A. baenschi spawn ?! (cross fingers :)

[steph]

maybe maybe maybe....

Yesterday afternoon, 30 litre water change (in 180l tank) with 20ml of tetra blackwater extract and 4 litres of rainwater and a minor furniture rearrangement. Followed by a tiny feed of some live mosquito larvae.

Female A. baenschi went bright yellow, the black markings became so intense she had a black rim on the edge of the caudal fin, and started seriously investigating the pot in her corner of the tank. She now chases the other female all the way to the far end of the tank and quickly drives off any other apisto that comes near. Ive seen the male in the vicinity and they did a tiny bit of displaying, but otherwise he's back down the other end of the tank. I have seen him go into the pot.

Today she's still in and out of the pot and guarding her territory. I got them some live brine shrimp as well, and will feed that again tomorrow morning.

Very excited but trying not to be too hopeful *laf*

The female A. trifasciata has gone lemon yellow as well, looks fat and her ovipositor is close to descending, but damnit she wants the same corner of the tank as the female baenschi.. (stupid girl!)

I better start thinking about fry food. and a second tank ;)

its so much easier to discuss these things when there are wrigglers present ;)

steph

[Th0mas]

Congratulation Steph. The male I've bought recently isn't quite ready for fatherhood yet, but getting close (he's fatten up and beating all other apistos away (including the fat female beanschi) except for the two panduro (he knows who not to pick on).

It sounds like you really need that additional tank on the dining table :lol:

Maybe it's time to have a chat with Dave again.

Thomas.

[steph]

Good news so far, the female is still rigorously guarding her pot and the male seems to have joined in the act as well.

Anyone bred these before ? or have any doco on them? Specifically time to free swimming ?

I'ld like to pull some free swimmers - I like to leave a few with the female to keep her happy but also would like to raise some littlies. Sounds like they are becoming common alraedy around here!

Cheers

Steph

PS: Must go order some fry food and bbs !

[parkap]

Well done Steph. Hope you get a good batch.

My male is really colouring up well but not showing any interest in the females. He's getting some amazing colouration over his body.

p.

[Th0mas]

After notice the pair has been courting this morning, it is confirmed that the pair has done the deed during the day and I can see eggs (some of them) inside the cave/pot.

Compared to other more slender species (trifasciata, bitaeniata, agassizi, iniridae), the female remains rather plum after the spawn. I wasn't certain until I had a peek with a torch and noticed the eggs inside.

The only thing to do now is to wait........

Thomas.

[steph]

Congrats Thomas

Nothing happened with my spawn although the female remains quite dominant with fairly intense black colours.

Cheers

Steph

[Th0mas]

well good news doesn't last.....

Had another look this morning, those eggs that I can spot last night are no longer there. But the female is still guarding, and I cannot see what else is on the roof of the cave.

Will need to wait for a few more days to be certain, but not looking good at the moment.

Thomas.

[Noddy65]

Well done you two..hope things turn out ok.

Mike :D

[Th0mas]

Spoke too soon, the female has cleaned up the eggs. Although she's still staying inside the cave, pretty sure eggs are gone as she's not as serious in driving the male out of her sight.

Not exactly sure of the reason, will tweak the water again.

Thomas.

[Th0mas]

Better news this time - the pair spawned again on Thursday and this morning I can see wigglers :blob

Finally - things are hatchings.......

Will try to take a shot at the new family later.

Thomas.

[Th0mas]

Here's a pic of them (not too clear), there are still more eggs left on the cave's ceiling. Expecting more hatching during the day.

Thomas.

[Noddy65]

Well done Thomas
Where did you get that great cave?

Mike

[mcloughlin2]

I've seen caves similar to that at bunnings and flower power... :wink:


Well done Thomas
Where did you get that great cave?

Mike

[Noddy65]

Thanks
Ive gotta go to Bunnings today anyway so I might check it out.

Mike

[steph]

Congrats Thomas - lets hope you get them to fre swimming.

