New pair!

[Charlyc11]

Beautiful Pair. Congrats

[Johanna]

Really beautiful fish!

I mentioned it way back when the pair first started spawning. I was surprised to see albino fry myself. It might be a big deal for anyone who wants to raise them. I don't. You have to keep the tank in total darkness until their weak eyesight gets good enough for them to find their parents. I wish the pair didn't have the gene. It means that I have to watch 1/4 of the fry swim around blind until they die of starvation, which means that I loose 1/4 of every spawn.

So how does keeping them in total darkness help? Wouldn't they all just swim around blind and starve in that case?

[LizStreithorst]

Their eyes are very weak but get better over time. If you can keep them in total darkness they will still manage to find the parents although I don't how. Once they have discovered the parents and are well attached their eyes have gotten better and lights can be turned on.

[brewmaster15]

Their eyes are very weak but get better over time. If you can keep them in total darkness they will still manage to find the parents although I don't how. Once they have discovered the parents and are well attached their eyes have gotten better and lights can be turned on.

Liz I have not found this necessary at all. You don't need to keep albino fry in the dark. I'm not sure where that info came from, but suspect its due to albino animals in general having sensitivity to bright sunlight and that "factoid" made its way into our hobby.. I wouldn't put a spotlight over the tank with albino fry but I wouldn't do that with regular non- albino fry as well.

All that you need to do is drop the water level to the back of the pair when the fry go free swimming, and remove dark colored sponges and cone. The albino will bump into the pair and attach fine. Then you can raise the water level and replace sponges. This trick works great for non-albino too and usually what I do here.