- Location
- Queens, NY
The fry are 25 days old and this is day one of being released by the father. Was going to let them forage in the sump, but since they are slow swimmers, I didn't think they would survive predation by the ghost shrimps in there. So I moved them into a 5 gallon tank, dumped some calerupa in, and am planning on hatching baby brine every other day. Hopefully there are enough copepods on the calerupa to keep them going in between brine feedings.
Anyway, after observing for a few hours, there is a single fry still in the sump, and the ghost shrimps are lunging after her, but she's a bit too quick for them. She seems to be nipping and eating food out of the current. As for the rest of the school in the 5 gallon, I've tried grinding flakes and cyclopeeze, but if it doesn't move, they wont bite. Acutally the cyclopeeze is a bit too big for them. I guess there's no way to get around live food.
Day 2
The lone fry in the sump is easily avoiding predation by the ghost shrimps, and hiding out in the caluerpa jungle. The parents (which are also in the open area of the sump) doesn't seem interested in her, since she's too deep into the dense foliage. Hopefully, she'll get enough food in the current to sustain her. (I actually believe she'll feed better then the rest of her siblings)
The rest of the fry in the 5 gallon, are eating baby brine pretty hardily, and hopefully, I'll adapt them to cyclopeeze as soon as they get big enough to eat it. I'm planning on training them to eat baby brine directly from a pipet, and once they do that, I'll mix in some cyclopeeze with the baby brine. My ultimate goal is to reintroduce the school back into the sump so they can feed when I feed my reef. (of course this is pending how the lone fry does).
Day 5
Well, haven't seen the lone fry in the sump for 2 days now. Either she's still in there somewhere or...
As for the school in the 5 gallon, they are eating baby brine hardily now, and is also starting to strike at anything interesting. I tried my cyclopeeze today and find that if I squirt it really fast, they will strike at anything. Unfortunately I have seen two fry strike at cyclopeeze chew and spit. Oh well. I'm going to keep mixing it in with the baby brine and keep squirting it at them till they get use to it. Once they get use ot cyclopeeze, it's easy sailing from there on end.
Day 14
Never saw the lone fry in the sump again. With hind sight, now that I know they sleep on the ground, she wasn't going to make it. I've got too many worms and other potential predators in the sand bed. As for the rest of the school, they have grown 50% and I am feeding them enriched baby brine shrimp and alternating with cyclopezee, every other day, though they don't seem to eat the cyclopezee with as much gusto as BBS.
I am also starting to see a lot of aggression between some of them, over what appears to be prime real estate (where the water currents move the fastest).
One Month
The fry are now around 50 days old, or one month after being released from the father. They are doing well, and now they are fed enriched baby brine shrimp every 3rd day and cyclopeeze on all the other days. I try and feed them cyclopeeze twice after I get home from work, and on weekends, they get an extra feeding in the morning. As you can see from the photo, they have doubled in size, and are definately showing aggression towards each other. I'm wondering if at this stage, the males are the only ones showing aggression, and if i can somehow start sorting them into pairs or trios for future distributions. Currently they seem large enough to start eating fresh caviar, which I can pick up from the Japanese supermarket.
Two months (day 80 since fertilization)
The fry have grown in the past month. Half of them have grown to almost an inch in size, while the other half haven't grown at all. Therefore I separated them as shown below 2 weeks ago, when I noticed a small fry being intimidated too much and waste away. The larger fry are very bold and eat cyclopeeze exclusively now. They were easily out competing the smaller ones and chasing them away from food. So, from my experiences with raising cichlids, I'm assuming the large fry are males. The smaller "females" still need to be fed enriched brine shrimps 2 to 3 times a week, as they eat cyclopeeze slowly. While a large male may gobble down 5-10 cyclopeeze per feeding now, the females continue to eat just 1 or 2, as they have for the past month. The low feeding rate is similar to what the males use to eat last month, and as the females grow a bit more, hopefully they will catch up to the males in appitite.
