Re: Cacatuoides Fry Mortality

[BigJohnW@webtv.net (John Wubbolt)]

I have several pairs of Cacatuoides that spawn  on a regular basis.
One pair are good parents and don't bother the fry at all including Dad.
The other pair is young and just getting the hang of this spawning
stuff.   The last pair has Daddy who likes to eat some fry.   Here's
what I do for this pair.   When they spawn, I leave the pair in there
for the first 24 hours.   Mom does a good job here guarding and fanning
the eggs.   I then remove Dad to a seperate tank.   I leave mom alone
with the fry.   I've found almost all females are good mothers in
Apistos.   It's Rams where I have the opposite problem.   When  the fry
are up and swimming, I start feeding them microworms and baby brine
shrimp.   Sometimes baby brine shrimp I think is too big for all the fry
and they can't eat it, this is why I also use microworms.    Once they
are 3 days old I go strictly baby brine shrimp for the fry and start
adding some crushed flake food for the mom.   Some of the fry will
actually pick at this crushed flake food.   After 3 to 4 weeks I add
crushed flake food everyday for the fry.   I still feed baby brine
shrimp to the fry.   This way they get 2 different foods to pick from.
At this age I also remove the female and put her in a new set up
breeding tank with the male so they can breed again.   I haven't had any
problems so far.   It is kind of important to siphon off the uneaten
foods as this will foul the water.   Hope this has helped.    I have
raised thousands of Cacatuoides in this manner over the last 5 years or
so.   
John Wubbolt



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