Bizarre!...........

Still patiently waiting for my pair to get past day 2/3 wriggler stage, but they have just surprised me!

The pair are on their own in a nice tank, complete with all mod cons, assorted plants and a lovely cone lol, they have been pretty regular with their spawns, just 1 or 2 days different, until just over a week ago......... they decided not to bother! This coincided with me having a nasty car crash and spending 10 days in hospital! All the time I was away from home, I asked my daughter if they had spawned... nothing! Its not because she didn't notice (honestly!), but within 24 hours of me coming home they started cleaning........ and today presented me with a nice spawn on the cone!!

So perhaps they needed an audience after all??? Anyway its given me a bit of a lift and something to watch!! I'm trying lights on this time to see if it makes a difference?? Also one good thing I'm off work so I can attend to their needs immediately!!

Lindsey

Hi Lindsey,
sorry to hear about the crash, hope you are mending well, and good luck with the spawn.

Hi Lindsey,
Sorry to hear about the crash & wish you luck with the spawn.

Paul

Hey ho back to the drawing board!!! They seem so good at looking after the eggs, they just seem to get confused once they get to wrigglers?? They move them and thats when it all goes wrong! I've left the lights on and it doesn't seem to have made a difference, its only been me sitting quietly in the opposite corner of the room, so I'm not sure what else to try....... except patience!! lol

Back to fattening them up for the next try!!

Lindsey

Hi Lindsey,
That they move the wrigglers is a good sign, I'm sure they'll get the hang of things eventually.
One possible explanation is that the young are dying and getting eaten, next time they spawn try syphoning out about half the batch and raising them in a separate tank. If the separate ones don't thrive, you could have a dietary deficiency in the adults, try changing the food, or adding extra variety. In fact the one time I tried this, the parents did an excellent job of looking after the wrigglers I left them with!
On other occasions I've removed one or other parent, where one fish seems to be the culprit and the remaining, usually female, will often do a good job as a single parent.
One other thing to consider, is that some fish will regard you as a potential threat and predator, if when you approach the tank the parents rush forward to see you off, then there's no need to worry. But if they, cower at the back, or worse still fly around in panic, then they're feeling pretty nervous and are much more likely to eat the young.
The best thing you can do in that situation is keep clear of the tank and resist the temptation to see how they're doing, if they make any threatening gestures, retreat, to give them confidence that they can see you off if they need to!

Oh yes, personally I don't do water changes on tanks where there are parents with eggs or wrigglers, and I generally try to avoid them on tanks where the adults have free swimmers, unless absolutely essential. If you do do a water change, don't change more than 5 or 10% of the water, babies can be far more sensitive to water quality changes than their parents.

Thanks Rob some good tips, I'll see what "we" can do with the next attempt!!

Lindsey