Need Some Serious Advice

[Gnad]

Ok so i have a 20 gallon tank with 2 texas cichlids in it. After i purchased the fish i soon learned that my tank was not big enough for them. I was planning on giving them back to the fish store, but i decided to keep them for a little while until they grew too large. I have kept them for the last year or so and one has grown to about 3 1/2 in. and the other to about 2 1/2 in. About 4 days ago, the face on the smaller fish turned completely white. His back remained dark. Now yesterday the larger one also turned half white. I was planning to take them to the store sometime this week however this morning, they dropped a bombshell on me. FRY!! (I didn't even know they were boy and girl) Now i do not know what to do with a hundred of those little buggers swimming around. Now please inform me of my options. I realize i need to return the fish but what do i do with the fry.

Thanks in advance for the advice.

 

[Verminator89]

Grow them on and sell them

 

[Gnad]

Grow them on and sell them

Thanks for the advice but how do i care for them.

PS there was something i forgot to add. I have been dosing the tank with melafix and todays marks a week (the day to do a water change) but I am scared of sucking them up. Should i stop with the doses as well? Should i feed them today? I feed them TetraMin tropical flakes.

 

[Verminator89]

very finely crushed flake should suffice for now. Do a water change, small daily ones is advisable, as a big water change to such young/small fish could kill them. Use a thin tube and just take it slow is the best bet Assuming you use a bucket for syphoned water you can just net the odd few you sphyon out, i've done this many times with platy fry that get to curious of the syphon pipe

I'm not familair with Melafix and its effects or usage on fry. I know what it does in general, but when fry are concerned i'm not sure what to advise, hopefully someone else can

 

[Gnad]

very finely crushed flake should suffice for now. Do a water change, small daily ones is advisable, as a big water change to such young/small fish could kill them. Use a thin tube and just take it slow is the best bet Assuming you use a bucket for syphoned water you can just net the odd few you sphyon out, i've done this many times with platy fry that get to curious of the syphon pipe

I'm not familair with Melafix and its effects or usage on fry. I know what it does in general, but when fry are concerned i'm not sure what to advise, hopefully someone else can

Thanks for the advice. Do i need to separate the parents from the fry or no?

 

[Verminator89]

It is probably easier to separate the fish. As you said the tank isnt ideally sized for the parents as it is so they may feel threatened by their own young. Although this is only likely if they suddenly decide to breed again whilst they have their current fry, but it can happen and if it does they WILL eat the fry they have currently to raise new eggs.

 

[Gnad]

It is probably easier to separate the fish. As you said the tank isnt ideally sized for the parents as it is so they may feel threatened by their own young. Although this is only likely if they suddenly decide to breed again whilst they have their current fry, but it can happen and if it does they WILL eat the fry they have currently to raise new eggs.

I think they will need to manage together for now since i don't have any other tanks.

 

[Gnad]

It is probably easier to separate the fish. As you said the tank isnt ideally sized for the parents as it is so they may feel threatened by their own young. Although this is only likely if they suddenly decide to breed again whilst they have their current fry, but it can happen and if it does they WILL eat the fry they have currently to raise new eggs.

Another question. How often should the fry be fed?

 

[Verminator89]

Prefereably 2-3 times a day, but seriously SERIOUSLY small amounts, think about the size of their guts and you'll figure. A paraceptamol crusher would be ideal to grind some flake food up in, literally it just has to be a sprinkling of what to you and me would be dust particles. Currently i have about 12-15 (can't count them easily) platy fry in a tank. I feed them once a day with a sprinkling of dust like ground flake and they're getting on fine

 

[walkers101]

personally i think you should give in now to save a massive headache later it wont be good for you or the fish in the long run unless you get a bigger tank

 

[minxfishy]

If you say you have had the two adults for over a year and they are only 3.5" at biggest, then they sound already to be stunted, normal growth for texas cichlids is 0.5" a month until around 6", then growth slows a little to adult size @ around 8" for females and upto 10-12" for a full size adult male. So to be fair to them, they need rehoming to a much larger tank asap, they will likely not reach full size now anyway.

As for the fry, feed them 3 x daily and daily water changes of 25% for optimum growth and then they too need rehoming once they reach 1".

 

[Gnad]

If you say you have had the two adults for over a year and they are only 3.5" at biggest, then they sound already to be stunted, normal growth for texas cichlids is 0.5" a month until around 6", then growth slows a little to adult size @ around 8" for females and upto 10-12" for a full size adult male. So to be fair to them, they need rehoming to a much larger tank asap, they will likely not reach full size now anyway.

As for the fry, feed them 3 x daily and daily water changes of 25% for optimum growth and then they too need rehoming once they reach 1".

I know. I wanted to get them to a better tank but i don't have anywhere to send them. I was going to bring them to the fish store but now they dropped a crap tone of babies on my hands. If anyone in NJ is looking for breeding texans let me know.

 

[Gnad]

Ok i plan on upgrading to another tank to put these texans in. What would be a good size tank. 100G? 120G? How bit would it need to be to put in other fish with them?

 

[kaivalagi]

Google is your friend first and foremost, this sort of info is readily available...Have a read here: http/www.aquaticcommunity.com/cichlid/texas.php
Snippet: "If you want to keep a Texas cichlid with other fish, the aquarium must be at least 125 gallons."
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[Gnad]

Google is your friend first and foremost, this sort of info is readily available...Have a read here: http/www.aquaticcommunity.com/cichlid/texas.php
Snippet: "If you want to keep a Texas cichlid with other fish, the aquarium must be at least 125 gallons."
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Thanks, there is just so much contradicting information on the internet i thought it better i ask here.