Carlein

hi again, he might be diging a hole to move the eggs to, nah don't bother moving the catfish, they will chase anything away from their eggs because they are really protective. If you can't see any egggs they might be getting ready to lay some, have you got a flat rock in your tank cause they like to lay on things like that.

Hi all, just a quick update, our Keyholes have laid about three more clutches of eggs since I was last here, and they were all eaten except for four in the last batch these four are now about 10mm long and just beautiful, you would swear they are growing before your eyes and seem to be bigger each day. The parents are super protective of them and have finally got the nack of looking after their babies, I think. Looks like these lot are gonna be fine because they look too big for the sword tail to eat now YAY :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

hi there mitzy,Yeah, they might be breeding. but mine never went off their food when they were, so keep an eye on that. Can you see any eggs inside the coconut house?

Hi everyone, just thought i'd keep you guys posted, it's sad news im affraid They all got eaten Each morning we got up and there were a few more gone, I think the culprit was our male swordtail, he seemed to stalk up on them. BUMMER, looks like we might have to get another tank if we want to raise some. Oh well thanks for the advice.

I've put some pictures on the members tanks section if anyone wants to have a look. It's titled my community tank & new babies.

All's well so far, they've been free swimming for a couple of days now and the parents are really protective of them. If they get too far away mum and dad suck them into their mouths and spit them out where they're safe. I've been feeding the whole tank then putting in some fry food, don't know how much their eating but so far so good. I can see what you meant about the neons not being a threat they just scoot away as soon as the parents go near them. As for the swordtail, i've seen him eat a few that the parents didn't see get away, but that's to be expected, there are hundreds and it would be pretty hard to keep track of all of them. We don't have another tank to put them in so it's gonna be survival of the fittest. Really neat to watch, We can't keep our eyes off them.

Thanks Jim, I thought the 15 neons might eat them because they love blood worms, :oops: I also have two peppered cory a sword tail and a big sucker fish in with them. They sure are protective though, so lets hope they will be OK.

I don't beleave it, the day after my 1st post my keyholes laid more eggs, so I watched and waited for them to start eating them as usual, but they didn't now I have babies, they hatched yesterday and mum and dad are doing a great job keeping everyone away from them. My question is, how long before they are free swimming? and once they are will the parents be able to stop all my neons and other fish from eating them. Should I seperate the tank with a devider so they can do their thing in peace, or just leave them to it? CHEERS :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: I CAN'T BELEAVE IT, YAY

tHANKS EVERYONE

thanks for that. This might be a bit hard as I don't have another tank or heater :oops: , is there anything else I can do?

Hi there, can anyone help me out? I have a beautifull pair of keyholes that i've had for about two years, they are in a community tank of 36x15x15 with two peppered cory a swordtail, ten neon tetras and a sucker fish. They lay eggs all the time and seem to be great parents to start with, and defend their cave from any one who goes near, they take turns fanning the eggs then after a couple of days thay start to eat them untill they are all gone. What's going wrong? can anyone help please? I'd love some little ones. :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: