Convicts Have Laid Eggs, And No Idea What To Do

[shelaghfishface]

i have been watching a pair hanging out in one side of the tank for the last 2 days, tonight i have noticed the female has laid about 100+ eggs on a piece of slate, thing is they are in Jambos tank
they are at the moment being very protective and keeping all the fish away from the eggs,but i dont know how to save any. i dont have a seperator, but i do have some breeding nets ( thats not to say i know when and what to do with it) i asked my lfs a while back if he would take some babies,should this ever happen so i am ok on that score, so please advise me on what to do, i wouldnt put bets on Jambo not eating them, he`ll eat aything but would like to make an effort to save some

shelagh xx

ps, i know this should probably be in the cichlid bit of the forum, but i know all the action happens in here and hope ill get faster answers

thanks in advance

shelagh xxxx

 

[backtotropical]

Sorry to say Shelagh, but i think they are unlikely to ever successfully raise any fry whilst in with Jambo.

To be honest, Convict fry are similar to livebearer fry in that supply always outweighs demand and so they end up being difficult to re-home.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

If you really do want to spawn them successfully, move them to their own tank, and you'll have hundreds of fry within weeks, i bet!!

Cheers

BTT

 

[shelaghfishface]

oh well. i was thinking that to be honest, big bugger he is !!
not the end of the world, Jambo is my priority,i have been thinking about moving the convicts on anyway,and theres a fish house keeper who will def have them so, maybe now they are old enough to breed its the time for them to go,Jambo was brilliant with the other fish ( convicts,clown loaches) while he was small, but hes getting to the point where he wants the tank to himself ,he does argue with the convicts-as they can be nippy, the clowns are fine in there,they never cross words,but i dont want a reapeat of what happend with buddie to happen to any of the convicts
thanks BTT i appreciate your help
shelagh xxxx

 

[Ludwig Venter]

Easiest to remove them while they're still in the egg state.... Submerge a container which is big enough to contain the rock that they've laid their eggs on..... move the rock slowly into the container.... remove ensuring that all the eggs are below water level. Move bucket to another tank at same temp (your new 3ft) submerge & remove the rock slowly.......remove the container. Successful transfer.....!!

Place airstone near the eggs (to simulate the parent's fanning) add enough methylene blue to the water to make it a pale blue colour (prevents fungus build-up spread from infertile eggs).. Add 4 Mystery snails as soon as they become free swimming.... If you don't have a solid market & hate to see what Jambo does to the babies.....seperate the convicts as they're gonna be spawning weekly producing between 2- to 500 per week.


Edit..... since seeing Jambo's teeth,..... I'll just add, watch out for Jambo while your hand is in there to remove the rocks..... And I see you've in the meantime also added that your not reaaly iterrested in the convicts)

 

[shelaghfishface]

i didnt think i could move the eggs at all. now i know that i would be obliged to at least try..( just this once)
its not that im not really interested,i just want jambo to have a stress free life,and these little monkeys can be stressfull,and i would hate to see any of them hurt, ill give it a go with the eggs,and let the guy know he can come and get the others,if any of the fry survive then my fish shop will take them

he better not bite me(haha) no, i have my hands in there a lot and he hasnt so far............................hmm last famous words!!

thanks Ludwig
shelagh xxxx

 

[shelaghfishface]

do i need sand or any substrate in the tank?? i am just emptying it and will fill it again from jambos tank. is that ok?.. also should the filter be on??- only wondering as they may get sucked up,
how do i know the eggs are ok, i mean not rotten, and fertilised ( would they have to be to have been laid?)

 

[shelaghfishface]

i put them in the same water from the tank they were in,and have put an airstone in, but they are changing colour, not good??

thanks Gaz for getting my camera working again

 

[shelaghfishface]

sorry i have to bump this as i am still none the wiser have just googled to find out the white ones are unfertilised?? hmmm still stuck

 

[Ludwig Venter]

sorry i have to bump this as i am still none the wiser have just googled to find out the white ones are unfertilised?? hmmm still stuck

Yes the white ones are not fertilized and are prone to fungus buid-up..... If your hand is steady, and your eyesight good,.... you could try remove these with a needle, esp. if fungus starts building up. Yes you're doing it right, just the airstone is ample for now. The other eggs looks fine from my angle...(can even see an eye or two developing in there) Good luck.... They'll be wriggling in another day or two, then they become "hoppers" (like popcorn) and will be freeswimming on Fri/Saturday....

 

[ALW]

You could add some malachite green to the tank, this should stop any fungal attacks on the eggs.

[URL="http/www.theaquariumwiki.com/Malachite_green"]http/www.theaquariumwiki.com/Malachite_green[/URL]

 

[shelaghfishface]

oh bloody disaster iw ent to move a few stone to keep the airstone in place and moved the one with the eggs on by mistake, after removing the white eggs there about 10 left,goodness knows how many i just murdered

 

[Ludwig Venter]

Ouch!!... Well... as I said the'll breed again on Monday or Tuesday,. and now that you're an experienced aquarist,...... the sky's the limit....

 

[orange shark]

it's not hard to get convicts breeding again