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My male Apistogramma Bitaeniata died but must have made one last valiant effort because tonight, Mrs Bitaeniata has brought out her free swimming fry.

This is her 2nd try. Last time, she lost her final remaining fry at 23 or 24 days.

It is really important to me that these fry have the best chance of survival, doubly so as it seems that I cannot source a replacement male anywhere.

The only fish other than the mother in the tank are 2 otos. I thought otos were strictly vegetarian, but someone else said they might eat the fry.

I'd really value knowing if anyone thinks I should:-

1. remove the otos
2. put the fry in a breeding net (but it would be in the same tank)

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Cheers
TW

I think they'll be just fine where they are. I have never heard of Otocinclus eating live fry or even eggs, so I doubt they'll be a problem. And no offense, but the mother should do a better job caring for her young than any person would. If this is her second try, she will likely be more successful than last time.

Good luck.

---

And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

The Otocinclus won't be a problem. Give them extra algae wafers or other treats to munch on to keep them happy if you're at all worried - they'll be too busy snacking on those to notice that there are extra fishes in there that have appeared from nowhere.

If you haven't fired up an infusoria culture, then liquifry egglayer food is your next best bet. Feed this VERY sparingly though!

From this point on, while you have fry, pay extra special attention to water changes. When adding new water, do so 'trickle style'. In my case, whenever I prepare water for a water change, I mix it in a bucket beforehand, give the dechlorinator time to strut its stuff so that the water added to the aquarium is nice and safe. I'm also blessed with a nice digital thermometer which allows me to temperature match the water with some boiling water from a kettle, and make sure that there's a few differences in parameters as possible to cause any shock. For mainstream water changes, the new water is just poured in using my hand as a diffuser, which is fine for adult fishes, but for fry I go with the trickle route, a cupful at a time over an extended period. Another approach would be to use a small houseplant watering can (those small capacity ones you can find at garden centres) with the rose fitted to simulate rainfall, and add, say, 250 ml of water at a time from the main bucket.

Once 28 days has elapsed, chances are you'll be able to revert to more conventional water changes.

I've not seen Apistogramma bitaenaiata fry up close and personal, but if they're typical Apistogramma fry, they'll probably be ready to eat baby brine shrimp somewhere between 7 and 14 days after becoming free swimming. It might also be a good idea to watch the fry in case the bigger siblings pick on the smaller ones, and start planning to segregate fry by size. With some fish species, this is vital if you wish to produce decent numbers of offspring (Pantodon buchholzi is one species of fish for which fry segregation has been documented as vital).


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Thanks sirbooks & Calilasseia

I'll follow all your advice.

segregate fry by size

If it was up to me, I'd be happy to set up a small tank for each individual fry with daily trickle water changes, but hubby has banned additional tanks due to alleged high electricity costs of running tanks , so I'm stuck with seggregation only being possible in fry nets in the tank.

I've never managed to see my otos eat algae wafers, although they do like to nibble on the cucumbers I give them. Will cucumbers pollute the water too much during this crucial time?

Last night was the first time I saw the free swimmers - so does that mean I don't need to feed them for at least 6 more days?

I have my fingers & toes crossed.

Cheers
TW

I don't know... if you're afraid of losing them and know it will be very difficult to get another brood, why not take some of them out and let mom take care of the rest, just to be safe? I took some of my severum fry out and a good thing I did since the parents got tired of protecting them and ate the rest.

Just a thought.

but hubby has banned additional tanks due to alleged high electricity costs of running tanks

Does he have a wide screen TV with cinema surround sound system? Because if he does, that'll eat into the electricity bills more than your aquaria.

I have three aquaria running, one of which is in the kitchen. The kitchen is unheated (my house doesn't have cetnral heating) and in a cold winter, my kitchen is not the place you want to be standing for any length of time if you can help it. My living room has a single gas fire for heating. I don't have double glazing, and the house is draughty as hell in the wintertime. It's unusual for my winter electricity bill to exceed £70 for the coldest three months of the winter. Bear in mind I have an electric immersion heater for hot water, and an electric cooker in the kitchen, which each account for greater energy usage in an hour when running than my aquaria do in two days.

In a place with as balmy a climate as New South Wales (particularly if you're close to the border with Queensland) your running costs should be less than mine. After all, you've not long ago has a summer with temperatures around 105 degrees Fahrenheit ...

If hubby is watching TV on a widescreen TV with surround sound, he's using a LOT more than your aquaria, particularly if his surround sound has meaty sub woofer speakers, because those things are 500 watts and upwards. Six of those in place in a surround sound system and his TV and Hi-Fi combo is using more electricity than my kettle ...


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Agree with everything you say. I'm in Sydney, so a fair way from QLD border, but last summer, I don't think the aquarium heaters turned on at all - didn't need to. Hubby is an Accountant - need I say more. He has wide screen TV, but no surround sound & we don't have a fan or air conditioning for summer or heating for winter. (Sorry to any other accountant I might have just offended.)

Anyway last night hubby & I struck a deal, & I'm allowed a small 1.5G tank on a short term basis. Set it up with a foam filter. I used water, filter media (in a stocking), gravel & java moss from the apisto tank. Plan A was to move both mum & fry to this small tank, which would be more managable to target feed & also it would be easy to do water changes at least every other day - if not daily.

Mum got really stressed while I moved the fry. I managed to move around 15 of them & she was trying to prevent me when she could (taking them in her mouth & moving them elswhere). I then caught her & put her in with the babies, but I noticed that she was no longer in her breeding dress - so I assumed the move was just too stressful for her. Not knowing how she would act to the fry when not in breeding or guarding dress (maybe get confused & eat them?), I switched to Plan B & put her back in the apisto tank - the fry are on their own. They are so hard to see in there, so I don't know if they survived the stress of the move or not. As I was unable to move mum with the fry, I wish I'd left them alone. They have no-one to teach them to eat etc.

Thanks heaps for all the help. Fingers crossed.

Cheers
TW

Update on the fry.

When back in the main tank, mum rounded up 6 of her fry that I couldn't catch & put her guarding dress back on.

I've also made a deal with someone from an apisto forum. He will raise my fry & we will split 50/50 the surviving fry.

I'm a little sad - he is picking them up tonight. But he has experience with the apistos & I've only had failures, so I hope this gives them the best chance.

I still get to try with the 6 that are still in with mum.

Fingers & toes are all crossed that I get at least one male. If not, this guy has also offered to lend me his male bita to spend a night or so with my female. Very nice.

Cheers
TW