Wrigglers on the cone!!!!

[roger]

After 3 months of laying eggs my teenagers got it right. I believe that they just had their right of passage into adult land. No more wondering if I had 2 girls or a guy shotting blanks.

These guys have been going it at almost every 5-6 days for 3 months. Only a teenager has that much energy



I got up saturday morning to this pair laying eggs on the PVC and came home from work today to find little black dots on the PVC that are moving. So now the next great adventure begins, getting them from wriggler to free-swimming and so on ...

Anyone have rough timeline for goals for the babies ... things like when they should start getting bbs, etc ...

Peace,
Roger

[roger]

Here is a pic of the female, when they arent in breeding colors the spots are a little more defined.

The male is the pic below

[larry lob]

Hi Rodger,

To start with, congrats and good luck,

time lines are roughly as follow..... eggs to wrigglers 46 - 60 hours, wrigglers to free swimmers 120 - 150 hours total about 6 - 7 days. from free swimmers i introduce BBS at 4 days bit by bit. i watch the parents to help me decide when to move the babies, too much wear and tear to the parents skin or the parents getting agitated by the babies, normaly around 2 - 3 weeks.

HTH

Larry

[roger]

Thanks for the info Larry..

Im hoping Ill be an old hat at this game in a few months.

Just a small update, I got up this morning and didnt see the eggs/wrigglers at all. When I checked tonight, you guessed it they had eaten the infertile eggs and moved the fry around to the other side of the pipe.

The parents are real skitish at the moment so Im staying as far from the tank as possible. Because of this I didnt get a real good count but Im guessing 50 wrigglers.

The clock is ticking now .. come on free swimmers .. 5 days and counting

good luck roger.....very cool, isn't it??! ;D

[roger]

Yes david it is cool

The wrigglers where still there this morning when I left for work. Now that I know where they are I can see them without having to get close to the tank.

Of course this throws a kink into my plans to by fish this weekend, guess Ill buy lite in hopes that Ill fill the tanks with babies.

Peace,
Roger

Good deal Roger,

So now tell everyone that You did nothing to make this happen! tell them how you just used your patience and gave the pair some time to practice.

Best wishes!
Cary Gld!

[roger]

I did lots of things Cary.. Like pull out hair with frustration, cuss swear you know things like that Now if I can just convince your melons to pair up I would be set.

The only thing special for these guys was that they are in almost pure RO, the TDS runs about 80 or so in that tank. My tap water is just shy of liquid cement.

I let these guys practice in the community tank for almost 2 months so they got pretty good at defending the eggs and so far they are doing a great job with the wrigglers.

BTW another update. They must have noticed that I figured out where they put the wrigglers. I got home today and the cone was bare, but the glass by the heater wasn't

[larry lob]

Good stuff,

Just check the tank temp maybe they moved em there for a reason?

Babys want about 86 - 88 degrees.

Good luck

Larry

[roger]

Just another update.

I was out of the house all of friday and didnt get back into the house till late saturday. I didnt check in on the fish because of the time, straight to bed it was for me, once I got my new fish into the tanks. Thats another thread though

[move]I HAVE FREE SWIMMERS[/move]

I have free swimmers this morning, wich I believe everyone counts as their official birthday. I have to go to work today so Ill be checking back in with the everyone in about 6 hours. Ill see if I can get lights on long enough to get a count of fish and a see if they are attaching.

Peace,
Roger

[Carol_Roberts]

Congratulations Roger

Yes, first day freeswimming is counted as DOB. It may take a bit for them to find mom and dad, especially as mom and dad are new at this. Be patient. . . .

[roger]

Thanks Carol..

They did find dad already, he is patiently sitting at the back of the tank behind the cone. So another milestone is done, we have attachment.

I must admit, for their first time all the way through they are really good parents. Mom looks a little beatup but she is cruising around looking for food now.

[roger]

Hello Everyone

I figured it was time for an update.

Here is a pic of the male with a few fry on his side. I couldnt get a good pick of the shag carpet on the other side.

If you look there are 3 or 4 that you can see. This was taken Monday night.

The picture of the eggs on the pipe is actually the female.

[larry lob]

Excellent and good luck,

Funny how they have a way of confusing us witht thier sex! always the one you think is the male turns out to be mum!

Larry

[roger]

Hey Larry

They are a lot easier to sex when they arent in breeding mode. Problem is they have been laying eggs every 5-6 days for 3 months now that I havent seen them without their breeding colors