shocker Posted January 31, 2009 Report Share Posted January 31, 2009 Pair of Firemouths laid eggs. I knew it was imminent as they were digging and breeding tubes had dropped. Now what do I do. They are in a 46 gallon tank and they laid inside a large ship ornament. Mom and Dad are guarding and beating the heal out of anything that comes near except they can't seem to move a pleco and an upside down catfish from coming dangerously close. Other fish are 11 tiger barbs (they don't care about them), 3 corys, 4 gouramis, 3 glass cats, 5 octo cats. None are large and don't seem to care but they are punished for getting too close Here are my options...which one do I select? I have a 10 gallon being set-up with 100% water from the community tank and the filter media from the Eiheim Pro removed and placed in the tank for bacteria (I'll remove it a couple of days Options: 1. Remove LARGE ship from tank somehow and place ship in 10 gallon and use airstone to fan eggs 2. Remove all scavengers like pleco and cats and place in 10 gallon 3. Wait till eggs hatch and siphon fry into 10 gallon (gently) 4. Leave it all alone and keep my fingers crossed. Outside the ship about 8 inches away is the intake for the Eihiem Pro filter Never had Firemouths before. Will the fry stay in the ship or venture out? Anyone else raise these? NOTE: that wierd "nodules" on the male are back again. They are at the base of the pectorals on the male. I need to use the parasite medicine again as it seems to work. I assume the medicine will harm the eggs Charles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shocker Posted February 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 (edited) Pair of Firemouths laid eggs. I knew it was imminent as they were digging and breeding tubes had dropped. Now what do I do. They are in a 46 gallon tank and they laid inside a large ship ornament. Mom and Dad are guarding and beating the heal out of anything that comes near except they can't seem to move a pleco and an upside down catfish from coming dangerously close. Other fish are 11 tiger barbs (they don't care about them), 3 corys, 4 gouramis, 3 glass cats, 5 octo cats. None are large and don't seem to care but they are punished for getting too closeHere are my options...which one do I select? I have a 10 gallon being set-up with 100% water from the community tank and the filter media from the Eiheim Pro removed and placed in the tank for bacteria (I'll remove it a couple of days Options: 1. Remove LARGE ship from tank somehow and place ship in 10 gallon and use airstone to fan eggs 2. Remove all scavengers like pleco and cats and place in 10 gallon 3. Wait till eggs hatch and siphon fry into 10 gallon (gently) 4. Leave it all alone and keep my fingers crossed. Outside the ship about 8 inches away is the intake for the Eihiem Pro filter Never had Firemouths before. Will the fry stay in the ship or venture out? Anyone else raise these? NOTE: that wierd "nodules" on the male are back again. They are at the base of the pectorals on the male. I need to use the parasite medicine again as it seems to work. I assume the medicine will harm the eggs Charles 22 views and no replies? oh well. I'm leaving the eggs and parents in the community tank. Move the pleco and all 11 tiger barbs out to a 10 gallon. 3 cories, 3 glass cats, 1 upside down cat and 5 gouramis are staying in the main tank as they seem not very interested in the eggs. Male is digging to china, female beats the hell out of anything that comes by and the eggs look super healty. I'm treating the entire tank for 3 days on methylene blue to clear up the strange bumps on the male and to keep the fungus off the eggs. Hopefully, the fry survive. If they are in any danger, when they get big enough I'll put them in the 10 gallon and put the barbs and pleco back in the community. I cut the suction tube on the filter off at the surface. I think the fry should stay near the bottom with the parents. I hate catching tiger barbs Edited February 2, 2009 by shocker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted February 2, 2009 Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 Hope this isn't too late, but I'd just move the kids when they hatch and are free swimming. The parents will keep the other fish at bay 'til then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shocker Posted February 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 Hope this isn't too late, but I'd just move the kids when they hatch and are free swimming. The parents will keep the other fish at bay 'til then. Thanks for the response. Thats what I'm going to do. The parents are awesome so maybe they will be okay. Have you ever siphoned the fry out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted February 2, 2009 Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 Yep, use the gravel-vac hose and siphon into a 5 gal pail... did it just today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shocker Posted February 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 (edited) Yep, use the gravel-vac hose and siphon into a 5 gal pail... did it just today. I assume you took the end off? Straight open hose? How long did you wait until you sucked them out? Edited February 2, 2009 by shocker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted February 2, 2009 Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 Yeah, just the hose. Wait 'til they're free swimming, then suck them out an put them in the 10g Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shocker Posted February 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 Yeah, just the hose. Wait 'til they're free swimming, then suck them out an put them in the 10g Awesome thanks! My Eihiem Pro is running in the tank but I cut back the intake so its near the surface? Any issues with Firemouth fry? