babies

[jeff8428]

Just had fry yesterday, Was just wondering how long do they stay with the parents? I have read anywhere from 2 to 6 weeks. How long does everyone think. APPRECIATE EVERYONES NPUT

[jeff8428]

ANOTHER PIC

[jeff8428]

ONE MORE

[Hollowman]

Congrats on the free swimmers, it is exciting isn't it.

I was amazed to see the size difference between the parents, just goes to show that stunted fish can breed. I take it the small one is the female?

As for how long will they stay with the parents, like you say, there will be lots of opinions. Personally, I keep mine with the parents for as long as possible. All the time they are feeding off the parents they are building their immune system, which I believe is a major factor in getting them through the 4 week period.
I would though start to feed the live bbs or decaps as soon as you can. I normally start feeding these if they will take it after about a week free swimming.

Make sure you keep the conditions as clean as you can, nasties will hit the fry hard if you don't.

Good luck

Hollowman

[jeff8428]

Yes, it is nice. I just cleaned the tank as well as I could. Not easy to do without sucking out the fry. Any helpful hints on how to do it. I will clean everyday after feeding. So I guess leave them in their until I can tell they are actually hurting the parents. I am like you I never really thought these 2 would breed. They were in a community tank and laid about six times, I kept thinking that it couldn't be those two, but I finally said what the hell and threw them into a breeding tank. three weeks later had these. This is my first batch of free swimmers. I have about 30 more discus about 10 months old can't wait until they start pairing. They are from a really quality breeder. The small one is one I had to take to buy some nicer ones awhile back. The guy was selling all or none.. Anyone have babies from a stunted mother. Did they turn out normal??
Thanks

[Hollowman]

Hi jeff,

Stunting is not normally associated with a genetic flaw, more an environmental one. All things being even, with good care the fry 'should' grow well.

Hollowman

[jasonmomm]

congratulations Jeff, great pics too.

[DIY]

Thanks for posting this, when I scrolled to the first pic my thought was "Wow free swimmmers in a tank with a juvi in it!"

then I realised it wasn't a juvi but one of the parents :lol: :lol: :lol:

Not bad to get your first free swimmers from a "had to take" female :wink:

Good luck with them, will be very interesting to see how the fry go

[waitaki]

congrats - that is a good pairing too!!
sooo small the parent :P :P

[jeff8428]

Thanks for all the comments. The fry do not seem to be staying with the parents. It appears there are about 40 of them and maybe 10 are staying with the parents. Is this normal/ They are onlly one day old so maybe they will start staying with them I hope. I removed the pot from the tank, should I have done that? I thought they were getting seperated because of it. Is there anything else I need to do to the water other than changes after feeding Apreciate your help

[DIY]

You could try lowering the water level to help the fry find the parents. I think removing anything unecessary like the pot is a good idea.

[jeff8428]

fry day 5. There are about as many on the other side

[Hollowman]

Looking good, are you going to hatch some BBS to feed them, you'll need to start thinking about their next food.

H