New addition- gt grow out thread.

[DarylMac]

Even if she is eating them she is doing what she instinctually would by moving them to a pit.

Practice makes perfect!

I forget if you mentioned whether or not you plan to pull or raise fry from this first spawn?

My plan is to let nature take its course if I get a spawn, but eventually I will remove a few and grow them out (in a couple years).

 

[MrsE88]

Even if she is eating them she is doing what she instinctually would by moving them to a pit.

Practice makes perfect!

I forget if you mentioned whether or not you plan to pull or raise fry from this first spawn?

My plan is to let nature take its course if I get a spawn, but eventually I will remove a few and grow them out (in a couple years).

I don't have a set plan yet. Kinda like you just said, I'm going to let nature take its course. I'll use the next couple months to observe and learn what I can. Then come June if any fry make it to the free swimming stage I'll move them to my 10gl to grow out to around 1". And then if the water in my outdoor pond is warm enough I might put them outside and see what happens.
I don't currently have the space to keep any of the babies long term, but if any grow to a good size outside I might be able to sell a few.
This is all just thoughts being bounced around. I wasn't expecting any fry for 6+ months from the two of them.

 

[aztsm]

Thank you Yes he has been growing surprisingly fast. And I swear I see a tiny hump forming. Haha
My girl Greenie has to be close to a year old now. I've had her for about 7-8months and she was around 2" when I got her. Not sure how long it takes them to reach that size. That would be considered mature for a gt right?
I've read it can be bad for their development to breed young, but she was already laying eggs without a male around.
I haven't heard anything said about males fertilizing too young. Is that a reason for concern? Other then just watching to be sure he doesn't get too beat up.

I would consider her pretty mature, not full size but mature. Wonder how others feel about this?

I believe its mostly geared to females. They are eating less and using a lot more energy trying to guard and raise fry which slows their growth. Males not so much.

I had 2 females of the same size that were sisters and growing at the same rate. I removed one of them to spawn in a 40b, and about a month later when she was back in the big tank I was really surprised to see how much bigger the other female was than her in just that short amount of time and one spawn.

 

[MrsE88]

I would consider her pretty mature, not full size but mature. Wonder how others feel about this?

I believe its mostly geared to females. They are eating less and using a lot more energy trying to guard and raise fry which slows their growth. Males not so much.

I had 2 females of the same size that were sisters and growing at the same rate. I removed one of them to spawn in a 40b, and about a month later when she was back in the big tank I was really surprised to see how much bigger the other female was than her in just that short amount of time and one spawn.

Yes, that seems to be what I read. The females don't grow as fast once they start laying. That's very interesting that you got to see the difference first hand. Do you by chance remember how big they were when you first splint them up?

I haven't really noticed any slow down in growth since she started laying eggs. I feel like she's always been a steady slow grower. But at almost 6" she should only grow a couple more over the next year or two right? I know females won't get as big as males.

 

[aztsm]

Sounds about right to me... although you have a special female there who knows. I split them up about 4 1/2 mark. Wasn't so much the length but overall size and weight too. They did a roll reversal. The now bigger female was the more dominant in the tank where the other one was dominant before.

I didn't really think the spawn was effecting her growth until I had them together again.

 

[MrsE88]

Yeah you have that advantage over me. I don't have any way to compare her growth since spawning.

If it does slow down that is ok with me though. I want Oliver to have a chance to catch up in size

 

[MrsE88]

I was able to count 9 little wigglers! I tried so hard to get pictures, but none of them turned out. Greenie is working on a couple more pits right now. Only one will give me a better look at them. So I hope that's were they are being moved to next. Lol
Oliver is just sticking to the other side and front of the tank right now. Not much the little guy can do to help, or he just doesn't want to;-p

 

[MrsE88]

Update

The babies only lasted till Saturday. Not sure what happened since I was out doing year work. Then Oliver got into it with the Jack. Poor guy got beat up a bit, but is recovering well and the jack is out.

On a better note my new lights just came! I got them set up and of course had to snap a few pictures
The top is with the old lights and the bottom with the new ones. Both pictures were taken today.

I am so happy with the new lights! They make colors almost glow.
A couple more a took


And a couple of Greenie


Thank you to those that helped me decide on what lights to get. The beamswork is perfect!

 

[aztsm]

Nice

 

[MrsE88]

4 week update a day early.
I'm not sure if Oliver was a bit bigger then 2" when I got him or if he's really grown that fast. He is about 3" now. He is too fast for me to say for sure though. Lol

He spawned again with Greenie yesterday afternoon. It was fun being around from start to finish this time. Their behavior is so interesting, beautiful, and frustrating. Haha

Taking pictures this morning was difficult. Oliver has a habit of puffing(or glass banging as most call it) every time he sees my phone or tablet. It was cute at first, but now this is the face I get all the time....


The one halfway decent body shot I could get.



And him passing behind Greenie and the eggs. She hasn't been trusting him since she caught him sneak and egg while spawning. >.< She doesn't know, but that was his third one he ate. Ugh.