I cant work out what my female is doing. She is still hyper aggressive, especially to the other female baenschi who has now retreated to behind the filter outlet. :(

Ive seen her go from pot to pot to pot, in and out of each, and the pot I thought she abandoned on Friday now has fresh sand on top again, sure sign she has been housecleaning. She may be moving the wriglers which Ive heard they can do.

I guess time will tell :D

Steph

[Th0mas]

That's great Steph!!

Just got home and have found the female have collected the lot in the corner of the cave. There's quite a few number of them.

I think the female do move them around, and I've seen her move them away from the light when I watch them.

Will try to take a clearer photo of them later.

Thomas.

[Th0mas]

Well done Thomas
Where did you get that great cave?

Mike

Got the cave off a LFS - a specially made one for apisto. These one are used in many of the Asian breeders (this LFS is also Asian run)

Thomas.

[Th0mas]

Some photos of day 1,my camera skill isn't too great (nor my camera).

Thomas.

[Noddy65]

Very nice Thomas...they look great.

Mike

[Noddy65]

Keep the pics coming Thomas...its not boring at all.
Ive a friend who wants to knock some of those caves up...what are the rough dimensions..Im thinking about 10 cm x 5 cm x 5cm or thereabouts?

Mike

[Th0mas]

That dimension sounds about right.

But for the more slender species, it may prefer one with smaller opening - a vase type.

Thomas.

[Th0mas]

Update with day 2 - not significantly different from yesterday according to the picture (need a camera with macro zoom), but close up from human eye, the fry has grown and the eyes are very visible.

Thomas.

[parkap]

Looks great Thomas.

It might my imagination but it looks to me like you can actually make out feint dark spots on that photo that could be eyes on the fry - otherwise I think I've been looking at brine shrimp too long. :D

[Th0mas]

Yes - those are eyes. You can see a bit of the tail as well, it's just the poor photo quality. Just don't know how to do this properly without a decent camera (it was okay until I need to take fish photo).

Thomas.

[catfishbone]

Hi Thomas,

what kind of camera do you have ??? you might be able to get macro filter for it ... :)

Just a thought ... :)

Andrie

[Th0mas]

I've got two (well sort of) digital cameras. The newer one (Sony DSC-W1) lacks the manual focus ability, making it almost impossible to focus as the unit keeps on fixing the focus on the glass or larger items behind the tank. The other one is a DV (Digital Video camcorder) which supports good zoom and manual focus. It is a relatively old model (think it's a second generation, dated back to 98) so I'm not too hopeful there will be anything in the market that maybe suitable to the unit. After all, camera gears is always expensive in OZ, so will wait for my next oversea trip.

Thomas.

[catfishbone]

Hi Thomas,

the problem with compact digital camera is that once it pass the optical zoom, the image will be grainy ...

the other thing that you could do is that take it with a maximum megapixel and then use photoshop to cut the one that you want and then resize it to under 128 Kb as that is the max size to upload for forum.

HTH ... :)

andrie

[Th0mas]

I never liked the digital zoom anyway, and setup the camera not to use it. However it is the poor lightings that make it so difficult. It's almost impossible to get an accurate focus for frys inside the cave, and shots at poor lighting condition is the main cause of the poor image.

Thomas.

[catfishbone]

yes ... the poor lighting and small fry will add up to not clear images ... :?

I tried to take a picture of my rams fry before, even with digital SLR + macro filter that didn't help either ... i think they are too small and still see through that's why it's hard to focus on it ... also if use slow shutter speed then if fry move and that's it ... it's going to be blurry ...

will show you the clearest shot I had with my rams fry when i find it ... :)

andrie

[catfishbone]

this is the clearest I can get ... :)

[Th0mas]

Oh dear - now I don't feel so bad about poor quality photos :oops:

Thomas.

[Th0mas]

Well this is probably the most best one so far, at least the fry is more clearly visible (probably has something to do with their growth as well :P )

Anyway, here's day 3.

Given there's not that much different over the last couple of days (from the eye of the camera, but I can see the fry is developing black pattern on their little body already when observed in close), I'll update when there's more obvious development with them.

