First Brood To Keep.

[Moby-Krib]

just be careful when mixing fry at different ages ie 4 week old fry should be ok with 2 week old fry but not 2 week fry with new (make sense?) i use a JAD Double Net Breeder Aquarium Fish Isolation Twin Breeding Trap in 2 of my fry tanks for my holding females and it segregates my newly spit fry from the bigger fry in my tanks.

you will also need a grow on tank has the fry will outgrow your fry tank and you will need the fry tank for more fry has they never stop breeding

Stripping is a lot easier than it looks. Be calm and gentle. Handle the fish with wet hands and see how you feel with it; it's daunting when you first give it a go, but you'll soon be an expert!

On task as to the addon grow out another 55 is on standby . I also have a deal made with LFS for the excess. Mark has taken me under his wing and after a call agreed will buy for 1/2 of his retail price once over 1". fair enough I think.
Thank you for all advice. It makes me think.

a quick vid of what I'm up too. not the greatest and I may do it differently next time. there is a ton more fry in that tank than it seems in video. they were just fed and allot went and hid after. so funny how the fry just lay around not moving for a bit. I get worried they died , but no, just resting I guess. lol
sorry for my crappy narration.
short video

 

[Moby-Krib]

So far so good,
1/2 a week and they are seemingly growing. I am finding I get alot more action out of them from freshly hatched brine shrimp than anything,
Cant really see the tiny things but the fry come out from under the filter and swim around frantically darting at what seems like nothing

I tried crushed NLS , they reacted but I also got a huge mess on the bottom of the tank after.

A small piece of algae wafer left to soak gets em grazing and is easily siphoned out after a few hrs as it just swells up and never seems to spread around.

Having so much fun watching them.

Should be thinking about stripping the labs soon. I have a largeish breeder net coming and some liquid fry food as well, should be here in next few days.

Learned my lesson about having substrate in a fry tank, never again!!

OK Dad we are full!! you can clean up now.

 

[eggo]

it's all looking good m8, glad you are getting alot of enjoyment from mbuna they are very hands on, thats whats keeps my passion in these beautiful fish

 

[Moby-Krib]

What are your thoughts on letting some ghost shrimp scurry around the fry tank?
Fairly certain would pose no threat to the fry.

I realize they will be lunch one day but would help me out with clean up a bit maybe as my work load is increasing and I plan on upping the brine shrimp I release in the morning to compensate for a missed feeding here and there.
The brine should live for up to 4-5 hrs in freshwater.

Would the ghosts survive the 8.2ph and salts I'm maintaining in tank?

All just a thought. Curious as to any thoughts on this odd idea.

 

[eggo]

sorry never kept shrimps so could not advice maybe a couple baby BN's, also been told you can keep a group of zebra danio's to keep a fry tank seeded and they will not bother the fry when spit.

 

[Moby-Krib]

sorry never kept shrimps so could not advice maybe a couple baby BN's, also been told you can keep a group of zebra danio's to keep a fry tank seeded and they will not bother the fry when spit.

Fair enough. wanting to avoid the trouble of removing the sand, but may be my best option really.
Maybe a snail? lol
thanks for the reply.

 

[Moby-Krib]

Day 7, still a bit shy when I approach tank. out and swimming around otherwise.

Day 7

 

[eggo]

it's all looking good m8

 

[Moby-Krib]

So mom and dad decided they would get a bit frisky while I was cleaning the tank.. My hand is in there cleaning sand while they play.
looks like fighting but this is foreplay to these two. soon after the male was digging a pit and showing more of the expected spawning behavior.

Youtube link

 

[Moby-Krib]

Day 19 after mom spit.
growing so fast, feeding fresh BBS 2x daily and trying to wean to NLS growth and flake.

Cant seem to embed so here is the link

19 day fry

 

[Moby-Krib]

So at 27 days I can say, Eggo, you were right!! bare bottom is the only way to go..
they are big enough that the Poo shows on the sand now, but it is like Velcro, cant siphon it off without taking tons of sand, cleaning and returning to the tank.
Such an unneeded extra step on such a regular basis.
Almost 1/2" or more now, another annoying video soon!!!
Time to look at moving them as mom is ready to spit again in 1-2 weeks.

I still marvel at the growth rate, from spit to 19 days is such a drastic change.

I actually find myself chomping at the bit to get home from work to do a water-change and a feeding so I can watch them for a hour or three!!

 

[eggo]

your welcome

 

[Moby-Krib]

your welcome

LOL, and your thanks was well deserved.
I have become quite prolific at grabbing what I need cleared out of the tank and returning the collateral sand cleaned though. Yet another useless on my resume skill.. lol

Put up a tank and bought 2 females to create a trio of Aulonocara sp. "Lwanda" for the male I already posses.
This constant breeding thing might as well produce a better return .

The yellows and the Acei are great to learn on but not allot of profit and so prolific I will soon exceed the demand.
I also put a quad of Synodontis multipunctata in with the breeding groups.. moved the Eruptus to the Lwanda tank.
Maybe I'll see the bait and switch. Fingers crossed

 

[Moby-Krib]

At 35 days (from spit at 2 weeks) 1/2 to 3/4 inch eating a mixture of foods. should be weaned to adult food soon.
For now I still hatch BBS daily.
The big fat bellies are from being fed a 1 gram hatch 1/2 hour b4 the pictures/ video.
All have survived to this point. Healthy and showing colors.

Should put a day one photo next to the 5 week photo.. quite the difference.
Since she held them for 2 weeks hatched at 1 week. should I be gauging age from spawn,hatch, or spit?? lol such a grey area really.

I should add if you are to watch the video THEY are the ones building the dunes.. Digging like Cichlids do.
Hilarius to see such a small fish work the sand, but 15-20 at a time looks like they are talking and working together.. .
Video

EDIT: let moms 2nd hold go in the main , It's for the best though as I don't have space to raise.
She was without in about 2.5 weeks which is early.. I think its her size. she is still not full grown.
Might be a tough sob or two hiding .. I'll keep an eye out for em.