Eggs!!! Cockatoos laid eggs!

[Seb R]

Well my Cockatoos laid eggs this morning, but I've only had them for a week( ) and I'm not to sure what to do as I don't know alot about them. I found about 20 eggs in some of my bogwood (even though I really wanted her to lay them in a pot I spent ages making perfect for her ) I was wondering how long should it take for the young 'uns to get to a good size or until they have to be remooved from mum and dad?

What I really need is general advice about them...

 

[Ben]

maybe put your cories into the 70litre and then you can leave it all up to them
they will have peace and quiet so they can look after their babies,
start feeding the fry baby brine shrimp or crushed fish flakes after three days of hatching,the parents will take care of them, dont worry

oh and dont be suprised if they eat the fry, happens all the time

DD

 

[pnyklr3]

My females have eaten there egss on the first few tries. The threat of the cories may make yours do it as well. The eggs will hatch after three days, and the wrigglers (they do just that) will be fall from the eggs to the substrate. They are still quite helpless, as all they do is wriggle. After that, they become free swimming fry, and will be ushered to find food by the female.

Don't worry if you never find fry; your females will often have eggs, and you can give it another go. You may need to remove the eggs and hatch them yourself, though.

 

[Seb R]

Well so far she is being really good, removing stones and snails away from the eggs. I had wondered why she kept chasing the cories! But actually they arn't bothering her too much yet.

If I moved the pair to my 30L tank (in say 2 weeks if the eggs are eaten) would it upset them and stop them laying for a while?

 

[GSD]

i know nothing about them.....butt congrats anyway!!!

 

[lucky62]

I agree maybe move any possible threats , feed them and keep their water clean and they'll do what comes natural to them .

Seb ,
Don't know how general you're looking for as far as info ?

Cockatoos are among easier to care for Dwarf cichlids [ males just over 3" and females about half that size ], not too demanding about water conditions , just that it's clean , it helps [reasonable water condition ] , and can be expensive .

Do A GOOGLE search on them .

 

[pnyklr3]

I think that they would be fine. It may take a little while for them to adjust to the new tank, but they will start to breed again. Just make sure it's cycled (I'm sure you knew that already). You could also move only the eggs, or just the female and the eggs. If you move the eggs at all, you will need to keep them submerged in water at all times.

 

[dwarf-puffers]

when does the mateing usually start(age) and how many long between each batch

 

[pnyklr3]

I couldn't tell you at what age it would start, but I think maturity is when females are 1.5 inches and when males are 3 inches. The females will have batches of eggs roughly every 1-2 months.

 

[Seb R]

Well the eggs were eaten oh well...

luckily able to get a 40L tank so on monday I will move the apistos into it on thier own. What kind of water conditions would be good for them?

Right now I'm off to buy bog wood, are there any fish that'd be good with the apistos in the future? (the sort they would encounter in the wild)

 

[pnyklr3]

How many gallons is that? You will beable to keep a pair in a 10 gallon, and a trio in a 20.

As for water conditions:

The pH will determine the sex ratio of the fry. The sex is determined in the first 3 weeks of the fry's life (beginning at the egg stage). I would say to try to keep the pH between 6.5-7. This should give you a pretty good ratio of males to females. High pH= more females and low pH= more males. Somewhere in between should give you a good mix.

Watch your nitrites and nitrates carfeully! Make sure that the new tank is COMPLETELY cycled. I know a breeder who had nitrites that were a little too high (above the "good" level, and into the "Stress"), and all of the fry were born without their tails!

Higher temps also will lead to more males (I'd keep it 78-80 F), but this is much less important than the pH.

As you may already know, dwarfs prefer soft water, so match accordingly. If you are having problems achieving any of this with tap water, it is best to mix in some RO water to bring down the pH, harness, etc.

HTH.

 

[Bloo]

40 Litres = 10.6 US gallons (or 8.8 Imperial gallons)

 

[Seb R]

Well I should have alot of girls pH 7.5-8 (!)

 

[pnyklr3]

My tap water (and my breeder's) is at about high 8 to almost 9. She had 134 females and 1 male. I'd see how it goes, and then use RO water to bring the pH closer to high 6 or 7 if there are a lot of females.

 

[Seb R]

LoL thats alot of females!
I want to try to get an equal ammount as my local stores have to go a heck of a long way to buy thiers and also charge £15 for the average pair!

I'm going to set up the 40L today and move them asap to give my pygmy's eggs a fair chance of survival.


[not breeding them for financal profit, I do love the lil fellas aswell]