A. borellii Fry - Some Help Please

[EB Red Devil]

BABIES!!!

I've had my tank set up for barely 2 months now. In there I've got the two A. borellii and 6 Serpae Tetras. I was planning on getting a little group of Adolfi Corys, but now with the babies swimming around I'm a little pre-occupied. I've never had to deal with cichlid babies before (always had catfish to take care of the eggs), but I'm definately interested in trying to raise these little guys.

Oh yeah - the story. I work at a local petstore here in Tempe, AZ and after getting off work today I came home to feed the group. The tetras usually hang out together near the top, with my pair of gorgeous looking A. borellii hanging out in the plants and driftwood near the bottom. Today, the female dwarf (who has relatively recently turned BRIGHT yellow), has moved off to one corner of the aquarium among a bunch of plants and is doing a good job of defending her group of at least a couple dozen little babies that follow her around like ducklings. What do I do now? Are they good parents? Do I need to take the fry out and raise them seperately? No way can I have that many fish in the 20 that they're living in now if they all survive... All the help you can give me would be MUCH appreciated. Thanks a million in advance!!!

- Eric

 

[Randall]

Apistogramma borellii fry

Hello Eric,

Congrats on your spawning success! Enjoy the experience.

Generally, Apistogramma species make good parents, so there's no need to separate the fry. Feeding your fry with an appropriately sized food is a surely a good idea. Many have success with baby brine shrimp fed several times daily.

At this stage, maintaining good water quality is important as well, so please keep up with your partial water changes. Because fry are involved, smaller water changes are recommended so the family is not unduly disturbed.

Good luck!

Randall Kohn