Babies!

[Rubyuk]

Hi Guys

2 years into this great hobby I've got my first babies.....Kribensis fry!!!

I'm excited and nervous at the same time.

Its happened today and parents are guarding a biggish bunch of fry in a corner of the tank between cave and bogwood.

Not sure if I need to do anything to protect them/help them survive??

I'm sure i've read that 1st time parents can/will eat their own fry but I know Kribs are meant to be very good parents.

Those that contributed to my several beginners threads will know I have no hospital tank so removing either the fry or the adults is not an option.

Do I just watch and let nature take its course and pray that some survive??

What about feeding?

Given I have a busy 180 litre community tank albeit with lots of plants and caves etc what are the chances of any surviving??

Cheers

 

[fluttermoth]

How many fry survive depends on how good the parents are; I really feel you are doing the right thing leaving them alone though.

Watching chiclids care for their fry is one of the joys of fishkeeping. Many pairs take a few tries to get it right; unfortunately commercial fish breeders tend to take the brood away from the parents and raise them artificially and there is some evidence that fish need to be parented to know how to be parents themselves.

So, sadly, every time we take a brood away from their parents we are, like it or not, producing yet another generation of fish who don't know how to look after their eggs and fry.

Given that Kribs are one of the easiest cichlids to breed, I'd leave them to it and hope that your fish manage to raise a good brood of naturally raised fry; you won't be depriving the market of fish, but you will, hopefully, give people the chance of having a fish that knows how to behave naturally and raise their own fry.

Best of luck to you and your fish!

 

[Rubyuk]

How many fry survive depends on how good the parents are; I really feel you are doing the right thing leaving them alone though.

Watching chiclids care for their fry is one of the joys of fishkeeping. Many pairs take a few tries to get it right; unfortunately commercial fish breeders tend to take the brood away from the parents and raise them artificially and there is some evidence that fish need to be parented to know how to be parents themselves.

So, sadly, every time we take a brood away from their parents we are, like it or not, producing yet another generation of fish who don't know how to look after their eggs and fry.

Given that Kribs are one of the easiest cichlids to breed, I'd leave them to it and hope that your fish manage to raise a good brood of naturally raised fry; you won't be depriving the market of fish, but you will, hopefully, give people the chance of having a fish that knows how to behave naturally and raise their own fry.

Best of luck to you and your fish!

Thank you

For the last 2 hours I've done nothing more than just watch the pair of them shepherding and guarding them around decor in the corner of the tank.

My heart raises a beat every time I watch them taking them slightly more into the open but so far they seem to be caring for them really well.

I put some daphnia frozen life feed in earlier and they seemed to be eating it or at least they were all hovering over and in the gravel substrate where the daphnia had fallen.

I have no expectation that all the fry will survive but if only a handful survive i'll still feel kind of proud even though i've done nothing

Is there anything else I should be doing in terms of food or water changes?

Up until now I do about a 25% to 30% water change either weekly or at least every 10 days or so.

 

[fluttermoth]

You might need to do more water changes as growing fry produce huge amounts of waste for their size, but I'd just syphon out and back in from one corner and not worry too much about gravel cleaning for the moment. A bit of mulm won't do any harm and there will be all sorts of micro organisms in there for the fry to eat and you don't want to risk upsetting the parents too much

If you can get some fine food down to them; a high protein granule or decapsulated brine shrimp eggs would be great, but even crushed up flake held underwater so it sinks would do, then so much the better.