In the midst of my guilt and depression over the fries I went out and splurged a little bit for the parents. Since the filter in the small tank was so cheap and pathetic (you can't rinse the sponge & there is no water current, just bubbles), I decided it was time to spend a little bit to at least keep the tank clean.

Once again, I went with my trusted brand, Eheim. I'm not doing any advertising for Eheim, but based on my experience with the internal filter in the bigger cichlid tank, I'm really impressed! I would've liked to buy an Eheim canister filter for the cold-water tank as well, but they were having a special on Fluvals which I couldn't give up. Fluvals are reliable and efficient as well, but their canister filter range was a bit more expensive than Eheim. Also, the Fluval internal filter would've been too big for the small tank anyway.

I also bought some white worms as a treat for the parents. Glad to say that they've taken very well to it! I can nearly feed them off the chopstick, but not quite yet. As beautiful as they are, cichlids are known to be very shy, which is a shame. But through slow, daily training, they can become accustomed to the presence of their owners. The parents now associate me with food, so usually they will swim up and look for food when they see me hovering over the tank. White worms are known to be quite fatty, so this is more of a treat than anything, but I'm hoping that this change in diet will trigger another spawn. The fat will then come in handy since they will greatly reduce feeding to take care of their brood.

The parents seem quite settled in to the smaller tank, even shifting some gravel in the "cave" made by the small piece of driftwood. It may seem a little overkill, that there is gravel and driftwood in a supposedly "fries tank", but to me, every tank should have some form of aesthetic value to it. Since we keep fish as pets to watch them and relax, we should also ensure that they don't live in spartan conditions.

However, my additions also serve practical purposes. The gravel is to propagate beneficial bacteria, the driftwood is to maintain the pH at 6.0 and to ensure that there are hiding places for the smaller fries, which reduces bullying.

I've also recently bought a micro-worm culture from someone online. She bought it from the proper online source for micro-worms and it cost her $25 just for the starter! So she cultivated the starter and sold them online for $5.50 which is really helpful to the rest of us fish-keepers who can't find the cultures in stores.

The micro-worms should be ready to harvest in a few days, so hopefully the parents will spawn again soon.

The Aquarist

Labels: breeding cichlids, cichlid, eheim, fluval, micro worms, white worms

3:30 AM

It is a tragic day. After painstakingly transferring the first batch of fries into the big tank and moving the parents into the small tank, I fixed that which wasn't broken.

Thinking that I would reduce the power of the filter intake to make it easier for the fries to swim around, I put some sponge material around the filter intakes. Unknowingly, there was one more intake hole at the bottom of the filter. So, due to the reduced intake pressure from the other outlets, the bottom hole suddenly had a massive amount of suction.

Sad to say, the second batch of fries simply weren't strong enough to out-swim the intake. In some small way of consolation, the first batch is still alive. But in the deepest way a human being can feel sadness for the loss of something as "insignificant" as a fish fry, I can truly relate to that.

On a side note, I've finally gotten the crayfish for the coldwater tank, and he hasn't eaten any fish so far. Also, the filter for the small tank is obviously quite useless and inefficient, which has led to the tank remaining filthy since the water change this afternoon. So tomorrow I'm going to get a slightly better one, keeping in mind the size of the tank.

Finally, I stand corrected, it is possible for fries to be sucked into your filter intakes, even without adding sponge around it, so do watch out for that with your own breeding projects.

The Aquarist

Labels: breeding cichlids, cichlid fries, crayfish, filter intake

5:03 AM

I've finally got the pictures onto my computer, so as promised, here are the pictures of the trip to Kelly Tarlton's underwater observatory! Enjoy..

A tenticle from a giant squid..


A real, preserved giant squid..


Steady as a stone fish..


The most pitiful fish I've ever seen..


Seahorses and starfish..


March of the penguins..


Huge stingray..


Beware of piranha..


Angelic lionfish..


Dr Otto Octopus


Puffy..


Lobster-looking crayfish..

The Aquarist

Labels: aquarium, kelly tarlton's

4:49 AM

After spending pretty much the whole day out of the house, I came back home and just had a quick glance at the tanks as usual.. But the "quick glance" turned into jaw-dropping shock.

Apparently, the fries which I saw yesterday were an understatement of their true numbers. They are now ALL free-swimming, which looks like a school of 50-60 fries in the tank. Of course, that is still a modest estimate!

They do seem to recognise their parents and follow their mother around the tank. Once again, I saw some swimming right in front of the filter intake and didn't get sucked in as feared, so I doubt if I need to change the filter type because they're there.

To mimic nature a little, I don't let the liquifry disperse on the surface, rather I drip it into the tank as semi-solid drops. The parents are tricked into thinking it's food, so they ready themselves to bite down on the drops as soon as it hits the water. What then happens is as soon as they realise it's not their food, they spit it all out in smaller bits which sinks more rapidly and accurately to the fries beaneath.

Due to this unexpected brood of fries, I think all my prior plans have to be scrapped. In a couple of weeks I'll transfer all the fries into the bigger tank and move the parents into the fries tank - essentially a role reversal. But there is no other way to raise so many fries at one time. Besides, if they spawn again, it'll be much easier to move the new batch of fries from a smaller tank rather than a bigger one.

Hopefully, there is enough food to go around, I find myself dripping lots of liquifry now as a paranoid precaution..

*Next post, A Trip To Kelly Tarlton's! (Including pictures of puffer fish, sting rays and piranhas..) Stay tuned..*

The Aquarist

Labels: breeding cichlids, cichlid fries

4:10 AM

Finally! The fries are free swimming, all just hanging out together on the gravel with egg sacs still visible. Now I've realised the potential logistics problem I'm going to face - where am I going to raise 30-40 new fries?!

As exciting as they all look, especially the potential of seeing most of these fries into maturity, if this breeding continues I'm going to be up to my ears with fries!

I truly hope that I can pass the juveniles to fish shops in exchange for credit, or else I'm really in hot water! (pun intended)

*Sorry no pics of fries because my camera isn't up to that standard..*

The Aquarist

Labels: breeding cichlids, Free Swimming Fries

3:27 AM