Eggs Hatching! Please help

[Donny417]

I have little wigglers! Right now, my two jag's are guarding a rock in the middle of my 150, chasing off any fish that come near. The male is especially aggressive.

Even though they are doing an excellent job, I have some ruthless fish in this particular tank -- like pikes.

I have a 20 gallon tank that is empty, already cycled, and ready. Should I move the little wigglers over to the 20 gallon? I guess my questions are:

1) will it cause too much stress on the parents?
2) will it cause too much stress on the fry?
3) should I move the parents, the fry, and their rock over?

How the heck am I supposed to get to them? He male jag flares up at me when I look into the aquarium closely!

Also, should I wait until the little guys are completely hatched and free swimming and just net them?

My last question, what do I feed these little sperm lookin' guys?

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Natural_Born_Killer]

Wow!!! Congratulations on the hatching!!! Thats great news!!

I'll be setting up the separate tank tonight in case as well.

Good luck with the move.

 

[fatpike]

I let the parents gaurd the wigglers until they hatch and the parents move them to a pit they've prepared. When that happens I break out the old python and syphon them into a bucket. Pour them into a separate tank that has already been prepared and start feeding Hikari First Bites. After separation be sure there's a hiding place in your main tank that mommy fish can fit into but daddy fish can't. Often times there is increased aggression between the pair after the fry go away.

 

[Donny417]

Thats a great idea to syphon them into a bucket! I can see that they've moved them into a pit underneath a rock, so I'm getting ready to go ahead and get them.

I'll go up and get some Kikari First Bites! Thanks! Anything else I should be feeding them?

I don't think daddy fish is going to mess with mommy fish; mommy fish is 33% larger than he is and a real killer...

 

[Donny417]

Ugh! I managed to get about 15 little wigglers into the bucket and transferred over to the 20 gallon tank by themselves.

The mother has the rest semi-buried in gravel in a pit she built under a 60 lb rock. I can still see some in the mother's pit wiggling around. I thinking of letting them stay and letting her deal with those, while I care for the ones in the 20 gallon tank.

What is the survival rate of these little things? Should I take the rest?

The parents definitely get pissed. The female latched on to the bottom lip of my python and literally was dragging it away and making all kinds of a mess.

I'll have pictures soon!

 

[fatpike]

Survival rate depends a lot on you and the parents. Keep the water clean and the temp constant and you should be groovy. Good luck