Jag pair and first spawn questions

[SaltyPlum]

My jag pair have recently spawned for the first time and I've watched eggs evolve into wrigglers and now little tadpols swimming with their parents. I was amazed how well the parents adapted and how protective they had become. However, ive noticed the number of fry slowly reducing over the last 48hrs and also noticed the parents now randomly eating a couple at a time. Like they will eat one, then on the next bite they will spit one or two back out. For what reason would they be doing this for? If I had to guess i would assume they are slowly culling off the bad from the good?

Tomorrow I'm planning on removing whats left of the fry into their own grow out.

Any advice, tips or suggestions would be appreciated?

 

[dan518]

My jag pair have recently spawned for the first time and I've watched eggs evolve into wrigglers and now little tadpols swimming with their parents. I was amazed how well the parents adapted and how protective they had become. However, ive noticed the number of fry slowly reducing over the last 48hrs and also noticed the parents now randomly eating a couple at a time. Like they will eat one, then on the next bite they will spit one or two back out. For what reason would they be doing this for? If I had to guess i would assume they are slowly culling off the bad from the good?

Tomorrow I'm planning on removing whats left of the fry into their own grow out.

Any advice, tips or suggestions would be appreciated?

Personally if it's there first spawn I would leave the fry in there, if you take them out the male will try spawn with the female which she won't be ready to do possibly resulting in the male killing her. There parenting skills get better with age so I wait for the fist few spawns before keeping any, and even then I always leave some fry in there.

 

[vinod_uthaiah]

My jag pair have recently spawned for the first time and I've watched eggs evolve into wrigglers and now little tadpols swimming with their parents. I was amazed how well the parents adapted and how protective they had become. However, ive noticed the number of fry slowly reducing over the last 48hrs and also noticed the parents now randomly eating a couple at a time. Like they will eat one, then on the next bite they will spit one or two back out. For what reason would they be doing this for? If I had to guess i would assume they are slowly culling off the bad from the good?

Tomorrow I'm planning on removing whats left of the fry into their own grow out.

Any advice, tips or suggestions would be appreciated?

I believe it could be a mix of culling and immaturity...
Have a question for you .... are there any other fishes with them ?

 

[CrazyPhishMan]

Sometimes they are just moving the wigglers with their mouths, like herding them.

Most of my pairs (not jags specifically) get it right after a 3-4 attempts.

Trust me, you will be fine with them thinning down the spawns after it starts to happen more regularly. You will flood your local market in a single successfull spawn.

I usually leave spawns with the pair, as it seems to give you more time between and as Dan said keeps the female somewhat safe. Also it’s fun to have a tank full of the same species at different stages, some the parents may even tolerate almost like a colony

 

[duanes]

I agree with Vinod, there are always a number of mutant, and compromised individuals in a spawn, and the parents will often cull out the substandard ones, saving the most robust.
In nature, if only 1 survives it is a successful spawn.
The parents will often miss some, but the strongest fry will also eat their weaker brethren, but in the end you may need to cull out those with twisted spines, mutated gill covers, or other maladies, before you let them out to other aquarists, or take them to LFSs.
I usually leave fry with the parents as long as possible, for some reason, those left with parents are often healthier, usually until you see the parents start spawning activity again. Then get them out fast.
I usually have 2 or 3 tanks waiting to separate the fry by size.
If not the larger ones will usually kill the smaller, or hog the food so the smaller ones starve.

 

[SaltyPlum]

Sometimes they are just moving the wigglers with their mouths, like herding them.

Most of my pairs (not jags specifically) get it right after a 3-4 attempts.

Trust me, you will be fine with them thinning down the spawns after it starts to happen more regularly. You will flood your local market in a single successfull spawn.

I usually leave spawns with the pair, as it seems to give you more time between and as Dan said keeps the female somewhat safe. Also it’s fun to have a tank full of the same species at different stages, some the parents may even tolerate almost like a colony

Yeah they were definitely herding them at the wigglers stage and being very protective. The fry have only been free swimming for the last 2 days and noticed the number of fry reducing. I just turned on the lights to my tank and cant see any fry at all

The female's stomach is looking really full as well.

 

[dan518]

Yeah they were definitely herding them at the wigglers stage and being very protective. The fry have only been free swimming for the last 2 days and noticed the number of fry reducing. I just turned on the lights to my tank and cant see any fry at all

The female's stomach is looking really full as well.

It happens with the first few spawns and especially if it's a young female, give it time, before you know it you will be overrun with fry.