Odd....Is this normal..?

[lovdiscus]

I was cleaning in the fish room today around 4 pm..and I happened to notice one of my pairs that have fry attached were spawning again and laying eggs. There are alot of them - I had since moved the breeding site. The did it on the glass about 2" up from the tank bottom.
What will happen now? Should I supplement the BBS for the other guys (they are only 1 week old).
Will parents have enough "Milk" for all of them?
They are caring for the eggs.
Is this normal behavior - to spawn while raising fry??
My other pairs have never done this.
Thanks
Donna

[discus_nw]

The parents will eat the fry. It is common with young pairs to have fry on their backs and produce another batch of eggs.

[lovdiscus]

Which fry will the parents eat? The week olders or the new ones?

[discus_nw]

They usually eat the fry before the 2nd batch of eggs hatch. I have never seen 2 sets of fry, including wrigglers, in my tanks or elsewhere. Maybe some else has, but not me.

[Carol_Roberts]

Generally they will eat the free swimming fry.

[lovdiscus]

CArol....could I put the fry in with the other pair that are raising a week older batch?

[Carol_Roberts]

I don't know what will happen - try it and see . . .

[Willie]

lovdiscus;

You should definitely move the older spawn out, because the parents will eat them. Sometimes they eat them before spawning, sometimes they eat then after spawning, but they always eat them. In the future, you can physically separate the parents to prevent spawning by sticking an eggcrate divider between them.

Although its earlier than usual, you can definitely raise a 1-week free swimming spawn with baby brine shrimp. I usually remove spawn from the parents with a siphon hose. You should feed bbs at least 4 times a day, more is of course better. Vacuum the tank bottom and make 30+% water changes daily because the little guys produce tons of ammonia.

Good luck, Willie

[lovdiscus]

Hi and update....I snuck in the middle of the night and siphoned the babies right off the backs of the parents and moved them to the other pair...even though their fry are a week older than them.
THey accepted them and the little guys moved right in.
The pair that spawned didnt even seem to care...all their concentration is on the eggs.
So it all worked out!!
Thanks!
Donna

[mtwinn]

I have a pair of Blue Diamond that has a batch of fry a little over 1 week that are still attaching to the parents. The other day, my pair started to spawned so I decided to test the theory. I've seen a lot of post suggesting removing the attaching fry or they'll get eaten. Well, I wanted to see what happened. The result: As I sat there and watched the pair spawn, the fries continue to feed off the parents like normal. The female cleaned the spot and laid eggs like normal. The male immediately fertilizes the eggs like normal. The pair didn't even noticed the fries, and there were lots of them swarming all over. Maybe my case is an exception, but it's been 2 days since the pair has spawned, and fries still eating off parents while the pair continue to guard the eggs.

[Carol_Roberts]

. . . . you're OK . . . . until the eggs hatch . . .

[mtwinn]

Carol,

Really? So, the parents will attack the babies when the new eggs hatch? Just curious, but has anyone tried leaving the babies in there when the eggs hatch? Maybe I should and see what happens. By the way Carol, do you know if fries can survive on their own after 1 week old freeswimming? If not, what's the minimum timeframe?

Mike

[Carol_Roberts]

AS soon as they are eating bbs good you can move them. You just have to feed 6 - 8 time per day. How about you move daddy and these guys and leave mom and eggs in present tank or vice versa?

[Rod]

I agree with willie completely here, actually it is standard practice for me to remove the fry at about the 7 day free swimming point. this has many benefits including less stress to the parents, a quicker recovery period for the parents, larger and more spawns and imo healthier fry. Once they have tasted bbs for 2 meals they are ready to remove.

Rod

[Rod Coleman]

I guess there's always an exception. My pigeon blood x cobalt pair produced a batch of eggs last week. I thought they had cleaned them all up before hatching and wasn't surprised when then they spawned again on the same site.

Next day I saw 8-10 wigglers in with the new batch of eggs. Then they definitely ate all of the second batch of eggs after the babies went free swimming. Today the babies from are on their backs and the cobalt has darkened up.

Interesting fish aren't they? ;D

Regards
Rod