New festae addition - will update thread with pics periodically

RampageRR

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So, a lot of stuff happened over the weekend. A couple of weeks ago I decided to let the biggest male go due to the female picking the other male to hang around consistently. I found a willing trade partner and swapped him for an L114 leopard cactus pleco. This gives me the entire tank back for the pair, as well as a pleco I've wanted for years.

I got the big guy out on Sunday morning and brought over some dithers I had purchased that were in a holding tank - 4 silver dollars and 4 roseline sharks. They're still pretty small, so I have them in the divided section that the big male was in for now. I figure I'll let them all in together in a few weeks once they look a bit bigger and not like bite sized meals to the festae.

So within 24 hours of removing the male, I noticed the pair acting much differently. I came downstairs last night to turn the lights out, and saw a batch of eggs laid in the corner in an area they had cleared out. They're now defending it pretty well any time I walk by. Yay festae eggs!

Sorry for the crappy pics, I had to take some shots with my phone in the dark so they didn't freak out. I'll get some better pics with the DSLR later this week once they settle in a bit.

In the corner next to the siliconed areas:






Here's the divided tank with the dithers on the right hand side:



Here's the L114

 
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Jack Dempsey
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Awesome, and the cycle begins! Those SDs look pretty tiny. Makes me think I should merge my groups of SDs in with the adults in my tank. Love to see some shots of the eggs and the defensive parents. Do you have plans for the eventual fry?
 
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RampageRR

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The silver dollars are indeed tiny. From what I remember when I had a group with my ATF a few years ago, they grow pretty quickly since they're basically trash cans with a mouth and fins.

I don't have any plans for the fry at the moment. I wasn't expecting to see anything like this anytime soon to be honest. I'll see how many are viable and see if anyone somewhat local wants some fry. I'd rather sell off a bunch at once than try to sell small groups to several people. I live too far out for that to be convenient for anyone.
 

RampageRR

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Not sure what happened to my pics above, so I'm quoting my original post and adding the pics back in.
------------------------

So, a lot of stuff happened over the weekend. A couple of weeks ago I decided to let the biggest male go due to the female picking the other male to hang around consistently. I found a willing trade partner and swapped him for an L114 leopard cactus pleco. This gives me the entire tank back for the pair, as well as a pleco I've wanted for years.

I got the big guy out on Sunday morning and brought over some dithers I had purchased that were in a holding tank - 4 silver dollars and 4 roseline sharks. They're still pretty small, so I have them in the divided section that the big male was in for now. I figure I'll let them all in together in a few weeks once they look a bit bigger and not like bite sized meals to the festae.

So within 24 hours of removing the male, I noticed the pair acting much differently. I came downstairs last night to turn the lights out, and saw a batch of eggs laid in the corner in an area they had cleared out. They're now defending it pretty well any time I walk by. Yay festae eggs!

Sorry for the crappy pics, I had to take some shots with my phone in the dark so they didn't freak out. I'll get some better pics with the DSLR later this week once they settle in a bit.

In the corner next to the siliconed areas:

IMG_20160607_103749.jpg

IMG_20160607_103824.jpg

Here's the divided tank with the dithers on the right hand side:

IMG_20160606_154431.jpg

Here's the L114

IMG_20160606_150600.jpg
IMG_20160605_143224.jpg

IMG_20160615_220935.jpg
 
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RampageRR

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A couple of days after the eggs were laid, I noticed they were all gone. I had assumed they ate them all due to it being their first spawn and wrote it off as a failed first attempt. I believe Sunday evening is when I noticed the pair being extra feisty and flaring at me when I went to go turn the lights off in the evening. I looked a little closer and noticed wigglers in one of the clay pots!

It's been a few days now and they're still wiggling around, so it looks like I did end up with about 20-30 fry that made it. I posted it as the last pic in the post above this one - this was taken right before lights out last night, so they're all bunched up in one spot. They seem to get moved around the tank during the day by the parents, so this is the best group shot I could get for now.

I'll be sure to get some video up of the pair when the fry are free swimming.
 
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