Thomas.

[parkap]

Thomas, are you feeding them anything yet?

[Th0mas]

Nothing yet, they're still absorbing their sac.

By the time they're ready for food, there are bits and pieces around in the tank where the parent has left around which I'm certain there will be something microscopic they can pick on. Soon after that, they should be able to chase after BBS.

This morning, I was surprised to find the cave empty and the female out. Upon closer inspection, she has taken the kids out for a swim - some are free swimmers already. Expect the remaining to swim freely by this evening.

Thomas.

[steph]

Congrats Thomas, glad one of the girls is doing her job!

Cheers

Steph

[Th0mas]

Steph,

Any luck with yours so far?

I lost the other big female for unknown reason :cry:

But out of the remainder, I'm certain at least another is a female - but she's a bit of a dwarf (kind of like the "ballooned" version). Despite she displaying to the spare male, I won't breed her.

The other is potentially another female, still growing.

Thomas.

[Th0mas]

As expected, they've got to free swimmer!! My guess is mum's been out with them for the whole day.

Pity I didn't get the chance to take a shot tonight before the light goes out (and mum quickly collected the family back into the cave).

Fed some BBS tonight, and it's too big as expected. I've lightly sprinkled some Sera fry food in case some of them gets a little hungary for their first day out (fine string of poo is visible on some, so my guess is they'll need to feed).

Will try to take a few shots tomorrow morning.

Thomas.

[parkap]

Tht's excellent Thomas. Great to see one of your spawns going all the way. You haven't had much luck lately. I hope you've got a good looking male in that batch... :D

[Th0mas]

Thanks Peter.

Here's day 4 - sort of..... taken this morning.

A much more clearer photo of the fry.

As the tank is bare bottom with black plastic base, it is almost impossible to see the kids that are on the bottom (some shade of them is visible). Luckily the wall in the background is rather light in colour (maknig it lots easier to focus).

Having the water in brown colour doesn't help either......


Thomas.

[catfishbone]

Hey thomas ...

did you reserve any fish from sls ?? if you do then i've seen them all ... ;)

like the mamore tho .... :)

and i get myself a replacement for my pucallpaensis ... hehehe :)

[arjay]

Hey thomas ...

did you reserve any fish from sls ?? if you do then i've seen them all ... ;)

like the mamore tho .... :)

and i get myself a replacement for my pucallpaensis ... hehehe :)You didn't see the Agassizi "Tefe Bauana" by any chance did you? With any luck they'll be sending my pair off tomorrow so I'm hoping they're nice specimens...

[catfishbone]

Hi Arjay ...

don't think i saw that ... coz i was hurried back to work ... hahaha :)
went there during my lunch break ... :lol:

sorry ...

andrie

[arjay]

Okay, thanks for that. I'm confident that they'll be nice...
BTW, sorry for temporarily hijacking the thread...

[Th0mas]

Hey thomas ...

did you reserve any fish from sls ?? if you do then i've seen them all ... ;)

like the mamore tho .... :)

and i get myself a replacement for my pucallpaensis ... hehehe :)

Yeah, I did. And those mamore you saw are probably ones I reserved (and are now in my possession).

I got there a bit late - around 1:30pm.

Thomas.

[Th0mas]

You didn't see the Agassizi "Tefe Bauana" by any chance did you? With any luck they'll be sending my pair off tomorrow so I'm hoping they're nice specimens...

Did not see the Tefe Bauana in the shop, not sure if they brought them into the shop as sometime they go straight from the quarantine facility to the airport.

Thomas.

[Noddy65]

Oh goodie
Maybe mine on on their way as well......

Mike

[Th0mas]

Back to the original topic - the baenschi.

Photo of day 5 - fry are happy to eat BBS. This is taken after their meal, their orange belly is clearly visible after it's filled with BBS.

Thomas.

[catfishbone]

hi Thomas ...

anymore update on your fry ??


andrie

[Th0mas]

They're doing very well, but don't seems to be that much different from their free swimmer stage. Hence I'll do an update over several days (perhaps weekly) - hopefully this will show more different between the photos than the daily ones.

