Pete Posted August 23, 2021 Share Posted August 23, 2021 (edited) My female apisto just started guarding her cave. Should I try and pull eggs and put them in a fry box now, or wait until the babies hatch? The male apisto won a World's Worst Dad Trophy after going on a murder spree and eating all the babies last time she had a spawn, so I'd like to pull the babies and keep them safe. Edited August 23, 2021 by Pete 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tolstoy21 Posted August 23, 2021 Share Posted August 23, 2021 (edited) I typically pull the male as soon as I think fry are on the way, or if I see them. I leave the mother in the tank until the point at which the fry become independent of her. I have found that the females are very good care takers of the young fry. They follow her around the tank, and if any stray, she grabs them up in her mouth and spits them back into the school of siblings. I tend to pull the males cause the females can really put a beating on them when the fry arrive and she's in mama bear mode. I don't have any experience with pulling the eggs or fry early, so if you don't have spare tanks to re-home the male and/or female, I can't offer much advice. Glad to hear your apistos are doing well! Edited August 23, 2021 by tolstoy21 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crabby Posted August 23, 2021 Share Posted August 23, 2021 I’ve never pulled apisto eggs or fry, so take this with a grain of salt, but I think it’s probably easier to pull the eggs. The better option would be to pull the male like @tolstoy21 recommended, but that might not be possible. Apistos can be successfully raised when the cave is pulled, so I think it would be the easier option for you, and probably safer with a male like that. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tolstoy21 Posted August 24, 2021 Share Posted August 24, 2021 If you pull the cave and have success, let us know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted August 24, 2021 Author Share Posted August 24, 2021 Pulled momma and the cave and put them in a Ziss breeder box in their tank. Now comes the waiting game to see what happens. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted August 27, 2021 Author Share Posted August 27, 2021 Babies are out of the cave! 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anewbie Posted August 27, 2021 Share Posted August 27, 2021 BBS time ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted August 30, 2021 Author Share Posted August 30, 2021 Welp. Moved momma out of the fry box and the male started harassing her Saturday afternoon. Thought it'd be okay and she'd go back to her hiding spots but he really tore her up so I moved her back into the fry box so she could rest Saturday night. Found her dead Sunday morning. ☠️ So I re-arranged fish and the male is now in a 40 breeder by himself. Fry are now out of the box and swimming in the 10 gallon all by themselves and eating baby brine. Outside of the hobby, the past several weeks have been tough. Losing the female is just one more hard lesson to compound things. I'm pretty disappointed in myself, but hopeful a good group of fry survive and I end up with another good female. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tihshho Posted August 30, 2021 Share Posted August 30, 2021 Sorry to hear that 😞 With dwarf cichlids, even some other species, it's best to QT females (or males depending who looks after a clutch) post pulling the eggs. This gives them time to get their strength back, fatten up and be ready for their mates once they get re-introduced. Having a spare Zeiss breeder box for this would be ideal for Apistos. The females spend a lot of time on the eggs and not a lot of time eating, and even once they hatch their food intake isn't much until the babies are roaming the tank and grazing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted September 30, 2021 Author Share Posted September 30, 2021 One month update! Fry are growing out nicely on baby brine and Co-Op Easy Fry food. Got my Ziss hatchery up and running which is making sure I've got plenty of food for these guys. I'm excited too. Another female (or two) will be headed this way hopefully soon. My hope is with 2 females and having the adults in a 40 breeder, it may spread the aggression and make it so we don't have another murders spree. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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