Total count now is 9 males, 6 females (+1 female death).
The parents have just bred again 3 days ago on 10/28 and I plan mixing them with the females in 22 days.
Anyway, after observing for a few hours, there is a single fry still in the sump, and the ghost shrimps are lunging after her, but she's a bit too quick for them. She seems to be nipping and eating food out of the current. As for the rest of the school in the 5 gallon, I've tried grinding flakes and cyclopeeze, but if it doesn't move, they wont bite. Acutally the cyclopeeze is a bit too big for them. I guess there's no way to get around live food.
Day 2
The lone fry in the sump is easily avoiding predation by the ghost shrimps, and hiding out in the caluerpa jungle. The parents (which are also in the open area of the sump) doesn't seem interested in her, since she's too deep into the dense foliage. Hopefully, she'll get enough food in the current to sustain her. (I actually believe she'll feed better then the rest of her siblings)
The rest of the fry in the 5 gallon, are eating baby brine pretty hardily, and hopefully, I'll adapt them to cyclopeeze as soon as they get big enough to eat it. I'm planning on training them to eat baby brine directly from a pipet, and once they do that, I'll mix in some cyclopeeze with the baby brine. My ultimate goal is to reintroduce the school back into the sump so they can feed when I feed my reef. (of course this is pending how the lone fry does).
Day 5
Well, haven't seen the lone fry in the sump for 2 days now. Either she's still in there somewhere or...
As for the school in the 5 gallon, they are eating baby brine hardily now, and is also starting to strike at anything interesting. I tried my cyclopeeze today and find that if I squirt it really fast, they will strike at anything. Unfortunately I have seen two fry strike at cyclopeeze chew and spit. Oh well. I'm going to keep mixing it in with the baby brine and keep squirting it at them till they get use to it. Once they get use ot cyclopeeze, it's easy sailing from there on end.
Day 14
Never saw the lone fry in the sump again. With hind sight, now that I know they sleep on the ground, she wasn't going to make it. I've got too many worms and other potential predators in the sand bed. As for the rest of the school, they have grown 50% and I am feeding them enriched baby brine shrimp and alternating with cyclopezee, every other day, though they don't seem to eat the cyclopezee with as much gusto as BBS.
I am also starting to see a lot of aggression between some of them, over what appears to be prime real estate (where the water currents move the fastest).
One Month
The fry are now around 50 days old, or one month after being released from the father. They are doing well, and now they are fed enriched baby brine shrimp every 3rd day and cyclopeeze on all the other days. I try and feed them cyclopeeze twice after I get home from work, and on weekends, they get an extra feeding in the morning. As you can see from the photo, they have doubled in size, and are definately showing aggression towards each other. I'm wondering if at this stage, the males are the only ones showing aggression, and if i can somehow start sorting them into pairs or trios for future distributions. Currently they seem large enough to start eating fresh caviar, which I can pick up from the Japanese supermarket.
Two months (day 80 since fertilization)
The fry have grown in the past month. Half of them have grown to almost an inch in size, while the other half haven't grown at all. Therefore I separated them as shown below 2 weeks ago, when I noticed a small fry being intimidated too much and waste away. The larger fry are very bold and eat cyclopeeze exclusively now. They were easily out competing the smaller ones and chasing them away from food. So, from my experiences with raising cichlids, I'm assuming the large fry are males. The smaller "females" still need to be fed enriched brine shrimps 2 to 3 times a week, as they eat cyclopeeze slowly. While a large male may gobble down 5-10 cyclopeeze per feeding now, the females continue to eat just 1 or 2, as they have for the past month. The low feeding rate is similar to what the males use to eat last month, and as the females grow a bit more, hopefully they will catch up to the males in appitite.
Total count now is 9 males, 6 females (+1 female death).
The parents have just bred again 3 days ago on 10/28 and I plan mixing them with the females in 22 days.
Last edited:
