Flowerhorn & Parrotfish Laid Eggs !

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
J

jarbunny

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jan 27, 2008
22
0
0
Ontario
:irked:
They essentially took it upon themselves to kill all the other tankmates within a single night.
They moved at the gravel away and spat it out in various locations.
After I read that you should cover the tank with newspaper to give them privacy, I went for it. The next day there were eggs on the rock.

I know that it is common for male parrotfish to be male, but I don't think this one is a male. I noted that the flowerhorn was the one that was actively trying to kill the tankmates, could this aggression lead me to believe that this one is the male ?
Also, the parrotfish had something massive sticking out close to its anus as they neared the breeding ceremony. I think this is the ovipositor, correct ? Are ovipositors only present on the females ?

& finally, if I get any hatchers, should I siphon them out and then place them in a separate grow-out tank away from the parents? The parents are now alone in the tank, but I'm worried as to whether or not the parents will decide to consume their fry.

Any help would be great :D
 
jarbunny;1758325; said:
I know that it is common for male parrotfish to be infertile, but I don't think this one is a male. I noted that the flowerhorn was the one that was actively trying to kill the tankmates, could this aggression lead me to believe that this one is the male ?
Also, the parrotfish had something massive sticking out close to its anus as they neared the breeding ceremony. I think this is the ovipositor, correct ? Are ovipositors only present on the females ?

& finally, if I get any hatchers, should I siphon them out and then place them in a separate grow-out tank away from the parents? The parents are now alone in the tank, but I'm worried as to whether or not the parents will decide to consume their fry.
Click to expand...

With them being the only ones in the tank, I would leave them alone. The parents can care for them better than you can. If the bp had the larger vent (and as massive as you say), it is most likely the female. The male's will be tiny and appear as something like a pointy hair. You can also tell by who is doing what caring for the eggs. The female will hover over and fan the eggs with her pecs, and the male will generally keep lookout, with the ocassional peak at the eggs. They will pick at the eggs by nature, weeding out the infertile and fungal. Just watch for excessive picking, especially from the male. Good luck, fh/bp's (whatever they are commonly named) look sweet!

edit..just realized you asked about siphoning after hatch. Once they are free swimming, you can siphon them to their own tank.
 
yes - the ovipositor looking thing was considerably larger than that of the male, which was hardly even noticeable.

hopefully these fry are viable, as I've had a pair of parrots breeding before with virtually no luck at all.

youre right with leaving the fry for now - they will most certainly take better care of them than me.

thanks for your help :)

also, when the fry become free swimming and I leave them in there, should I add some frozen BBS into the tank in hopes that they eat it or should I just go about in feeding my fish as usual ?
 
BBS is better for the fry at first, but assuming they are capable of consuming whatever you are feeding (probably kind of unlikely at first), your standard food would be fine.
This is pretty surprising, I gotta say. This fish is hybrid to the max. hybridizing between two hybrids haha...
 
Well, when they are free swimming, I WOULD pull them to their own tank. Save the risk of them being eaten. If you did leave them, they will feed on micro particles in the tank at first, but you will want to get brine going immediately either way. They need the protein.
 
jarbunny;1758398; said:
yes - the ovipositor looking thing was considerably larger than that of the male, which was hardly even noticeable.

hopefully these fry are viable, as I've had a pair of parrots breeding before with virtually no luck at all.

youre right with leaving the fry for now - they will most certainly take better care of them than me.

thanks for your help :)

also, when the fry become free swimming and I leave them in there, should I add some frozen BBS into the tank in hopes that they eat it or should I just go about in feeding my fish as usual ?
Click to expand...


can u post pix of your fh/bps asap
thanks-
 
well, i peered into the tank and it looks like the female bloodparrot is guarding the eggs against the flowerhorn now.
the parrot flares up her gills to scare him away, and the flowerhorn has heavy vertical stripes on its body, probably due to stress.

pics will be up later today.
 
Here are the photos as requested - if I get any hatchers, I don't think they'll look too pretty xD

The flowerhorn is only about 6-7 inches.
I also noted some of the eggs were turning white, probably due to fungus, but the parrot was struggling to eat these eggs since its mouth is so oddly shaped xD

The parrotfish



The father, angry as usual, nearly killed a RTC of the same size



the little eggers
 
very cool mix hope the eggs hatch.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom