The miracle of living in an imitation river

[wandj]

I had my two wild Placidochromis Jalo Reef females spit out their babies in a 20gal tank on April 12. After a few days, I put the mommies back in with Dad and they are now with their new brood in a 37gal....but that's another story.

Anyway, this first batch have been in a 20gal with a semi-automatic water changing system. At first, I had the water dripping in. The water then flows out a drain so fresh water is always entering and filiing up the tank. I turned up the flow as the fry got bigger....so that the water was pouring in like a small stream (from the 1/4 inch in-line) I don't know how many water changes this would be in 24 hours, but I think the fresh amount of water coming in would fill up that 20 gal tank at least 4 or 5 times a day.

Well, I did have trouble with "sediment" control. I added a small power filter to try to clear the "mulm" from the water but I didn't like the fry having to fight with a current all day and night. So I moved them all to a 45gal to grow out before I find them new homes. (Likely Big Als)

Now, I have not lost a single fish and none have ever been sick. They are in excellent shape and are all about the same size, which is about 1.5 inches.

Can you believe I netted 142 fish out of a 20gal tank?

The power of continual water changes!

Now I know why some of those big fish farms that raise their stock in water from rivers running through their operations are so successful.

Also, I sold 6 to a friend of mine awhile ago so the total fry I got from these 2 females are 148, which is 74 fry per female.

And I expect they spit the same number in their new nursery tank. A little bit too productive I think.

[Vapor]

:thumbs: Thats great, but I think you're gonna need more tanks by the sound of it.

[wandj]

Well, the plan is to take them all to the LFS.

I think I am already flooding the market at this rate. I expect another batch of fry about the same numbers from the same two females this time around. They both spawn at the same time so they both just spit out another brood just a week ago. I am going to have to keep them separated from the males for awhile.

And the official total of fry from their first batch is now 149...I missed one.

I'll have a big problem on my hands if I let them continue breeding in these numbers. So ya, the females are going to stay with their new brood for as long as I can. They don't seem to eat their fry, but maybe they should. (I don't mean that)

[RD.]

A classic example of how important water changes are to the growth & overall health of fish.

[finaddict]

holy moly 149... did it take a while to count them all.hahaha

[wandj]

I did a swoop of the net and counted what was in the net. Then I put them in an ice cream pail. I used stick marks (to five) on paper. When I had a good sized group in the pail, I poured them into their new home. I think I did this step about 5 times. When they get a little bigger in the 45gal I should take a pic. BTW, this tank is also getting water running into it 24/7.

[African_Fever]

Just let the females stay with the males in the main tank but let them release in there. I've never had any Haps survive in with the parents, and only the odd mbuna in any of my tanks.