Ktttk Posted September 7, 2006 Report Share Posted September 7, 2006 I have a pair of firemouths in a 2 foot breeding setup and have had them for just over a month now. I have been conditioning them on cichlid pellets, bloodworms and white worms. Last thursday, the female laid a lot of eggs on the side of the brick - they were both guarding it aggressively. I was away snowboarding for the weekend and came back to find the eggs gone - there was nothing left on the brick and the pair weren't guarding any area of the tank in particular. Since it was their first spawn, I figured they probably ate the eggs and so started to condition them again. I came home this evening to find the male surrounded by a cloud of little firemouth fry !!:bounce: :bounce: There are heaps of them and they are all free swimming. The pair must've hidden the eggs somewhere in the tank the whole time!! It appears that it is the male who has taken sole possession of guarding the fry - the female is nowhere to be seen. I finally found her hiding in the corner under the plants and the male wouldn't let her near the fry. Maybe she is ready to lay again and want to eat the fry. I'll have to remove her if the male continues to treat her like an outcast. I don't have any brine shrimp on hand and the microworm culture has taken a bit of a dive at the moment, so I added some powdered cichlid pellets. Fingers crossed I can harvest some microworms tomorrow. I had to take the pics using flash as the tank is not very well lit - excuse the reflections in some of the photos. Here are the pics of the male and his bunch of fry: The male does not like me being too close to the fry - he charges at the camera, puffing out his red throat!! There is a tear in his dorsal fin - possibly from fighting with the female. Hope you guys enjoy the pics, I'll try and update them in the next few days . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustcooktea Posted September 7, 2006 Report Share Posted September 7, 2006 Great pictures! What a pleasurable shock for you after your weekend away! Keep us updated on progress. MCT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jettin Posted September 7, 2006 Report Share Posted September 7, 2006 Good stuff! Looks like a good spawn for the size of the adults. Keep it up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpidersWeb Posted September 8, 2006 Report Share Posted September 8, 2006 Do you have some pictures of your female? Great pics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ktttk Posted September 8, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 8, 2006 Thanks guys.. I'd be quite happy if I manage to raise half of them... What a pleasurable shock for you after your weekend away! Yes it was indeed! It was a very cool surprise indeed when I went to feed them and saw the cloud of fry! Looks like a good spawn for the size of the adults. I agree!! They are not very large at all and I believe this is their first spawn as well. I picked them out of a tank full of juveniles because I saw that they were defending a piece of rock together. I fed the female lots of white worms - I think this is a very good conditioning food for female fish before they spawn. Do you have some pictures of your female? She is hiding all the time so unfortunately I cannot get a clear pic of her. I might have to move her if she keeps hiding as she doesn't come out to eat. Maybe I'll take a pic after she is moved. I have to admit, I had a bit of a problem at the beginning when I put the pair in the 2 foot breeding tank. The male kept chasing and harassing the female. I provided lots of hiding places using flower plots, bricks, plants and even hanging in some breeding mops that I had lying around - just to break the line of sight. In the end, I had to put in a divider that went down to about 3cm from the bottom - so that the fish can still get to each other if they swim to the bottom. This worked for some reason as the male would chase the female to the other side of the divider and then he would come back to his side. When he sees her again, he'll charge at her, but hit the divider most of the time and after a while he stopped the charging - she then gained some confidence and started eating a lot and soon enough they started doing the shimmying thing that cichlids do. I raised the divider a bit higher to increase their access and they started swimming around together. It was a week later that I found the eggs on the side of a brick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljtan55 Posted September 8, 2006 Report Share Posted September 8, 2006 Hey!! Very nice! How are your other babies going? Congrats man! Looks like you're literally swimming in babies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ktttk Posted September 8, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 8, 2006 Hey!! Very nice! How are your other babies going? Congrats man! Looks like you're literally swimming in babies haha thanks! The krib babies are growing up fast - i think there are around 25 or so. Will have to take a pic of them later to update the other thread on them. At the moment, I have: Kribensis fry Firemouth fry Panda fry GBA fry So yeah, you could say that I am swimming in babies at the moment.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim r Posted September 8, 2006 Report Share Posted September 8, 2006 Lovely pics of your firemouth fry. I think maybe he hid them in his mouth and if they do start to dissapear i would remove them pretty sharpish. Jim R. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ktttk Posted September 8, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 8, 2006 Lovely pics of your firemouth fry. I think maybe he hid them in his mouth and if they do start to dissapear i would remove them pretty sharpish. Jim R. Thanks Jim. I don't think he hid them in his mouth cos both of them were eating right up til I found the little ones. From what I've read so far, firemouths are excellent parents - And my male so far is doing a good job - herding the fry around the tank. It took me a while to finally get the female out - and even after all that disturbance in the tank, the male still appears to be calm and composed with his little ones. But I'll definitely keep an eye on their numbers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ktttk Posted January 22, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2007 Hi guys, an update of my firemouth fry. I was away in the US for 5 weeks over xmas and new years and left my brother to look after the little ones (they were eating dry food by this stage.) He has managed to keep them alive and their colours are coming up really nicely. The biggest is under 3cm or so. Enjoy. The guy in the middle is a male apisto pebas if anyone is wondering. If anyone is interested in these little dudes, let me know - they should be ready in a month or so. - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilknieval69 Posted January 23, 2007 Report Share Posted January 23, 2007 Hey. I will definately be keen on some. PM me when you are ready to pass them on Congrats! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpidersWeb Posted January 23, 2007 Report Share Posted January 23, 2007 Yep I'd be keen on 6 of them PM me when they're sendable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herefishiefishie Posted January 23, 2007 Report Share Posted January 23, 2007 Cool pics. Nice little guys too. Well done. Frenchy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.