Apistogramma Borellii Fry

[Essjay]

A few months ago, I got a pair of Apistogramma borellii and they spawned within a couple of weeks. I managed to save one fry! It's in with my Tateurndina fry and growing rapidly. It's much bigger that the other fry (very slow growers!) and I'm afraid it will soon see them as food.

The male apisto has died, and as the female was looking a bit stressed, I put her in my 60 litre tank, which is much more heavily planted. Her tankmates are a pair of Tateurndina, a pair of honey gourami and a shoal of Boraras brigittae.


So what I was wondering is this - since the apisto fry is now the same size as the brigittae, it will be OK in the 60 litre size wise. But will the female apisto see it as an invader to her territory and attack it? Or will it be OK seeing as it's not an adult? I don't even know what sex the fry is yet, I'm hoping it's a male, but knowing my luck it will be female!

 

[kribensis12]

How long is it exactly? Also, thats alot of fish for a 60 litre ( i belive thats 16.4 gallons or something like that). I would leave it in the fry tank. How big are the fry with him? Also, PICS?

 

[Essjay]

The apisto fry hatched the first week of October, the gobies the last week of September. The apisto is .5 inch long, the gobies about an eighth inch, if that (I know they're very slow growing). I wasn't intending moving the apisto before Christmas, just wondering how the adult female would behave if/when I did.

I'm thinking of putting the adult gobies in the 125 litre, where the apistos used to be. The female apisto is only about an inch long, and the brigittae are very tiny, the ones I've had for 22 months are still only about .75 inch long! So the brigittae make a total of 4 to 5 inches altogether. The gouramis are 2 x 2 inches bringing the total to 8 or 9 inches. That leaves another 8 or so inches left for the apistos if I move the gobies. The tank has also been running for 12 years, so it's quite mature! Though there have been a few different fish in there in that time.

My main concerns are that the apisto fry will soon get too big for the goby fry, but that the adult female may attack it if it goes in with her.

 

[kribensis12]

The apisto fry should eat the other fry. But i would just watch out. If you feed BBS ( Baby Brine Shrimp), their growth rate will dramatically increase. I buy it frozen, its cheaper.