Re: baby A. eunotus - HELP!

[Mike & Diane Wise <apistowise@bewellnet.com>]

Charles,

If it had been my tank and had the low population of fish that you list, I would
have left the fry in the mother's care. I would expect that the male eunotus has
claimed the entire tank as his territory since he is the only male territorial
fish in the tank. The females have their own brood territories within his, which
the male jointly defends. I would expect the brooding female could handle any of
the other fish in the tank and these fish would tend to stay away from a fish
that harasses them. I'm sure you would lose some fry to predation, but unless you
are experienced in raising fry by themselves I bet you will lose more by not
having the female as a guide. Unguarded apisto fry tend to grow slower. It's
believed that the female's signals indicate to the fry when it is safe to move
around and eat. Without her, the fry tend to huddle on the bottom and not forage
as much.

With 70 fry you will need to find a rearing tank. A 10 gallon tank would be best
for the first week or two. Partial water changes will be important. After two
weeks, depending on the number of survivors, you will have to start spreading the
fry out among several tanks or put them in a much larger tank. A. eunotus fry can
handle newly hatched brine shrimp as a first food. Other small live foods and
powdered foods like Cyclop-eze can be used too. Live foods seem to work the best
for the first few weeks. After the fry get some size you can add other foods to
their diet. Hope this helps.

Mike Wise

charles watty wrote:

> Recently I had a spawn of A. eunotus. I removed the spawn from the female's
> care (but didn't get them until after hatching) and have them in a suspended
> container in the tank. They are almost through their yolk sacs and are
> wriggling around the bottom of the chamber. There are about 70 young at this
> time, and I believe I missed a few as the female continues her vigilant
> defense of the overturned flower pot in which she layed her eggs.
>
> My question is this. Was I right to remove the fry? They were in a 48 gallon
> aquarium that currently houses two adult females and an adult male eunotus,
> a few neons, a corydoras, three otocinclus, and some shrimp. Is there any
> chance that they would have survived on their own?
>
> Since it's too late now, what should I feed them as they deplete their yolk
> sacs? And are there any other needs that I should consider going forward.
>
> Thank you in advance for any help that you can provide.
>
> Charles
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