Kirsten Posted January 30, 2022 Share Posted January 30, 2022 Woohoo! After many months of patiently feeding and waiting, I finally have Fundulopanchax scheeli babies! My first babies not from live-bearers. I reckon about a half dozen fry of different sizes, so I'm feeling good that they're getting enough to eat from Aquarium Co-op's Easy Small Fish and Fry Food, natural algae and infusoria, and able to hide from their parents among the metric ton of java moss. Fingers crossed they can keep nimble and hidden till they're too big to fit in a mouth, then I'll have to figure out what to do with em! 9 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xXInkedPhoenixX Posted January 30, 2022 Share Posted January 30, 2022 Congratulations!! Babies!!!!!!! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick_G Posted January 30, 2022 Share Posted January 30, 2022 Wow, cool! Did you just let them breed in the tank or did you pull the eggs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirsten Posted January 30, 2022 Author Share Posted January 30, 2022 On 1/30/2022 at 2:32 PM, Patrick_G said: Wow, cool! Did you just let them breed in the tank or did you pull the eggs? Just in-tank. I tried hatching eggs before and it didn't go well, was too hard for me to keep all the parameters right and give them enough tiny food to eat and keep track of them after I added them to the tank. So I got a young breeding trio from another breeder and set them loose in a heavily planted 15 gallon and let nature do its thing! Took several months, and I never saw any eggs (or maybe I just can't distinguish them from snail egg sacs), but I figure these are bound to be very fit and healthy babies to survive this long! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirsten Posted January 30, 2022 Author Share Posted January 30, 2022 Now the big question. Do I: 1) Move the parents out immediately to separate tanks and hope they get along well with a small Croaking Gourami and/or a small school of longfin danios? (Runs the risk of the parents dying from the change in parameters, though I'd naturally do my best to transition them, and dying before the fry are really proven, possibly leaving me with 0 killifish) 2) Wait a month or two to see how the babies fare, see if I get more, see if the parents up and die naturally before removing them? 3) Never move them out and just rehome the children once they reach maturity, reserving another breeding trio to continue the cycle? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Levi_Aquatics Posted January 30, 2022 Share Posted January 30, 2022 Congratulations! I would probably choose option 2 or 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirsten Posted January 30, 2022 Author Share Posted January 30, 2022 On 1/30/2022 at 4:27 PM, Levi_Aquatics said: Congratulations! I would probably choose option 2 or 3 Whew! As a hands-off kind of fish keeper, that's what I prefer, too. I might reach out to the breeder, too, to see if they have recommendations and/or want some of the offspring. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beardedbillygoat1975 Posted February 1, 2022 Share Posted February 1, 2022 Really with Fundolopanchax if you're not doing a mop or clump of moss and removing from the tank it is all about keeping the parents well fed and more interested in breeding then hunting. Croaking gouramis are micropredators and are not afraid to take down foods that are bigger than their mouths. Danios are opportunists and if it moves they'll peck at it. So there will be a lot of natural selection going on. Those that do make it will be very robust! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirsten Posted February 1, 2022 Author Share Posted February 1, 2022 On 2/1/2022 at 4:59 PM, Beardedbillygoat1975 said: Really with Fundolopanchax if you're not doing a mop or clump of moss and removing from the tank it is all about keeping the parents well fed and more interested in breeding then hunting. Croaking gouramis are micropredators and are not afraid to take down foods that are bigger than their mouths. Danios are opportunists and if it moves they'll peck at it. So there will be a lot of natural selection going on. Those that do make it will be very robust! Thanks! Hm...I'm currently giving a heavy-ish 1/day feeding which I see everyone nibbling on throughout the day, and the adults certainly aren't acting hungry (it's a heavily planted tank with a ton of snails, so the food's not going to waste). But I'll be going off on vacation for 10 days and I wanted to tell my fish feeder she only has to come over every other day. Right now it's a species-only tank for the killifish (well, plus the snails). Should I look into buying an autofeeder for that tank to keep the adults fat and tranquil? I'm worried about something like the co-op's auto feeder because it looks like it sits outside the tank, and I don't want to leave any large holes in the lid for the killis to jump out of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beardedbillygoat1975 Posted February 2, 2022 Share Posted February 2, 2022 That's tough, if you can get your fish feeder to do it daily that would be better. Agree on the risks with the autofeeder, could scare them by making that little big of mechanical noise although you could try it while your home and see if it could work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirsten Posted February 2, 2022 Author Share Posted February 2, 2022 On 2/1/2022 at 7:37 PM, Beardedbillygoat1975 said: That's tough, if you can get your fish feeder to do it daily that would be better. Agree on the risks with the autofeeder, could scare them by making that little big of mechanical noise although you could try it while your home and see if it could work. Hmm...I do have some repashy kicking around. Maybe I'll whip up a batch and see if they'll eat it. That could last more than a day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beardedbillygoat1975 Posted February 2, 2022 Share Posted February 2, 2022 ORD, I’d add a food they can’t resist to it so they really go for it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirsten Posted February 17, 2022 Author Share Posted February 17, 2022 Ahh! My longfin danios are going at it, too! So proud! 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beardedbillygoat1975 Posted February 17, 2022 Share Posted February 17, 2022 Nothing like fish happy enough to procreate! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mountaintoppufferkeeper Posted February 18, 2022 Share Posted February 18, 2022 Congratulations that is so cool Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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