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted February 2, 2009 Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 I don't think you need to change anything. The eggs and wrigglers will stay in the boat, when they start to venture out (about 5-8 days), then you can suck 'em up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shocker Posted February 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 (edited) I don't think you need to change anything. The eggs and wrigglers will stay in the boat, when they start to venture out (about 5-8 days), then you can suck 'em up. UPDATE....a week or so ago...the fry disappeared. Both parents were at the top of the 46 gal community tank seeming like they were gasping for air. I had an airstone in the ship where they laid eggs for effect. I turned it off because I thought the turbulence would make it hard for them to keep them together. As soon as I started the airstone...they snapped out of it and returned to the ship and seemed to be looking for fry. Started up a 10 gallon with same water out of the tank. Waited for amonia and nitrites to settle and put the parents in there. They seemed stressed. 3 days later, they laid another large batch in a flowerpot. They look really good (eggs), mother is tending to them. Since there are no other fish, father is not doing much, no digging, no spitting out gravel into a pile. Guess he feels no threats don't need any other places to move eggs. When he ventures into the flower pot, mother sometimes flares at him and pushes him out. Here are my thoughts: Did I cause them stress in the large comunity tank by lowering the oxygen in the water (eheim filter outlet under water so no aeration-stupid me). They then either ate the fry (tons of them) OR they had to surface and in came a catfish or barb and had a lunch? I have towels blocking the sides of the new tank set-up to keep them from getting startled. I have an established foam filter and an HOB fliter that I plan on turning off when they hatch to keep them from being sucked up. Do I leave the parents in and hopefully they are calm enough to raise the fry? Do I yank the parents now and use an airstone to hatch? Do I wait until they are hatched and when they start to free swim, yank the parents? Well? What do I do? Someone...please respond! One more day and they will start hatching (wed night, Thursday morn) Edited February 11, 2009 by shocker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted February 11, 2009 Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 Firemouths are usually good parents, so you can leave them in there, if you want. But 10 gal is pretty small for them, so feel free to put the parents back into the community tank when the eggs hatch. I'd move the male any time, and the female once the fry have absorbed their yolk-sacs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shocker Posted February 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 Firemouths are usually good parents, so you can leave them in there, if you want. But 10 gal is pretty small for them, so feel free to put the parents back into the community tank when the eggs hatch. I'd move the male any time, and the female once the fry have absorbed their yolk-sacs. I was just going to keep the young in the 10 gallon...and if there were enough...get a 20 gallon for them and use the 10 gallon for breeding, 46 gallon will remain as a community tank. I think thats a good idea...i'll move the male tonight. Hopefully the female doesnt get stressed...he is a b*tch to catch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted February 11, 2009 Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 If you're planning on breeding these guys, use the 20 as the breeder and the 10 as the grow-out. Actually, I'd start w. the 10, then move all the kids to the 20 when they get to be about 1/2". If you're getting 100+ kids you'll have to start unloading them once they hit the 1-1.5" mark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shocker Posted February 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 If you're planning on breeding these guys, use the 20 as the breeder and the 10 as the grow-out. Actually, I'd start w. the 10, then move all the kids to the 20 when they get to be about 1/2". If you're getting 100+ kids you'll have to start unloading them once they hit the 1-1.5" mark. Thanks again! I think you and I are the only ones on this website sometimes. IF I did get lots of survivors, whats the best way to cull a few...meaning is there a market for them? Will pet stores take them in trade for a store credit? Charles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted February 11, 2009 Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 Maybe... but you may just have to feed them to your community tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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