stribbelldk Posted April 3, 2009 Report Share Posted April 3, 2009 So here is the story. I went out and bought a wild caught breeding pair of Altolamprologus compressiceps Goldhead. I got them home and the male got stuck inside a conch shell I had and died. I was devastated that I lost $75 on one fish. I found a second male to replace my dead on at a LFS, so I bought him for $100. I now have a male and female wild caught in the tank hoping they would pair up. After about a week of owning the new male, he got a major eye infection. It swelled up and burst. I was thinking I just threw another $100 away, but he survived but with only one eye. I got the two fish into a nice 55 gallon with some juvie sunshine peacocks and everything seemed fine. I waited several months and no babies, so I bought a few juvie F1 from fairdeal. I was hoping I could grow them out and possibly get a breeding pair somehow. Three days ago, I found my blind one eyed poor excuse of a wild caught male stuck to the powerhead ind the tank. Again, I was crushed. I noticed yesterday that the female was acting really strange. She was protecting a conch shell I have in there. And she would quickly grab a few pellets of food the back to protecting. No one gets close to that shell!!! Today I was walking by the tank and notice some quick movements out of the corner of my eye in the shell. I stopped and waited, and low and behold I saw a few little guys!! :smokey: Now I am kinda stumped as what to do. Do I remove the shell with or without the mother? Or leave the shell alone? I do have a few hard plastic breeder nets, should I put them in there? Doesn't the father usually look after the young with Goldheads? Maybe it was his dying wish or some lucky fluke but I need to save these guys!! Any advise would be great. Thanks Derek Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dk77 Posted April 7, 2009 Report Share Posted April 7, 2009 (edited) That is an awesome story Derek I honestly laughed out loud at "Three days ago, I found my blind one eyed poor excuse of a wild caught male stuck to the powerhead ind the tank. Again, I was crushed." Sorry if it wasn't meant to be funny, haha. When I put 1" calvus in with my 3" calvus the larger one stalked the 1 inch ones down and ate them one at a time, hence I would suggest moving the shell out of the tank I have also read on other forums that the parents will more than likely eat their own fry. Seems around 14 days is the ideal time to move the babies out of the tank, but this is comming from what I have read, not what I have tried. Maybe send Fairdeal a message, he seems to have breeding calvus down to an art. HTH, and thanks for the laugh. DK Edited April 7, 2009 by dk77 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stribbelldk Posted April 8, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2009 Thanks DK. I did move the babies into a "fry tank" inside the main tank with air stone. They are growing like weeds on Cyclops. Now I have to empty my pleco tank to put them in there. Derek Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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