Geophagus has laid eggs

[BT Gunner]

Hi guys and gals,

My geos( not sure exactly if its surinamensis,altifron or whatever) will post some picture soon laid some eggs last friday morning. By Saturday night majority of the eggs are gone, you can still see the egg shell on the rock. The pair have not open their mouth at all, i put some food in there and the male seem to suck it in without opening its mouth.
Can someone tell me if thats normal behaviour? Are the eggs eaten or its inside the parents? If inside the parents, how long before the fry comes out?

Should I some of the water in the 160 litre tank?

[ozarowana]

Loos like they are larvophilous. You can stop feeding them as it might make them spit the fry too soon or even swallow them. My altifrons will hold for around 12-14 days. You can strip them around 10-12 days if they are in a tank with other fish or catch the adults and put them into another tank (they may spit when you catch them too).

Post some pics up and I'll try and ID them for you.

[BT Gunner]

i saw the babies swimming together in a big clump tonight, thats about 12 days after the eggs were laid. And then they went back into the parents mouth.

What should I be feeding the parents and babies?
Should I separate them now or when?

[Mattzilla]

i would suggest catching the fry and placing them in a fry saver. it helps when feeding them and keeps them out of dangers way ie filters and other fish

it also eases the pressure on the parenst as they can eat again regularly.

my methos is watching from a distance to see when the parenst spit them out then quickly scoop up the little school with a net and atrsight into a floating fry saver. much easier for you and the fish than stripping them. just have the lid off and net ready on top of the tank. might take a couple of goes to get them all but pretty easy once you get the hang of it

the fry can be fed straight away (well at the age you said anyway) on frozen baby brine shrimp, crushed flake etc

hth
matt

[Mattzilla]

can you post a pic the the parents?