Wrigglers on the cone!!!!

[roger]

After 3 months of laying eggs my teenagers got it right. :o :D :o 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. :love:

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



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

I HAVE FREE SWIMMERS

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 :thumbsup:

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 :)

[roger]

Here is an update pic of the fish, this would be day 10 of free swimming. These are some of the more adventurous kids, the rest are hiding out with mom.

I pulled dad out of the tank on day 5 so mom has had the kids since then. There looks to be about 30 of them so I dont think its to overwhelming for her.

[Carol_Roberts]

:thumbsup: looking good!

[roger]

Thanks Carol

Theys guys are growing like weeds, its a shame they dont keep that growth spurt up. Every day you can see a difference in them.

Things may start hoping here soon, I have a pair of domestic alencers that have roped off a good size chunk of their qt tank. They seem to really like that side of the tank with the cone in it.

Peace,
Roger

[roger]

Heres to 5 weeks of age .. :drummer:

I moved everyone out of the honeymoon sweet about 4 days ago and put dad back in with mom. They laid eggs last night, but thats another thread I guess.

Im including a snapshot of the kids, the biggest fish is just a bit bigger than a quarter (body size, ie not including fins) and most of the rest are quarter size or a bit smaller.

[yogi]

They seem to be doing very good, and showing a lot of growth. What are you going to do with all your fish?

[Carol_Roberts]

They are growing nicely! What type are they ?

[roger]

I bred these guys to see if I can get kids that look like Mom. I like that brown/golden center on em.

So once I can tell what the colors are going to look like Ill keep the colors that Im wanting and the rest will have to find a home.

Yogi, you know anyone in south florida that would put the kids up ? ;D

Actually I should be able to find a LFS that will take them, though I think Alberto expressed an interest in them as well.

Roger

[roger]

I bought them as red spotted discus. They are pretty much the 1st discus that I got when I got back into things.

Of the 3 fish that I have, the one you dont see has a lot of spots.

I call them red-spotted-turqs though that might not be 100% accurate.

If anyone else has a better idea, I wouldnt mind hearing it.

Peace,
Roger