Life Happens

[Razor7Music]

I was observing and enjoying watching my fish a couple days ago and noticing it was time to do a little cleaning of the bottom, when I saw something small undulating under a rock formation. At first I thought it was poo, but the undulation was irregular. Then, I thought it was the new little baby algae eater I just bought--but it seemed much smaller.

Then, I bent down and looked and sure enough, it was a fry. It was no bigger than a mosquito larvae. It was foraging for food in the sand. I couldn't believe my eyes. At first I thought, "How did he get in there? Did he stow away in the blood worms? But how?" They're refrigerated in very little (yucky) water. One of my fish must have bred it. But I never saw any of them holding--nor do they ever get the chance to finish any courting without being abruptly interrupted by another fish.

The fact that there "appears" to only be one, tells me that the others must have been eaten. I can't figure it out. I have no idea where it came from. It is so small, there is no way I could get it out of there without some major disruption to the tank.

I just thought this was amazing that life found it's way into a controlled overcrowded cichlid tank. I hope he survives and gets large enough for me to ID.

Just wanted to share this.

 

[sikoko]

thats cool

 

[Pharaoh]

What always blows my mind is how a fry that is about an inch long can dive down the overflow, into the sump, through the pump and into another tank and not be in pieces. Keep in mind, we're not talking about a little pump here.

 

[Razor7Music]

Ha, there are two. One is slightly larger and more robust looking than the first. I don't know how they get food, but they're growing. They even spar with each other from time to time. Fascinating! I named the little one, "Lucky" I think you know why.

 

[kdrun76]

If you want to try and net them out to put them in their own tank free of monsters...

Panty hose stretched over the ring lid of a canning jar works great of fry that is so small it goes through a regular fish net.

Congrats. That is really, really cool.

 

[Razor7Music]

If you want to try and net them out to put them in their own tank free of monsters...

Panty hose stretched over the ring lid of a canning jar works great of fry that is so small it goes through a regular fish net.

Congrats. That is really, really cool.

They've made little homes in the rock formations. I'd have to tear them up to get them out, and then it would totally disrupt the whole tank.

When they get a little larger, and can't hide in such small places, I may take them out just to protect them.

Thanks

 

[reddragon343]

that is very nice to see indeed. hope Lucky survives.

 

[Alhazred]

Life goes on hehe.

 

[Razor7Music]

Hey folks. The little survivor started coming out of his cave and I took this photo. Look at my albums for the one called, French Fry. Hey, that's what my 11 year old son named him!

 

[soxfan692]

I had three that survived as well and were growing until today. I took out all the rock to redo the aquascape a bit and they were gone in about 2 seconds flat. Nice little snacks for the larger ones. I just have no interest in salvaging fry from a mixed tank..

hope your little guys make it though.