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Springtime babies...


CodKing

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Thanks for the comments all. She had to go lay them in the hardest spot to capture now didn't she. I have to get through the glass on an angle as well which makes for difficult reflections.

That last shot is a pearla huh. I kept cleaning the glass but the dust was rather persistent :[ It doesn't look too bad at that resolution but kinda ruins the larger version.

How long can I expect the eggs to remain eggs? Would be nice to try and capture the actual hatching.

(Grandpa?! Ouch.)

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Thanks for the comments all. She had to go lay them in the hardest spot to capture now didn't she. I have to get through the glass on an angle as well which makes for difficult reflections.

Well yes, all about keeping them safe.

Did you see the paper I posted a while ago about threat-sensitive nest site choices? Maybe you are perceived as a threat ;)

How long can I expect the eggs to remain eggs? Would be nice to try and capture the actual hatching.

You will see them yellow over the next week, then develop tiny silver bits, then the silver bits will become eyes, then you will see them moving around, then you will go blind from looking too close, then they will hatch.

It is temperature dependant, I can't remember what the books say, but somewhere between 2 and 3 weeks IIRC.

I find they hatch out during the day, while spawning seems to start late in the day and drag out over night and into the next day.

(Grandpa?! Ouch.)

hehehe well, you seem to be very proud, and for good reason! ;)

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Well, my commons are at it too! I think they started on Thursday. There are about a billion eggs (ok, I predict something like 300) and are half the *length* of your upland's eggs Codking. TEENY!

They are on the back wall of the tank. Joe Common has somehow perched himself against the vertical wall...

2010_09_25commonbullyeggs008Medium.jpg

(notice the tail-end of my giant kokopu in front!)

And a close up:

2010_09_25commonbullyeggs008croppedMedium.jpg

He has completely mangled the sides of his tail with spawning. They wriggle around a lot over the surface of the eggs to ensure fertilisation, and doing this between a rock and a hard place for hours gets rather abrasive.

He will guard them till they hatch, ventilating them with his fins all the time. When they hatch he will rub his body over them to help them out. His pectoral fins will probably be a mess by then from the abrasion.

This is mum. Note the absolutely classic common bully tapered profile and 'whiskers' under the eye. She is looking in pretty good condition for having just spawned, and I didn't even notice her looking gravid! This egg machine laid a similar number three months ago to the day.

2010_09_23commonbullyeggs027Medium.jpg

I think she is 8cm and he is 10cm body length, quite big. They were around 5cm when I got them, which was at least two years ago I think.

I took this interesting series over half a minute. Notice how he gets lighter so quickly. The velvety-black is the spawning colours. Normally he is a paler version of her.

2010_09_23commonbullyeggs014Medium.jpg

2010_09_23commonbullyeggs015Medium.jpg

2010_09_23commonbullyeggs017Medium.jpg

Unfortunately he went back to defending his eggs after the last pic and went black again so I couldn't complete the series.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Heya, sorry for the late reply...

Yip, they hatched a few days after yours. All seem to be fighting fit and playing in the bubbles. I think the female has laid again :/ The male has been crazy territorial but the female seems to know how far she can push it!

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hehe awesome! :)

When I had my Cran's one boy got lucky with both girls twice each (I think there is some pheromone action going on after one spawns, the other spawned within days each time).

Then the other male got lucky with both.

Man, the first guy was PISSED. He was the stroppiest little sod for days, really laying into the girls.

Eventually I put a mirror up against the glass. He forgot about the girls, changed colour dramatically (pale with black fins) and went nuts at the mirror!

Much fun for me to watch 8)

(He probably would have laid into anyone else, but they were the only fish in the tank. I think a lot of inter-male aggression gets aimed at the girls if there aren't spare males. Then again more males can possibly lead to more aggression. It is a balancing act.)

What are you feeding your babies?

Do you have them in with the parents or separate?

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Sounds like a soap opera in a tank to me :P

They are all living together at the mo, in the process of rehousing everyone. I've got a few minnow fry I'm waiting on then the female gets her own place and will hopefully stop laying eggs! I also need to get the adults out as the I have them in an unfiltered tank and the water fouls pretty quick with all the baby food.

They are feeding on frozen brineshrimp. I've just sorted out microworms from someone here, hopefully they arrive soon as they are certainly big enough to start munching on them.

I'm really not sure what I am going to do with all these bullys! I have the tank space but already have plans to fill it :/ If anyone wants some natives they will be ready in a couple of months :)

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