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nijesseni spawned - now what

anewbie

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,365
My nijesseni spawned and i have no clue why. This is not a breeding tank - it is a 29 gallon with 7 sterbai; 5 pleco (all around 2 inches), 7 kuhli and 4 juvi a. hongsloi arund 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch (i've been growing them out from sub 1/4) and 4 mid size mystery snail (these always gave the ram fits but they seem to be ignoring her).
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While i've bred angles before i'm not sure i'm prepared to deal with this. My understanding is that i can't remove the frys from the mother and i do not have space for additional dedicated tank for her (I had to hoped to breed her in 18 months after i move). From my reading if the eggs hatch i will have a few days to feed them (for angels it took 7 to 8 days for them to become free swimming. Then it is not clear if i need to provide them dedicated food or if they can feed off the drift wood/java moss. I'm concern about adding newly hatched bbs since it has a short life and in the general tank it will be difficult to inject only a few near the frys (i am a bit surprise where she spawned as she had dug a cave on the other side of the tank under a piece of drift wood but she seemed to have rejected that and use an open unprotected piece of drift wood next to the sponge filter. The male is ignoring her and the other fishes.
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I do have some powder foods with the smallest being 50 micron gold perl but again injection near the frys would be difficult esp where they are located.
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This is of course very premature because they might not hatch of the snails might chase her away (I can remove the snails if need be - maybe feed a couple to my clwon loaches or put them in the guppy tank if i prefer to not turn them into food)
 

Mike Wise

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Staff member
5 Year Member
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11,201
Location
Denver, Colorado, U.S.A.
No clue? The obvious reason is because you had a male and a female that you maintain very well, congratulations. As for the consequences, well most likely they will not hatch unless in soft/acid water. If they do hatch you will probably have aggression problems with attacks on other bottom dwelling fish, particularly other apistos. Yes, fry can be raised on dry foods, but it is not the ideal food. BBS are not a problem since the other fish will eat all of them that the fry and parents do not.

If you see extreme aggression from the parents toward other fish in the tank, it would be best to separate them with a tank partition. Good luck.
 

anewbie

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,365
I don't think aggression will be an issue as the way the tank is partitioned the other fishes can just avoid her region - but i will have to see what happens there - i'll wait to see if they hatch. It is not extremely acidic - tds is around 120 and ph is probably around 6.9 but i haven't measured in a while - tap is around 7.2 but the tank has a few almond leaves and quite a bit of drift wood - she was aggr towards the hongsloi on the other side of the tank where she dug a cave but it wasn't excessive more just stay away from my territory. I was mistaken about one thing the male has moved into her little alcove so maybe he will help her guard but he has shown no aggression at all. Oh well will update as you said the eggs probably won't hatch due to water conditions and that will solve the issue. I would like to breed them at a later date when i can provide them the proper environment - but i would also like to breed my l204 (if you are wondering i live in a condo right now and there is strict limit on what i can do with aquariums due to weight issues).
 

anewbie

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,365
Well that was short - about 2 hours later the l333 ate the eggs (he is only about 2 inches but she couldnt' chase him away). Anyway he and his friend are schedule for removal from teh tank - just waiting for the angel frys to get large enough to remove their kribs (it is hanging in the front blocking easy access to the pleco). I'll update this thread if they ever hatch.

[the l333 were purchased about an inch and i was just growing them out before putting them into a larger tank].
 

yukondog

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Messages
664
Location
N.W. Fl.
If they hatch there is no reason why you can't still feed them, on mine [Macs. right now] I use a turkey baster and just squart some bbs into the area the fry are in which is dense christmas moss. Good luck
 

yukondog

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Messages
664
Location
N.W. Fl.
In the tanks I dont want fry in BN are great egg eaters but like you said not a good combination, for fry control I use pygmy killifish, if there is a fry in the tank they will find it.
 

anewbie

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,365
well - i had just been too lazy to put the effort into catching the l333 - they will be out of the tank as soon as i remove the angel fry thingy - hard to get into the back with that fry box in front. I might even put a couple of hte larger frys in the tank (they are about 4 weeks old). Hum. Too many fishes not enough tanks.
 

anewbie

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,365
So this is odd (to me). The male and female are flashing their tail at each other and she is leading him to that cave on the other side of the tank. BUT they just laid eggs 2 days ago? Dont' they need a break ?
 

yukondog

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Messages
664
Location
N.W. Fl.
She laid and left them? If so then they may have not been fertile and eaten them and is ready again?
 

ARJDA

New Member
5 Year Member
Messages
9
I've had my best results with nijsseni hatching at pH 4.5 so if you aren't getting down to below pH 5, I wouldn't go nuts rearranging the tank for the fry which may never come.
 

anewbie

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,365
I have a question. My C. apistogramma (in a different community tank) managed to breed and now have both the male and female guarding the fry. I have no clue how old the fry are because she has been keeping them in the back (there are kribs in the front). I didn't want to bug them but they had a *lot* of frys at least 30 (they were small but clearly free swimming).
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My question is if they were able to breed without any special effort (change in water ph et all); will the n. apistogramma also be able to breed or do they require lower ph for their eggs to hatch.
 

anewbie

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,365
These are my C. apsitogramma frys in case you can guess the age - my guess is 1 to 2 weeks:
b2.jpg
 

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