jn Posted January 21, 2008 Report Share Posted January 21, 2008 Hi all, Have a leopard fish that was dropping fry yesterday evening. I noticed her huddling down at the back/bottom of the tank and chasing away anyone who came near (she came up to eat twice though so I was pretty sure she wasn't sick) I popped her into a net breeder and was sucking the fry out as I spotted them (she got to several of them before I did though! Yum!). Anyway... left her in there overnight cause she seemed pretty relaxed about it (I put some small floating plant bits in there so she didn't feel too exposed) but there wasn't any point leaving her in there all day today since she was eating the fry anyway (I don't have a live bearer trap). I also figured she would have been finished by this morning. When I took her out.. she went back to the spot I caught her from yesterday and was still panting. She still looks round. Could she still be dropping fry? Or is it just stress from the activity? I caught a whopping lot of 4 fry :lol: .. I witnessed her eat at least 3 others. I assumed they didn't drop in huge lots. How long might it go on for? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted January 21, 2008 Report Share Posted January 21, 2008 if like guppies they can go on for a couple of days - dropping fry is hard work, may take a couple of days till shes full of vigour again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jn Posted January 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2008 ok. and if she's still round does it mean there's still fry? or does it just mean she hasn't lost the baby belly yet? I was thinking that having left her all day to recoup from being 'trapped' I might pop her into my other tank with the borneo suckers where there might be fewer other fish to eat any fry she has left to drop. Would that be too stressful on her? (and do borneo suckers eat fry??) She's with WCMM and some american flag fish. I'm sure there is little chance of any fry surviing in the company of those little piggies but don't want to keep her in a net for days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted January 21, 2008 Report Share Posted January 21, 2008 To move a gravid female it is best not to lift her out of the water s this causes even more stress. Catch her in a container and move her that way rather than lift her out using a net. She could still be dropping fry. If she does not apprea to be stressed in the breeding net then I would leave her there a few days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted January 21, 2008 Report Share Posted January 21, 2008 I don't know if this is common but one of my current female guppies gets huge, drops some fry and then two weeks later drops the rest of them. We then have a four week break and its repeated :roll: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jn Posted January 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2008 Thanks for the tip Caryl. I didn't realise. It seems the breeding net though just puts the fry closer for her to find and eat I don't think I have anything I can drop in as a fake floor either. Plus I've not got my 4 fry in the net now to keep them safe and I don't have another!! the fry spent last night in a yellow maggi stock container which I was floating in the net overnight but this morning got tipped into the net when I took 'mum' out! DO you think moving her to the other tank would be ok if I acclimatised her slowly? I have a media bag I can put over the filter outlet there. So she wouldn't be confined and there would be less chance of other fish eating the fry.. although she still might. Tanks are both at room temp and have the same gravel etc so the environment is probably reasonably simliar (and the water parameters are very similar too) Oh.. actually.. maybe not.. that one has planaria in it I need tank #3 or at least net #2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted January 21, 2008 Report Share Posted January 21, 2008 My leopards rarely ate the fry that I noticed. Leaving all in the tank with lots of fine leaved plants is actually best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted January 21, 2008 Report Share Posted January 21, 2008 If you are serious about breeding livebearers you can make a large trap that fits into an even larger tank and leave the females in there almost permanently and remove the young after a few weeks. That way there is very little stress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jn Posted January 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2008 Ok. Thanks everyone. I decided to just leave her be and will be better prepared next time. Maybe sometime next week I'll take all leopards out and put them into the other tank where there are fewer hungry mouths as a start. It's smaller too so should be easier to build up some cover. I have very little in the way of fine leaved plants for now. I still have mainly stem type plants so very little cover for fry. Will see what I can do about that soon. What plants do you like best for cover? I have a tiny bit of java moss that's growing in but what else would you recommend? Caryl, she was definitely keen for a fresh snack! I watched her eat several fry. One she ate before it even hit the bottom of the breeding net! Popped it out, turned around..and down the hatch! I can see though how it would be harder for her to eat them if they were falling into the gravel carried off a little by the current but the white backdrop of the net was like a sushi bar setup for her! i know she ate at least one more overnight cause I saw one hanging out as I trundled off to bed yesterday... who knows how many more she ate. I never really intended to use the net for them to drop their fry...was just going to grow them on in there for a bit...I just seem to have left out thinking about the bit before that Never mind.. I'll do better next time Alan, I've seen the picture posted of the big breeding trap inside a tank (I think Billaney may have posted a pic some time ago.. made of plastic type mesh with the sides all woven up tight !!) ...It might be time for me to go scout some materials. Maybe even a small breeding tank that I can buy a filter for. My tanks are aqua one tanks. They make hanging stuff from the sides very awkward... and the flow is not really ideal for floating plants. Maybe just a small glass tank with a clip on light that I can pop an internal filter into when I want a better chance at breeding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carla Posted January 21, 2008 Report Share Posted January 21, 2008 My leopards are all by themselves in a huge tank with plenty of fine plants - I use Cabomba and spiral Valisneria. They do eat the fry to a degree and i would probably get three times as many if I would keep them separate in nets where the fry can fall through when born. However there is always plenty to sell and no extra work... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jn Posted January 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2008 Yeah.. them not being in the own tank is surely the biggest factor. 2nd would be plants... I'll start with that. She's calmer today but still puffing a bit.. still eating like a horse too so she's well which means I'm happy. 1 fry died 3 others still looking fine and swimming around strongly enough. I'll be happy if even one survives Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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