Thomas.

[Noddy65]

Thomas
What are you husbandry parameters. Water ph, temp etc, water changes, additives etc. Diet etc.

Mike

[Th0mas]

You have PM.

Thomas.

[Th0mas]

A few pics for day 9 (today), these are taken after their dinner (BBS).

Thomas.

[Robdog]

Great pics man. Keep em coming. You have about at least 45+ there

[Th0mas]

How did you guess that number? Not all are captured in the pics as they tend to wander away a bit more now. Have you been counting the shadows :P/

I estimate to be around 50-ish at the moment, won't know how many will be left when they reach juvenile size.

Thomas.

[Robdog]

No shadow counting, just what I could see in one of those pics. :)
Is there normally a big drop off before they reach juvi stage?

[Th0mas]

No shadow counting, just what I could see in one of those pics. :)
Is there normally a big drop off before they reach juvi stage?

Depending on the condition of the tank and what else's are there. Normally not unless mum decide some aren't looking well and she'll do the culling.

Now they're 2 weeks old and haven't noticed any losses yet.

Thomas.

[Robdog]

Must we keep prompting you for updates Thomas :?:
Even if nobody else cares...

[Th0mas]

Was going to update last night but worked back. I'll have the pics update weekly, so it'll happen sometime this week (tonight if time permits).

I believe 95% are developing nicely, mum is doing a fine job and keeping dad in sight constantly. Fry has start to wander further than mum can keep track of, fortunately dad isn't interest in a bit of shushi in his diet.

Some (say 5%, I can only pick out an odd one here and there) are a little slow in growth - seems to be slightly stunned. Hopefully they'll pick up.

Thomas.

[foo]

YaHooOOo Dats brilliant... good looking frys... definitely keep us posted or we'll bug u on a daily basis... hia hia hia :lol:

[Th0mas]

Okay - here's day 18. Getting the hang of taking some clearer pics but the frys are scattered around lots more so many aren't captured in the pics.

Thomas.

[arjay]

They're looking great. I really like A. baenschi and would be thrilled if I got so many through to this stage, I'm happy with my A. cacatuoides fry but they're not exactly a challenge.

If you decide to sell any down the track and don't mind shipping to Adelaide keep me in mind... :wink:

[Th0mas]

I've not decided on their future as yet, but will be a while longer if they're going back into the market as I would like to establish a reasonable population with mixed bloodline at home first. Perhaps looking at the 4th quarter of this year to be earliest (if things goes well - you know Murphy will be involve whether you like it or not).

In the mean time, mum has granted dad limited access to the kids - after 3 days of negotiations (yes, they were having some tough argument over the weekend and last night dad was allow to get close to the kids without being chase away). Looks like the pair is in preparation for the next batch, as the two of them are checking out the state of the cave. More fingers crossed :wink: .

Thomas.

[arjay]

No worries - I'd probably need another 6 months to convince the Wife that I need another tank anyhow... Although she did say if I agree to move back to Sydney I can have as many tanks as will fit, how many tanks can you fit into a 2br apartment?:lol:

Anyway I hope your good luck with them continues...

~Russell.

[Th0mas]

No worries - I'd probably need another 6 months to convince the Wife that I need another tank anyhow... Although she did say if I agree to move back to Sydney I can have as many tanks as will fit, how many tanks can you fit into a 2br apartment?:lol:

Anyway I hope your good luck with them continues...

~Russell.

Thanks for the well wishes. As to answer your question of how many tank can fit in a 2br apartment - that all depends on how hard you try.

Thomas.

[bushie]

just one.
but it`s gotta be a bloody big one :D

[Robdog]

Well I've got six and I'm nearly at capacity fish wise. Space wise I could fit a few more. Not going to though because I'm only gonna have to move them when we move house. Emphasis on "I'M"

[Th0mas]

Well - here's day 27 (almost 4 weeks!!). The number of them are stable and growing nicely.

