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Hi Folks,

On 3 occasions, I net out a wondering fry with egg sac only to see it die in the nursery tank (within the breeding tank) each time within the day. Were they not viable in the first place so were ejected by the male from the cave?

Is it always better to leave the eggs and fry with the male and not to separately raise them?

Thanks for reading.

I'm no expert on this but I always leave fry in the tank for a lot longer than this. The adult fish are better at rearing fry than I am.

Hi Gecko

If the male has removed the fry from the cave then he probably feels it is a threat to the others, i.e. it is already dying.

Taking the fish away from the male just after they hatch has its pro's and con's. If possible I would always try and leave the fry in the cave with the male, as he is far better equiped for cleaning, and nurturing than we are.

I do however have one pair that I always try and remove the fry (after around 3-4 days from hatching), purely because they just do not survive if left alone.

Hope this helps a little.

rob

Thanks, helps plenty.

Was just wondering if it was dying in the first place or died from the stress of being caught.

That means every batch I have at least one fry (that I can see) that couldn't make it.

Also, make sure that the cave has a slight tilt backwards, otherwise the fry can occasionally wander out.

I have the same occasional problem. When I've removed whole batches I can raise them fine, yet I've never managed to raise a single fry which the male has ejected. So I think the same way, the single ones the males eject aren't going to make it which is why they've been ejected...

Thanks guys. Two more related questions if you dont mind.

1. Generally how many eggs per clutch for a seassoned/matured female?

2. Generally whats the % of eggs hatching fine? i.e. one bad one out of 10 eggs = 90% successful batch.

The reason for asking is that I cant really look into the caves in my tank. The only time I know there have been some actions is when I see some free swimming frys out at night. I have 3 batches so far, I think, because 4 of them are small right after the egg sacs are absorbed, about 4 are bigger and are eating flakes and pellets, the final 4 must be from my first batch because they are the biggest and should be 1.5". SO when I hear and read about others getting clutches of 12 or 15 eggs or more, I wonder why I am only getting about 4 frys per batch.

Cheers