D. macs spawned... AGAIN!!!

[Becca]

I came home from the meeting (great meeting) to find the D. macs at it again - the female was swimming slowly over a leaf and the male was following behind, then a badis would swoop in and the female would bite him in the head. I busted out my camera to take some video and they decided to go all "teen mom" on me. The female wouldn't let the male near the eggs to fertilize her last deposit, he got mad, they started chasing each other around the tank, and next thing I knew they were lip wrestling. She was fiercely trying to defend the eggs that he had decided he'd rather eat than leave potentially unfertilised. DRAMA.
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Well, good thing it was on a little sword plant-let. I pulled it out of the tank and dropped it in my trusty Marina breeder box with an air stone. FINGERS CROSSED :blush:!

 

[Becca]

Day two has arrived an, much to my bewilderment, the eggs have fallen off the leaf, but have not hatched. I used a dropper to pull a few from the breeder box and inspected them under bright light - they all show a similar pattern of "speckling" that sort of resembles two very small eye-dots and other possible developments.

It strikes me that this is not particularly normal - shouldn't the eggs stick to the leaf until they hatch?

I wonder if this is why they always disappear on day 2 - if they fall from the leaf I can guarantee the 3 Cory cats in the tank gobble them up.

Any thoughts?

 

[Tony]

Great videos, Becca! Your female is fierce for sure!

No idea on why the eggs fell off... uncharted territory for me.

Good luck!

 

[Becca]

Well, there were 4 eggs left un-fungi-fied when I got home today (there were only 12 or so to begin with). I was carefully inspecting them when I noticed... TAILS. These are some of the weirdest fry I've ever seen. They have very, very small eyes. I suppose there's a good chance they did not develop correctly. I don't think they'll make it, but I'm going to try anyway.

The prior spawns were all placed near the top of a tall sword plant near the spray bar, so they must've scattered when they hatched. It seems like the wrigglers fall off the surface where the eggs were laid, rather than staying attached. This last spawn was laid near the bottom of the tank on a very short plant so at least they're getting smarter. Now, if only the male hadn't tried to eat the eggs...

 

[Becca]

This morning I have one survivor - the good news is that his/her tail has grown to twice its original length overnight. While I still have serious doubts that this little wriggler will survive, at least I know the eggs are fertile and hatching.

 

[Becca]

The lone baby D. is still hanging in there... not free swimming yet and still living off the yolk sac.

I've been "cleaning" her a few times a day using a pipette.

 

[msjinkzd]

that is exciting!

 

[Becca]

She's still wriggling - the yolk sac is shrinking and she has a definitive head at this point. Unfortunately she spends most of her time lying on her side - I have a feeling that, even if she makes it, she may end up a "slider."

 

[Becca]

She is still hanging in there. She's gotten marginally larger and the yolk sac seems to have shrunk down. There's some mulm in the bottom of the breeder box and I can see little micro-organisms darting around in it. I've tried giving her a bit of microworms but whether she's eating is a mystery. She swims a bit if there's water movement, but mostly rests at the bottom... probably a slider... guess we'll see.

I think my odds of hatching healthy fry are slim to none with hard water (see ph Creep thread).

 

[jonclark96]

I usually don't start feeding fry until the yolk sacs are gone and they are free swimming. I've found that they really don't eat much prior to that any any food given will just sit in the tank.

 

[Becca]

I usually don't start feeding fry until the yolk sacs are gone and they are free swimming. I've found that they really don't eat much prior to that any any food given will just sit in the tank.

It looks gone... It's hard to say whether she is or isn't free swimming given my slider suspicions. Though I guess if she doesn't get up and start swimming, there's no point in feeding her.

 

[Becca]

Saw her up and swimming last night - this morning she was sort of scooting around the bottom, but it sort of looked like she might be eating. She's so tiny, it's really hard to tell

 

[Becca]

Bye-bye-fry...

Apparently "free-swimming" isn't all it's cracked up to be. It seems she somehow made it past the "baby gate" in the breeder box and over the little overflow spout which means, most likely, she became a snack for the other fish. Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh.

I had improvised by putting a mesh media bag over the gate, but it appears (though I didn't initially realize this) that this prevented the gate from sliding all the way down into place, leaving a small space under it that she could get through.

I guess I'd better go out and buy a pair of nylons to cut up... that's right - I don't actually own a pair...
:angel2:

 

[chriscoli]

I've used nylons for that, too....(I DO own some....as much as I hate them).

What I like best is the mesh from the in-tank breeder nets....if you have one that's broken or you can part with....that's been my favorite.

The downside is that I have to check and clean the fine mesh daily otherwise it clogs and overflows. And it doesn't always overflow back into the tank.

 

[Becca]

I've used nylons for that, too....(I DO own some....as much as I hate them).

What I like best is the mesh from the in-tank breeder nets....if you have one that's broken or you can part with....that's been my favorite.

The downside is that I have to check and clean the fine mesh daily otherwise it clogs and overflows. And it doesn't always overflow back into the tank.

Good idea. I don't have a broken one, but I could probably find someone who does. Maybe I won't have to worry about this and next time the D. macs will just raise the gosh-darn fry!!!

 

[golsama]

I've tried a couple different fixes for this. I've used the plastic craft mesh for larger fry and that has worked well. My favorite fix is using a piece of sponge from an aquaclear. I've found that this isn't likely to clog and cause the breeder box to overflow.

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[chriscoli]

Yep, craft mesh is my favorite for larger fry.

I did try foam and had it overflow too.


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[jonclark96]

I also had the overflow problem with foam (specifically AC70 foam cartridges. I used the smaller of the 2 gates that came with the kit, plus filled the box with moss. Didn't lose many fry that way.

 

[Forester]

I put a pantyhose on one of the dividers then put in the divider it works great.

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