Mum and dad were having a fair amount of fighting over the week, it turns out dad wanted a second lot and his wish was granted this morning :blob2 . Checked the pot and I can see some eggs stucked to the roof, this time mum isn't too fuss about spending time inside.

Thomas.

[Th0mas]

And here's the family shot - sort of.... kids are about.....

Thomas.

[Dan]

Awesome

great pics :)

[Noddy65]

Very nice pics and even nicer fish there Thomas.
Mike

[Th0mas]

Thanks Mike.

It is very difficult to get the camera's auto focus to lock in to the fry, hence the fry photo is always a bit blur (had to move my hand a bit forward or backward to try and shift the focus to the fry, sometime it works but not usually).

Thomas.

[Noddy65]

The male is really developing that 'head heavy' look that makes these fish look so spectacular.

Mike

[Th0mas]

Tonight I just couldn't resist, and move the pot a bit closer to the glass so I can take a count - there's at least 55 of them inside :shock: .

Took a couple of shots as well, these are now 2 days old and are fertiled (not turning white). Unfortunately the pot isn't close enough to take a clear photo of the whole cluster, only a few were able to be seen from the camera's angle.

Thomas.

[catfishbone]

can see the two little eyes on some of them ... :)
good on you thomas ... :)

andrie

[Th0mas]

The expected hatch date is around Tuesday, there embryo should be more visible tonight. Will try to take a couple of shots again if time permits.

Thomas.

[steph]

oooooohhhh baby fish are so cute !!! :D

Congrats thomas - well done on such a big batch :)

Now if I can just get mine to get past laying eggs and do something useful with them.....

BTW: Come look at my boy some time, he is awesome. The dorsal extensions are so long, the top half is bright yellow and it folds over - like a horses mane, except when he's excited and he is big now, twice the length of the girls. Will try and post pics soon.

Hmm think I can set up another tank on my desk in the study (I think this is just Dave trying to get me to tidy it up ;) ) So I might do some more shifting around this weekend.

[Th0mas]

Now I need to setup a second tank for the second pair of Inka (the female is about the right size and she's fattening up nicely). The problem is - finding the room to put the tank.

Will be hitting a major capacity probem soon - Inka fry need to grow out while over 100 cory metae egg close to hatching (today or tomorrow) where these will eventually need another tank to grow out with.

How do you setup a tank of decent size on a desk? I cannot even find room on the desk for a computer monitor.

Thomas.

[Noddy65]

I wish I had your problems Thomas...too many fry. My female nijsseni has just gone from courting the male just before lunch to laying belly up on the bottom about 30 minutes ago. I cut her open and she had a nice big belly full of eggs...

These fish just die so easily?

Mike

[Th0mas]

Thanks Mike :P

Any conclusion on the cause of death? Would be nice to know. Maybe the male has a preference to sex, perhaps you shuold collect the evidents, place him in custody and read hm his right before arranging a trial.

Sorry Mike, just couldn't resist. Please let us know the cause of death if you intend to do a post mortem (you're a vet, right).

Thomas.

[Noddy65]

No official cod (cause of death). I chopped her open on the kitchen bench, i just wanted to see if she had eggs..there wont be an official pm...Im on holidays.
Mike

[Th0mas]

3rd day of eggs, little eyes are becoming more visible.....

[Th0mas]

Eggs gone - probably hatched while I'm at work, and quickly gone to those elder brothers and sisters. Was wrong to have so much trust with the female...... :cry:

Buggered that, was planning to move them out tonight anyway so I siphon them all out into a temporary tank for the time being (until I can setup a growout tank for them). In the mean time, it's power feeding time for the mum and dad.

Thomas.

[Robdog]

What are you using to condition these guys?

[Th0mas]

Food wise is nothing special, just BBS, frozen bloodworm, discus granule, etc. A variety of food and remove uneaten ones in the morning.

So basically just power feeding.

Thomas.

[Th0mas]

Now the mum has gone nuts - she's been collecting air from a leak in the sponge filter pipe and releases them in the cave. Now the cave's inside is full of air and there's no way she can spawn like she did last time.

