|
| |
|
|
The
father has important responsibilities and has a very stressful role to
play. Conditioning him prior to spawning will help him do his job better
and help him deal with the stressful days after spawning. |
| 1)
The father, in
most cases, should remain in the breeding tank for about 1-3 days after
they spawn. After
you remove the female, the father will continue to tend to the nest. He
will move the eggs around to different spots in the nest, more than
once. Don't be alarmed if you see him removing eggs from the nest, he is
most likely placing them in another place. This prevents the eggs from
getting fungus and rotting. Some males do eat the eggs,
but it is more rare than common. He will continue to tend the eggs and
the nest for the next 24-48 hours until they hatch. Don't bother feeding
him during this time, he will most likely ignore the food anyway. I
don't believe feeding him or not feeding him causes him to eat the
eggs/fry in any way. He is going to be or not be and egg/fry eater
whether or not you feed him. There is also a chance that he may tend the
nest TOO well. I have one male that will build the nest and continue to
build it up to where the eggs are eventually out of the water and do not
hatch. I have never experienced this except with this male. I have to
smash the nest down to get the eggs to fall once again. I bashed the
nest in quite forcefully and was able to rescue many eggs, however the
nest stayed firm!!!!!! Look to see if you can see the eggs in the nest (picture
reference), if he has a thick nest and you cannot see the eggs,
then I would worry. If his nest is thin, do not worry. |
| 2) Once the eggs have
hatched, they are then referred to as fry (picture
reference). As they begin hatching, they
wiggle and as they wiggle they fall from the nest. This is where the
father's job gets busy. He will start picking up fallen fry and
replacing them in the nest. As he picks them up (sometimes 15 or more at
a time) he coats them with saliva that helps them to stick to the
surface. Even with no nest, they can still stay stuck to the surface. He
will continue this until they can swim horizontally on their own, also
known as 'free swimming'. This
usually occurs 1-3 days after hatching. If the fry hatch or are due to
hatch in the middle of the night, I make sure there is light
for him to see, whether it be a night light, tank light or the light in the room
where the tank sits. I also cover his tank during the daytime and turn
his light off so that he can get a little rest before his all night
excursion with the fry ;) |
| 3) If you notice that
the male is unable to keep up with the falling fry and there are many on
the bottom, you might very slowly siphon some of the water out of the
breeding tank bringing the water level down to 1-2 inches. Leave the
male in and his fins will stimulate the fry on the bottom to swim up.
Don't do this right away, give him some time to get his groove, but if
after quite a few hours there are still many on the bottom, then resort
to this. I usually start with a very low water level, approximately
3", so I don't have to worry about lowering the water level later. |
| 4)
If you notice your
male eating the fry, remove him immediately and lower the water level to
1 inch. This, again, is more rare than common but it can happen. Make
sure he is in fact eating the fry, and not just pausing before he spits
them to the surface. Removing the father can be very rough on the
survival of the fry. Placing some java moss under the nest for the
fry to fall onto will also help their survival rate. |
| 5)
Once the fry are free swimming (swimming on their own
horizontally) or the father stops tending them, it is time to remove him. Acclimate
him to his bowl and add extra salt if he was torn up badly by the female. You should re-condition both him and the female as if you
were breeding them again. This will help them get back to their old
selves in no time. |
| Once both are
removed, you are ready to move on to Fry
& Juveniles! |
| Keywords: |
| |
|
