be best (I like to use a wall of fake plants).

As for the grow outs, when they are just free swimming you will prefer to have them in the smaller tanks to be able to keep up on water changes and feed them; they will get lost in the 60 gallon and food will go to waste. In addition you should feed them to your bigger cichlids when still pretty small; as they get larger their dorsal spines get stronger and could potentially be a problem depending on your larger fish eating them. Once they do get to big to be in the 10 and 20 you could probably put them back in the 60 gallon.

Just some ideas and my opinion, I am not sure on what will work best.

Thanks,
Matt

 

[homerl]

To give you a idea,I've seen a 6" male and his female with fry in a 120 gallon keeping a oscar and red devil in one corner and would not let them move from it.I couldn't believe it if I didn't see it myself.
Pound for pound I don't know if there is a more aggresive fish when breeding or with fry.

 

[Bubba Will]

That makes a lot of sense, I don't know why I thought the 20 would be big enough... I will setting up the 60 tonight

 

[Bubba Will]

Well I did not have the time make the space and build a stand for my 60gal so I put the small pair I the 10 gal and then the female laid eggs "she is 1.5 inch at most" after 3 or 4 days the eggs were gone when I got home from work. is it common for the female to move or hide the freshly hatchted eggs? I think she moved them behing the sponge filter but did not want to disturb. Is this common or is it more likly she ate them?

 

[NativePredator]

Well I did not have the time make the space and build a stand for my 60gal so I put the small pair I the 10 gal and then the female laid eggs "she is 1.5 inch at most" after 3 or 4 days the eggs were gone when I got home from work. is it common for the female to move or hide the freshly hatchted eggs? I think she moved them behing the sponge filter but did not want to disturb. Is this common or is it more likly she ate them?

They probably were balnks so she ate them, fish dont move eggs to hide them, they do however eat them quite frequently.

 

[remi]

My female Con moved the wigglers the other day Because my son was watching her too much. They are free swimming now. Good luck.

 

[Bubba Will]

I'm not sure if they were duds so to speak. The eggs looked light brown and they lasted 3 to 4 days with the female fussing over them the whole time. If they did hatch and she hid them as I suspect, how many days until they are at least semi mobile?

Thank you all for your patients regarding noobish posts!

 

[remi]

3 or 4 days they should be moving around a bit.

 

[Bubba Will]

Sorry for the delay... life has been happening. My 1 1/2" female did have good eggs and I had 70 to 100 fry and I still have 60 or so. At almost 2 months they are about 1/2" and begining to grow faster. They were so small I did not believe they were fish. The female has the most vivid and bright colors and she gave me 10 - 12 albino or pink fry. Her colors in the right light her color is almost Neon tetra bright, I can't wait to see how the offspring look. My large pair are a bust the female if she is a she has one row of orange scales on her tummy and has never spawned! I just put the small male into a 10 gal as the female was wanting to spawn again and I want to grow this batch another month or so before I let them at it again. How bad would it be to grow out one of the pink males to breed with its mom. I ask because I have never seen pinks in my area and would love to have a pink with some of mom's color. Let me know what y'all think, oh and I feed them flake 3 times a day and a home made frozen blend of shrimp, tilapia, clam and beef liver once a day to boost their protien for growth. Thank all for your time and thoughts!