Depression :?:

The male has been wonder what she's up to, checking out the new decoration in the cave regularly.

Thomas.

[Robdog]

That does sound a little strange.
I followed your lead yesterday and picked up some Inca's for myself. They seem really timid and are spending a lot of time hiding in their half-pot but I guess it'll take a bit of time for them to get settled in.
What kind of ph are you keeping your guys at?

[Robdog]

I guess I could've asked it like this too.

Thomas
What are you husbandry parameters. Water ph, temp etc, water changes, additives etc. Diet etc.

Mike

[Th0mas]

Nothing really special, just had peat in the tank and feed them up nicely.

pH is around 4.6 - unknown hardness.
Water change is only to bump up the pH of the tank as peat will keep on dragging it down.

Thomas.

[Th0mas]

And this is the "gas chamber" she's created :shock:

[Th0mas]

And now - the kids in their own tank (at 33 days old). Only one accountable death.

Please excuse the Glad wrap on the tank, it doesn't have a lid and it is the easiest way to reduce evaporation.

[parkap]

They're looking great mate.

[Robdog]

You'll have to make sure the cave doesn't float away!! I was expecting to see a few bubbles but thats out of control! :shock:
Maybe she needs counselling or therapy

[Th0mas]

Maybe she needs counselling or therapy

Had an idea - toss one of the fry back to see if she got out of it. It took 30 seconds before she snap it up. In the past, she has done similar but always spat them back out - not this time :cry:

Buggered.... and she went on with collecting air from the surface soon after. At least she has stopped collecting them in the pot (well it's saturated already) and just release a mouthful of air at the bottom of the tank.

Thomas.

[Robdog]

I never saw the attraction with the Inca's to be honest. That is until you started posting about your spawn Thomas. Now I'm hooked on the little bastards.
My new pair has settled in pretty well after about a week and some peat flavoured water thrown in. I'm not sure about the pair you picked up but my male is awesome. Brilliant dorsal finnage and colouration, just waiting for the female to age a bit and earn her "stripes". Can't wait to see if they spawn. Then you might be forced to swap some fry with me! :D 8-)

[Th0mas]

Sounds great Rob.

These little fish don't really sell themselve too well in the shop, so it really need people like us to promote them.

The male I took was net by Chris, as you know how well the tank is decorated - I wish I could pick a second but unfortunately it'll take forever to get them out from their hiding spots (as soon as the net goes in, they disappear - you know the story).

As for the little female, she isn't looking too well at the moment (might be beaten up by others). I've taken her out in a hospital tank and hopefully her condition don't deteriorate.

Thomas.

[Robdog]

From memory there was a few more males than females in that tank. There were two females that were always visible but they were a little sickly. I stuck my hand in and could have grabbed it out with my fingers.
Do you know how far these guys are from being wild?? F1, F2?

[Th0mas]

Yeah, they were male heavy.

As for extra female, I might be able to get back to you in a week time.

In the mean time, mine (spare female) is still in the hospital.

Don't know how many generation these are, shouldn't be too many as the Inka is only recently discovered.

Thomas.

[Robdog]

The current fry that you have (in this thread) are from a wild pair correct?

[Th0mas]

Yup, these are F1.

Thomas.

[Robdog]

Well this trade swap might take place earlier than I expected. Don't want to count my chickens etc but there's been a bit of gravel rearranging around their cave and she won't come out for more than a few seconds.
Here's hoping!

[Robdog]

Well it's confirmed. 8-) All I can see is 2 eggs on the roof of the pot. So maybe the others have just hatched or maybe there is only 2 full stop. Can't see any wrigglers in the gravel yet so I'll wait and see how they go.

[Th0mas]

Congratulation Rob!!

Are you adding anything in the tank? What else are in there with them?

My spawning female is coming out of her depression and getting close to the next spawn (probably within the week).

Thomas.

