another strange occurence.

[samir]

http://www.discusforums.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=11288
i separated this pair from their fry and put them back in the community tank about 4 days ago. As they were causing absolute carnage in the C tank, due to lack of space i decided to scrap the red melon fry and put this pair in the red melon tank.

the red melon fry are around 4-5 days free swimming, the fry from this pair are around three weeks old and in a different tank, when i put them in the red tank, there were about a dozen or so red fry that i missed, in there. Upon seeing the fry the male instantly darkened and within a few minutes all the fry were eating off him, now the female has joined in.
anybody had this experience ??? :? :? :?

[Merrilyn]

Yes I have Samir. It's unusual, but it does happen. Some fish have such a strong parenting instinct, that they will adopt any fry, even if there is a big age difference.

[samir]

thanks Merrilyn

[samir]

they are refusing to get out of parenting mode so I've decided to let them have the fry. only a few left so i guess it shouldn't be too much of a load on them. when i put them back in the community tank they start protecting imaginary fry so thats not working out too well.
Thanks again Merrilyn, I had a feeling that if anyone would know it would be you.

[Merrilyn]

Now if we could just find the "on" switch for some of the stubborn pairs, we'd be laughing :wink:

[samir]

thankfully so far every fish I've had has come with the need for an off button rather than an on , I hope I haven't spoken too soon :lol:

[discus lover01]

i have had about 10 pairs that will adopt other fry at any age and if you can get the fry at nearly same age any pair will take any othr babies i have tried it many many times to prove it and i may have lost 1 batch out of 100 batches of fry.
Maybe i am just lucky with it and had all good parents but that was when i bred big time b4.

[mistakes r crucial]

No its not just luck Brett, I've had plenty of pairs that will take other fry. I've also had a situation similar to Samir where fry have either been left behind or they have been in a partitioned 4ft tank and got through the partition and the pair the other side have taken them on no problem. A fairly regular occurrence.
MAC