Plec Suddenly A Recluse

[Harlequins]

Hows they doing?

 

[Rynofasho]

There were some out and about last night. I haven't spotted any dead yet, but I bet I would probably never see them before the snails got to them anyhow. As I can actually stay up late tonite, I'll make it a point to have the lights off for a few hours and then come check on them. Definitely more shy than their parents who are all about being photographed haha.

I'll get some good pics later

 

[Duz]

Well thats good to hear, I hope you haven't lost any saying that. I'm sure as they start to become older they will come out slightly more, they just need to grow a little.

 

[Rynofasho]

They werent really out and about much last night unfortunately so no great photos. I did a 50% water change today and found 6 of them in the filter. All of them were alive and munching on the gunky plant matter that always ends up in there. I also did find one dead one in the impeller housing. I put a piece of pantyhose over the inlet now so hopefully they will stay out.

I'll try again today for better photos. And oh yeah, I have Cory eggs plastered all over the glass now too. They never hatch though. She always lays them really high in the tank -- there are live plants and stuff everywhere so I'm not sure why she always chooses to lay 4-5 here and there on the glass.

 

[Duz]

Well thats sad to here 1 has died. But saying that seeming as it is only 1 and not about 10, you must be doing well. Thats a good idea by putting something over the inlet to stop them swimming in. As for your corys sounds like your fish like breeding Harlequins might be able to explain more about breeding them.

 

[Rynofasho]

Ya, I figured I'd have to have some amount of deaths, so I can't be too broken hearted, especially since I still counted 23 of them the other night and I'm sure there are loads more that I can't count when I'm looking. I wonder how long it is going to take them to grow to a 'respectable' size. The albinos are pretty much all smaller than the commons thus far, with commons now measuring about 1.5cm and albinos closer to 1.2cm. I fed some bloodworms last night after the lights were out for a bit and everyone was in on the action. Here are some pics I've gotten over the last few days. It's tough to get quality pics of the little buggers!

One on the glass, one on the plant:

Four albinos, plus momma:

More albinos. The one is almost transparent:

The father, up close (plus a Honey Gourami looking for scraps):

Getting awfully close to the bloodworms! PS I picked about 40 more MTS out of the tank yesterday (ugh)

Barely visible:

One more of Ike and a Honey:

Anyone else have Honey Gouramis that seem to eat everything BUT flake food? I swear, the eat it and spit it out and then go gnaw on plants, shrimp pellets, algae wafers, and bloodworms. Picky little fellas.

 

[Harlequins]

Fantastic pics,well done,they look fab!!

Also - hows them corys eggs?? - probably spurred on by the w/c you been doing

 

[Rynofasho]

They never seem to hatch. She will just kind of spread them all over the tank, laying 3-5 on the glass, typically pretty high in the tank. There was a cluster of 5 that was laid on an anubias leaf, but they too were knocked down and eaten. The big female in my tank almost always looks like she's full of eggs. . . She's a beast.

 

[Duz]

Very nice, looks like all your plecs are doing well how big are your adults?

 

[Rynofasho]

Not positive on that, I'll try to get a rough measurement when I get home. Probably I'd say 4.5" for the male and 4" for the female.

 

[Duz]

Well it sounds and looks like you doing really well. You went from thinking your plec was ill (behaving weirdly) to raising fry with just 1 death. Nicely done

 

[Rynofasho]

Well, I took the pantyhose off because the filter was really struggling with it on there and the tank was getting nasty FAST. I just check the filter daily for babies now. Been three days and only found one in there, alive and well. I'd rather risk losing the occasional fry than making the tank less clean for every fish in there. Anyhow, I'm not as worried about losing one or two because today we counted 36 and that was during the day! They're growing fast!

Welp, I'm starting a new thread in the Plec forum in case you care to follow and I will be posting there from time to time with updates if youre interested:

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/364818-my-first-batch-of-long-finned-bristlenose-plec-babies/

Thanks for all the help!