mountaintoppufferkeeper Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 Any advice is greatly appreciated. I am curious if it is worth it to try and move some of the fry for the Dwarf pike or just let the parents do their thing for a while. I'm assuming they are similar to other cichlids with parental care and they are pretty attentive so far. This pair formed in summer 2019 and relentlessly attacked the subdominant pair until I removed them. After a month of regular runs of COOP BBS for the fish room this is the first time they have produced. My plan would be to use a few ziss breeder boxes for easier observation and feeding of bbs etc. Seems like a decent size group for a first time pair but I am a pike rookie. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lefty o Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 ive never kept or bred them, but if the parent is protecting them, and none are being preyed upon, i would be tempted to leave them be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mountaintoppufferkeeper Posted January 11, 2021 Author Share Posted January 11, 2021 10 days in fry have some size now 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevesFishTanks Posted January 11, 2021 Share Posted January 11, 2021 Those fish look really cool. This is unrelated but I am curious about your motion pictures or gifs. Is there a service that does that or is it a cell phone feature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mountaintoppufferkeeper Posted January 12, 2021 Author Share Posted January 12, 2021 16 hours ago, s1_ said: Those fish look really cool. This is unrelated but I am curious about your motion pictures or gifs. Is there a service that does that or is it a cell phone feature. Sure thing if I make a video in the phone and play it back I have a gif button in the video I can and hit to make one. I just found it though these were my first 2 tries. I would guess it is something specific to the phone but I'm sure others have it in the video playback somewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAC Posted January 12, 2021 Share Posted January 12, 2021 Neat looking fish! Nice work. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted January 13, 2021 Share Posted January 13, 2021 I always leave fry with parent most cichlid do a great job protecting there fry 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrostiesFishes Posted January 13, 2021 Share Posted January 13, 2021 Well done I’ve never seen anyone breed those before! And have heard the pikes are very difficult to breed. So well done, but I would sneak in with a siphon and suck out a handful of them and leave the rest. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mountaintoppufferkeeper Posted January 14, 2021 Author Share Posted January 14, 2021 On 1/13/2021 at 11:33 AM, FrostiesFishes said: Well done I’ve never seen anyone breed those before! And have heard the pikes are very difficult to breed. So well done, but I would sneak in with a siphon and suck out a handful of them and leave the rest. Thank you pretty interesting 14 days so far. I'm probably going to hedge my bets and move a portion at least. I would hate to miss the opportunity to learn with the growth rates etc but would be a slight trade off of risk since I have no idea how long they need to remain with the parents in nature to properly develop. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mountaintoppufferkeeper Posted January 22, 2021 Author Share Posted January 22, 2021 Day 22 update. On day 21 I moved appropriately 25 fry to a 20gallon for grow out remaining 75 ish with parents in 50 gallon (not the easiest tank to catch from). I Quickly tried sparkling gourami as dither to keep down the hydra a bit but they were a little too interested and effective in grabbing fry tails. Sparkling gourami now in ziss breeder box in parents tank to get the benefit of the dither on parental care without risking fry getting tails bit. Matt 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 Great to see how well there doing 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickyjax Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 Thank you so much for sharing these awesome pics/videos. So cool to see the adorable fry! Great job!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mountaintoppufferkeeper Posted March 3, 2021 Author Share Posted March 3, 2021 Day 57 , approximately 120 fry some still with parents. The Crenicichla regani has definitely seemed to enjoy the room so far. I may end up with a few staying in the parents tank as they are pretty wise on how to avoid nets and use the bottom 6 inches of tank space covered in caves tunnels and driftwood. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mountaintoppufferkeeper Posted March 3, 2021 Author Share Posted March 3, 2021 I would say now, looking back at the first 57 days, that splitting the brood at day 20 resulted in the fry with the parents became a bit more outgoing and a bit faster growing than the fry only tank. Both tanks fed well on same schedule with same foods and same temperatures. I suppose there could also be a dynamic of gender as well since the males grow significantly bigger; it is possible I netted out majority females into the fry tank and more males were left in the parents tank. Should be a great fishroom year. Matt 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lemon Posted March 3, 2021 Share Posted March 3, 2021 they are so cute/cool 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted March 4, 2021 Share Posted March 4, 2021 What are you going to do with your growing colony 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mountaintoppufferkeeper Posted March 4, 2021 Author Share Posted March 4, 2021 11 hours ago, Colu said: What are you going to do with your growing colony Probably going to keep 6-10 fry for grow out and future projects then move the rest out at 2 to 2.5" . They seem to be fairly common wild caught but who doesn't like a tank raised pike raised in harder water that can be kept in a community tank. In the off chance some don't move out or have issues to remove from the line I also have my hairy puffer colony for any culls or etc. Puffers mostly get frozen krill with vitachem and livebearers or whiteclouds etc to keep in condition but they do not mind variety when necessary. I imagine it could get harder to maintain a stable colony size now that the adults have figured it out and are excellent parents. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mountaintoppufferkeeper Posted March 13, 2021 Author Share Posted March 13, 2021 Update day 70: fry now pretty sizable 1/2" smallest fry (moved with first batch)up to 2.5" for most moved after day 45. Adult female regani reddened up and began chasing some remaining fry from cave it seems possible that those are adolescent females. It definitely has the appearance of her clearing out the adolescents for a new batch of fry. Both adults are a little combative intermittently but not like they were when driving the other adult pair from the tank 2 years ago . I will change my process for next round and leave the fry in with parents for 45 and up to 60 days. That does seem to teach them how to eat a varied diet, act a little more like the adults, and put on size faster. Vr Matt 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kkarsten Posted March 16, 2021 Share Posted March 16, 2021 Nice pair! I miss mine. I have left the fry with the parents and pulled them from the parents. Both ways seemed successful, but for me the greatest reward was in watching the pair chaperone a school of fry around the tank. I do think keeping them with the parents gets them growing faster. My guess is it has to do with a more established tank and being led to food by the parents. Fyi- I'd be interested in some fry if you're looking to move some. Just throwing it out there 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mountaintoppufferkeeper Posted March 16, 2021 Author Share Posted March 16, 2021 15 hours ago, kkarsten said: Nice pair! I miss mine. I have left the fry with the parents and pulled them from the parents. Both ways seemed successful, but for me the greatest reward was in watching the pair chaperone a school of fry around the tank. I do think keeping them with the parents gets them growing faster. My guess is it has to do with a more established tank and being led to food by the parents. Fyi- I'd be interested in some fry if you're looking to move some. Just throwing it out there Thanks kindly. I would agree and I believe these fry nibbled intermittently at the slime coat of the parents for the first 7 days or so which I had not expected. They have been a pretty fun few months of learning so far. I definitely could end up with some extras in need of a home on the standard online routes in the next month or so. The pair are chasing fry out of the area and are sporadically defending caves again so I imagine once I manage to get the remaining fry out the parents will start again. The forum rule of "No selling or giving away aquarium related supplies or animals" would apply for here. I do hope the updates and photos help others if they try breeding this fun species. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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