I have a 180 gallon divided down the middle. On one side Cuban cichlid pair, on the other Carpinits Escondido pair. By luck, both pairs spawned at the same day. The divider is an egg crate allowing fry on either side to cross over. Will the parents know which is which, or will they care for all? The fry are equal in size. What do you guys think? So far, I havnt seen too many fry cross over.
ADOPTED FRY??
- Thread starter John Rambo
- Start date
Interesting question!
If you are worried put up a screen or some old panty hose to keep them separated...
If you are worried put up a screen or some old panty hose to keep them separated...
Gr8KarmaSF;2288433; said:
I thought of putting up a screen, but I was interested in seeing the parents react to different fry. I'll keep this thread posted.
I have fed Convict or Dempsey fry to tanks which included parents of young fry on many occasions… every time except once the parents immediately recognized the foreign fry and made a meal out of them…
But one time I fed Convict fry to a tank which included a pair of Dempseys & young fry… a few of the Convict fry made it into the brood od Dempseys and were raised side by side. The bastard Convict fry then killed all the JD fry while the parents did nothing… then the young Cons left the nest and were eaten by other fish in the tank.
So I would say your fish will most likely recognize any foreign fry and eat them… but they might overlook a couple… I would also expect younger pairs to be much more likely to mistakenly accept foreign fry…
But one time I fed Convict fry to a tank which included a pair of Dempseys & young fry… a few of the Convict fry made it into the brood od Dempseys and were raised side by side. The bastard Convict fry then killed all the JD fry while the parents did nothing… then the young Cons left the nest and were eaten by other fish in the tank.
So I would say your fish will most likely recognize any foreign fry and eat them… but they might overlook a couple… I would also expect younger pairs to be much more likely to mistakenly accept foreign fry…
update:
The 2 batches of fry have mixed when the parents on either ends come close to the egg crate divider in the middle. The parents did nothing to the invading fry. Maybe they were too occupied with intimidating the other parents. When the parent move back to the opposite ends of the tank, the babies know to move to the correct side. Pretty amazing to watch.
The 2 batches of fry have mixed when the parents on either ends come close to the egg crate divider in the middle. The parents did nothing to the invading fry. Maybe they were too occupied with intimidating the other parents. When the parent move back to the opposite ends of the tank, the babies know to move to the correct side. Pretty amazing to watch.
