dicrosus filimentosa

[electric eel]

after 3 different setups my checkerboards decided to spawn in a barebottom 20long with a large piece of driftwood in it.i found them tonight(about 50 fry)the female has been trying her best to kill the male and extra female for maybe a week now(stupid me thought she was just being mean)i pulled the male and extra female.how long can i leave them with her?a guy in my club spawned them years ago told me that if i leave the fry in too long she will eat them.is this true.i'm more excited about these guys then my discus fry.i;ve worked a lot harder at getting fry from them.

 

[Bev N]

I have gone thru the same things with mine. It took a year and I'm not so sure the set up matters as well as maturity. I'm no expert as I've just gotten my first spawn as well but just a thought.

I've not heard that the female will eat the fry. Mine went free swimming a week ago and all is well. I don't usually move the fry to soon.

Maybe someone else with some more experience will have some advice for us here.

Congrats on the new spawn.

 

[oldschool]

I have never had problems with Dicrosus eating fry. The key for me has always been the water and cover. These are black water fish and need water with low bacteria levels. I use a barrel filled with peat and oak leaves for breeding my black water species. This gives you the right water. I also feel floating plants and cover are key as well. If we provide the proper environment Dicrosus are great parents and not as difficult to breed as we often hear. Good luck.

 

[electric eel]

i had about 3 inch's of oak and beech leaves in there before.the water got very dark(figured theyed die) but they seemed very happy.thought they might have spawned in there a couple times but could'nt tell.last week i took out all the leaves(there is still a little mulm) and changed prob. 95% of the water with 40ppm and 4.65ph water.looked like the mom was guarding something on the driftwood(a day or 2 after water change) but i did'nt think they would go in a barebottom tank.the other(pre leaf) setups i did had sand and although i was using water around 40ppm and between 4.5 and 5ph something kept pushing the ph up to the low 6's.thanks bev!i've wanted to spawn these guys for a long time(had this trio around 6 months)

 

[Bev N]

I had just cleaned their tank well. Took out everything but a coconut cave and the driftwood. No tannins in the water at all. Strange. I had kept there tank so dark before you could not see them. Sometimes they just have a mind of their own.

 

[Mike Wise]

I think a good "rule of thumb" is to separate the female from her fry when the fry stop following her and start wandering away on their own. I always find it easier to remove the female and use the tank as a grow-out tank if possible.

 

[electric eel]

thanks mike!i will cause i really want these guys to survive.