Fry Questions

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
divemaster99

divemaster99

Dovii
MFK Member
Jan 10, 2014
4,795
385
107
Pittsburgh, PA
About 3 weeks ago my C. cutteri pair was found with fry. I let the parents care for all the fry for about 3 or 4 days, then I took about 15-20 fry and put them into an unheated 5 gallon bucket with a sponge filter. There are currently 4 fry left with the parents in the 75 gallon 3 weeks later. Last night I transferred the fry from the bucket into a 20 gallon tall. My question is would the fry from the bucket be ok if I put the parents and larger fry from the 75 gallon in with them in the 20 tall considering the fry from the bucket are about half the size as the four in the 75 and the parents haven't seen them in 3 weeks. Also, will the parents with fry be ok in a 20 tall for life or will they eventually need a bigger tank? Everybody I asked at my local fish club (very reputable cichlid breeders) said a 20 tall should be substantial for them.
 
Though cutteri aren't that large compared to many cichlids, I doubt a 20 gal is a good "for life" tank.
My male easily hit 7.5 to 8", so for me, anything smaller than a 75 gal for a pair seems a bit wimpy.
My rule of thumb for adult cichlids is 10 gallons per inch minimum, so an adult pair of 10" cubans requires minimum 100 gals, or in the case of cutteri, a 75 minimum.
In nature most cichlid pairs would hold a territory of about 4 square feet.

I've been growing out a bunch of varied size carpintus fry in a 20 gal, but today, because the largest hit 2" I moved all 20 to a 75.

 
Well keeping them in my 75 Gallon is definitely still an option. Only problem is they have tankmates, I'm not worried about the giant danios at all since they're way to fast and hardy. They barely even bug my raphael catfish. What really annoys me is they harass my gibbiceps pleco and nip his fins, is there any way I could at least calm down the pair? Maybe I could use a egg crate / light diffuser to divide the tank in half?

Then I could use the 20 to grow fry out for longer.
 
The parents are still kind of small now so you could keep them in the 20 for a little bit but I'd upgrade them asap. How big are the fry?
 
festaedan said:
The parents are still kind of small now so you could keep them in the 20 for a little bit but I'd upgrade them asap. How big are the fry?
Click to expand...

Most fry are 1/16 to 1/10 inch but four of them are 1/4". I may just keep the parents in the 75 and use the 20 for fry.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom