My Henlei female had 3-6" pups but...

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Anderman

Polypterus
MFK Member
Jun 8, 2007
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My henlei had 3-6" pups(they were huge) but two of them were massacred by the adult rays and only one survived unscathed.:(:swear::angryfire Now that's 3 pups I have lost in the last 2 batches so I will have to figure out a better method so there is 100% survival.Any suggestions? In this tank was the female henlei,pregnant classic leo,female bd/leo,pair of 8" bd's and a male henlei. I don't want to divide the tank for 120+ days as I have multiple pregnant females at one time, I don't want to keep all my males in one tank as 2 of my males trash my male henlei everytime so I have to keep the hen male with the females.


Survivor looks to be female....

IMG_3482 (640x480).jpg
 
Sorry Trev, that really sucks. I think the best way of minimizing losses is to divide off the female. I've heard of similar experiences where the male is left with the female and the pups get attacked as well as pups being attached by groups of females. Maybe its a space issue. In the wild, the pups can swim away and find their own "territory" whereas in a tank they can only try to hide. Since rays have no paternal instincts, it could a natural instinct for the adults to drive away young as to not attract predators.
 
I would recommend you divide her off by her self but if you know when she was tagged wait till about 100 days. If you don't know you can guess off when you first see moment and still shoot for around the 100 day mark. If you don't want to do that feed the crap out of them when you get close and see if that helps. When I know I'm getting close I check the tank every moment I can and if anyone is home I call and ask them to check. You get a little tired of it by the 1000s time but it's worth it to find them fast. Others have recommended something for the pups to hind under or in. Might help a little if they can get there.

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Its not a food thing. Its the females scent all over the pups. The males start biting everything because they are so excited to breed.


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Thanks for the info, just moved my pregnant leo to another tank free of rays and I am going to move my pregnant leo/pearl soon as she too lost one of her pups from adult cannibalism.
 
Interesting, we've all heard about this but is it fairly common? I haven't had any issues but only had a few litters.
 
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