[Robdog]

They are in a little breeding tank by themselves. I have't done anything special with the water except for adding a little peat water and some of the Seachem South American Cichlid Salt. Seems to make them quite comfortable in there.
Can't see the eggs in there right now so I'm not sure what happened or what's going to happen. Stay tuned

[Th0mas]

Just as expected - tonight I got home and found her with a new batch of eggs :blob

As she has stopped collecting air for 2 weeks now, hopefully she's fully recovered from the depression.

Not so clear photo of the eggs (thanks to my camera handling skill), can't see all of them but looks to be in good numbers (given both fish are considerable bigger now). Keeping my fingers cross now - hopefully wigglers will start to show by Sunday.

Also fry at 45 days old, some are starting to show their body pattern.

Thomas.

[Robdog]

Good stuff mate! Mine are all gone so time for a water change and start feeding them up again I spose

[Th0mas]

The new batch are getting close to hatch - this usually happen when eggs starting to fall off from the ceiling to the base of the cave.

Perhaps hatching may start tomorrow.

Thomas.

[Th0mas]

The lot started to hatch on Saturday morning, and all are out by the afternoon.

Here's photo taken on Saturday followed by tonight.

Thomas.

[Robdog]

Great photos mate. What camera and settings are you using?
There looks to be a fair few in there

[Th0mas]

It's nothing special - a Sony DSC-W1 (5M with 3x optical zoom).

The biggest problem with this is it has no manual focus, zooming into small object in close up is almost impossible. I normally ended up with focus with something larger near the area of interest and move the camera slightly to take the shot. It is trial and error, and good thing about digital photo is you can keep snaping until you find one that is clear (on that little 2 inch screen is quite difficult to notice if it is exact or almost, hence some photos are slightly blurred).

Pretty standard settnig, only allow to choose from the camera's template. Nothing special.

With the newer camera that supports macro zoom, I think they will produce better/clearer closeup every shot.

Thomas.

[Robdog]

Just looking at your female, it seems that her vertical bars are very prominant. I guess because she is in "mother mode". Does she differ from this when she is not tending for fry?
Reason I ask is that my females vertical bars seem to come and go and are not complete lines. I am putting this down to the fact she might be a bit immature and has regular mood changes.

Rob

[Th0mas]

Think it's got to do with maturity. She wasn't as bright yellow nor the bars was as visible when I first had her.

BTW - all frys are free swimmers since Wednesday.

Thomas.

[fishgeek]

the vertical bars are as you bassume a mood thing
andrew

[Robdog]

Yeah I thought that was the case. Sometimes she has really clear markings but the verticle bars just don't seem to meet up completely. At the moment she is really dark so I don't know what kind of mood she's in

[KillieOrCory]

Thomas,

:thumb Love your work :D
Well done! Nice pics too!!!

[Robdog]

Any recent photos Thomas? What is their size at the moment?

Just curious because my caca fry seem to be taking an age to grow up and mine were ANZAC babies as I like to call them so nearing three months old. They are still with their mum too because of space issues. She couldn't care less

[Th0mas]

Nothing really exciting - the first batch are growing up nicely while the second are also doing well (2 loss so far).

The first spawn by the beta pair is doing well - only around 20 in the lot (really small when compared with the first female's final spawn ~ 120).

They tend to take forever to grow at the early stage. Once they've pass the 2 months, they'll grow quicker as they can start to take other food and supplements (bloodworm, etc).

I'll try and do a photo update in the weekend.

Thomas.

[Th0mas]

Latest update - been a while so here go.

The first lot has moved into a growout tank at 84 days old. Cannot fit them all in the photo so here's a shot of some that are better in focus. The tank is VERY BROWN due to a bag of peat. Only lost 3 out of the lot with this wigglers.

The second batch from the first pair (brothers and sisters of ones in photos) are going well and moved into another growout tank. Lost 4 so far (two were from the move), no photos of them.

The first batch of the second pair has been doing well (20-ish of them), and have moved into another growout tank due to the next spawn - where all has hatched today. Attached is the photo of the second pair's 2nd spawn - also VERY RED.

Thomas.