Geophagus Abalios - Mouth Brooding Fry

[JK47]

My abalios pair finally got the hang of it, eggs have hatched and are now brooding fry. The male is on the left and the female on the right. "rock-o-love" in between. The pics are not great but if you click on them they get huge. Tons of little eyes in the females mouth. She has finally started eating small amounts of food but has yet to release the fry much.

Can't quite get a shot of the fry with the mouth open, that's clear but I will keep trying...

 

[xaznkewlguyx]

Looking good! Congrats!

I love it when they spit out the fry and they come out in a huge cloud..

 

[peathenster]

congrats man!! they look great.

are they still in the community tank?

 

[JK47]

congrats man!! they look great.

are they still in the community tank?

Yes they are still in the community tank. Honestly I though the eggs were dead since she brooded them for two weeks before they hatched so I never moved them. I am going to have to buy another smaller tank if I am going to move them but am hoping I can just move the fry when she releases them. After having just stocked the 125g, I have no extra space to move the parents. "Your" female wants back at the male but right now no one is making it past the wood barrier in the middle for more than a few seconds...

 

[peathenster]

Wow two weeks to hatch? That's crazy!

How long have they been holding? Sometimes when there are too many other fish around, the parents may hold for too long and the fry would starve. May have to strip them in a few more days.

Sometimes I use this for fry, so I don't have to set up another tank, and the water is exactly the same as they are born in: http://www.bigalsonline.com/StoreCa...ll?&query=lee+net&queryType=0&hits=12&offset=

But make sure you put another plastic basket on the outside so other fish can't reach the net - they can kill the fry through the net.

 

[JK47]

Wow two weeks to hatch? That's crazy!

How long have they been holding? Sometimes when there are too many other fish around, the parents may hold for too long and the fry would starve. May have to strip them in a few more days.

Sometimes I use this for fry, so I don't have to set up another tank, and the water is exactly the same as they are born in: http://www.bigalsonline.com/StoreCa...ll?&query=lee+net&queryType=0&hits=12&offset=

But make sure you put another plastic basket on the outside so other fish can't reach the net - they can kill the fry through the net.

Thanks Peter. I have a two of those already and is a very solid idea, I'll use it until I can get an extra tank. Do you think it would be an issue floating it in the tank with an overflow knowing it will eventually work it's ways right next to it? The openings in the acrylic are in the middle and I am not able to "hang" it over the side as I used to be able to in my glass tanks.

Just think of the all the "visual" experience your future female is getting "watching" how things are supposed to happen.

 

[peathenster]

Thanks Peter. I have a two of those already and is a very solid idea, I'll use it until I can get an extra tank. Do you think it would be an issue floating it in the tank with an overflow knowing it will eventually work it's ways right next to it? The openings in the acrylic are in the middle and I am not able to "hang" it over the side as I used to be able to in my glass tanks.

Just think of the all the "visual" experience your future female is getting "watching" how things are supposed to happen.

Lol should we call it "training" or "fish porn"

Are there brackets on your tank that you can tie the net onto? IME not a good idea to float it....for two reasons: 1) it may tip over. I let mine float once when I was doing WC, and it tipped over and I lost half of the fry. 2) it's very hard to protect it when it's floating. I put plastic basket on the outside that's 1" bigger in each of the three dimensions, and hang them in a corner, so other fish can't get to the net. It's from a grocery store (~$1) and has 3/4" holes all over to allow water flow. I learned it the hard way - used the net on some H. severus fry first and they all got killed through the net within hours.