Tyler Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 (edited) So I have a pair of pygmy sunfish in a 20 long with some zebra otocinclus. One of the fish, I believe the sunfish, have spawned and I have tiny almost microscopic fry scattered about the bottom. My tank is medium planted as you can see in picture, I've added a few more stems since I took the photo and has some catappa leaves in the bottom, plenty of microscopic foods on the glass and in the substrate. My question is do I need to remove the parents to get survivors or will they get eaten? They are tiny fish and the fry are even tinier so I'm not sure. It's a bigger tank than they need probably but they spend most of their time at the bottom. The parents are really good at hunting small foods Edited January 29, 2021 by Tyler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 The fry are very small indeed, however I don't see a picture. Could you repost that? Soon the fry will back up in the vegetation at the top (I am assuming you have floating plants). And the parents will eat them. I have done it both ways, letting the fry remain with the parents and moving the parents and I haven't decided which way is best as I have gotten fry both ways. Currently I am doing both methods in 3 tanks to see if I can develop a preference. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyler Posted January 29, 2021 Author Share Posted January 29, 2021 I added a photo, also I currently have no floating plants they have done their spawning in mermaid weed (stem plant) I'm finding it difficult to remove the parents without disturbing eggs or fry that are in the tank as it's a 20 long and their small and fast. Will any stick around the plants on the bottom like they are now? The tank is pretty well planted but not that well grow in so while I have lots of plants they are kind small still. I'd have to pick up another 5 gallon if I removed them as well as additional filter etc. 5 minutes ago, Daniel said: The fry are very small indeed, however I don't see a picture. Could you repost that? Soon the fry will back up in the vegetation at the top (I am assuming you have floating plants). And the parents will eat them. I have done it both ways, letting the fry remain with the parents and moving the parents and I haven't decided which way is best as I have gotten fry both ways. Currently I am doing both methods in 3 tanks to see if I can develop a preference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 Looks like Elassoma fry to me. Here is some recent video of Elassoma fry eating some small invertebrate. You can even see it go down into its stomach. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 Just now, Tyler said: Will any stick around the plants on the bottom like they are now? The tank is pretty well planted but not that well grow in so while I have lots of plants they are kind small still. They will go to where they can hide. Additional tanks are always good.🙂 They don't need a filter if you don't want to put one in. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyler Posted January 29, 2021 Author Share Posted January 29, 2021 Well I hope I can get some more fish out of this. I'm going to try leaving them together. It's only a pair. How frequently do these spawn? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 56 minutes ago, Tyler said: Well I hope I can get some more fish out of this. I'm going to try leaving them together. It's only a pair. How frequently do these spawn? Pretty much constantly once they get going. In aquariums they rarely live past two years. In the wild it is more like 1 year in my experience. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyler Posted January 29, 2021 Author Share Posted January 29, 2021 Just now, Daniel said: Pretty much constantly once they get going. In aquariums they rarely live past two years. In the wild it is more like 1 year in my experience. By constantly does that mean I will get more fry every week, every two weeks? Sorry if these are dumb questions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 14 minutes ago, Tyler said: By constantly does that mean I will get more fry every week, every two weeks? Sorry if these are dumb questions They breed every day, so you will have fry at all stages. Kind of like an assembly line that never quits. But, big fry eat little fry. Females eat eggs, males and females will eat fry. But you will always have fry at all different stages pretty much at all times. They do not come in orderly batches. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyler Posted January 30, 2021 Author Share Posted January 30, 2021 11 hours ago, Daniel said: They breed every day, so you will have fry at all stages. Kind of like an assembly line that never quits. But, big fry eat little fry. Females eat eggs, males and females will eat fry. But you will always have fry at all different stages pretty much at all times. They do not come in orderly batches. That's awesome I'm excited for lots of them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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