Larry Posted June 13, 2006 Report Share Posted June 13, 2006 OK, I need a little help here. My excavating pink convicts have laid some eggs on a rock in a pit. They are in a 66 gal tank with some other fish. How long till they hatch and can should i remove th fry right away?? If I do, can I put them in a tank with one week old swordtail fry or should I put them in there own tank right away? Thanks again for your help, Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Posted June 14, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2006 OK, I need a little help here. My excavating pink convicts have laid some eggs on a rock in a pit. They are in a 66 gal tank with some other fish. How long till they hatch and can should i remove th fry right away?? If I do, can I put them in a tank with one week old swordtail fry or should I put them in there own tank right away?Thanks again for your help, Larry help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted June 14, 2006 Report Share Posted June 14, 2006 It all depends on how many fish you have in your 66 gal. Convicts are great parents. I had a pair grow fry to over 1.5" before I moved 'em. And that was in a 35 gal! Convict fry are pretty small when they first hatch, so they may be picked on by the Swordtails. I'd keep 'em w. the parents and use a turkey baster to feed them. Crushed falke/pellet food and/or BBS are great 1st foods. Oh yeah - timing... The eggs will hatch in a couple to few days, depending on the temp. Then the fry will just stay put for another few days as they absorb their yolk sacks. Don't feed them during this time b/c they're getting all of their food from their yolks (they look like they have full orange bellies). When they become free swimming, then you can start feeding them. They'll eat as often as you can feed them - I'd go for about 3x per day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish_Frenzy Posted June 14, 2006 Report Share Posted June 14, 2006 I would definitely leave them with their parents for a few weeks. I don't think many fish will mess with the parents as they are quite aggressive when they have babies. :chair: Tammy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wandj Posted June 14, 2006 Report Share Posted June 14, 2006 I have never had Convicts or any other rock-laying fish before, but I read in a mag that you could just pick up the rock and move it to a small nursery tank. Do not expose the eggs to air if you can. This is not because the parents won't do a good job defending them, but for ease of catching the little buggers when you want them out of your 65gal. I don't know how much you want to disturb your main tank or how hard it would be to catch them in there, but it would be much easier if they were in a 20gal with easier-to-remove decor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Posted June 14, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2006 That might not be a bad Idea. The 66 gal tank has tons of large rock in it; lots of caves. I think that the 4" green terror would probably find it easier to catch them that i would with all the rock in there. Anyone else ever move unhatched eggs? Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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