Apistogramma Cacatuoides eggs

[Billsgate]

My apistos were really active this morning, but I thought nothing of it. Just now I wanted to do a water change and noticed the female is quite fiercely defending a crevice underneath a piece of driftwood. She is also much thinner and her colouring has changed.
I'll let you know if I ever get to see wigglers in the following days!

Here are some pics:
It's underneath this piece of driftwood:



A little closer, but I can't take pics of the actual hole they made in te gravel to get underneath the driftwood, it's too dark Funny they choose this over the coconut cave I provided them with. I guess fish choose their own breeding places

[Zagz]

Congrats, I hope you do see some wrigglers.

[HiJaC]

Hi,

Mine has put down a bunch of eggs too at the same time. How long does it normally take before they hatch?

Thanks,

John

[bs6749]

Probably 2-4 days. Should not be much longer than that.

[SparKy697]

Very exciting!

Good Luck!

[Billsgate]

Sadly enough the female stopped defending that spot the next day, so I'm presuming someone ate them overnight! But my pair is still doing well together, doing the typical mating 'dance', so I'm sure there will be more attempts in the future.

[bs6749]

The eggs may not have been fertilized and the pair may have eaten them.

Is the male hanging around at all? How long have the eggs been there? Did you see them being laid?

The eggs may have been older than you thought and maybe they hatched. She may be scouting a larger territory to defend if they have hatced. There will not be much to the wigglers and they won't move much or swim well for about 3 days after hatching so don't get your hopes up yet.

[HiJaC]

I do belive mine hatched.

I can see some vibrating brown blobs in the bottom of the wood hollow she laid in.

There are another 30 odd fish in the same tank as her so ive just picked up a 12 L tank to run as a baby tank.

I've been running the sponge filter in all afternoon with another peice of filter from my quarent tank wrapped around it to speed things up. As well as using biological suppliments.

I'm gagging to move them tbh because they are stopping me doing a water change that is well overdue on the main tank.

I'll post some piccys later tonight once i've hoovered them out.

Best Regards,

John

[bs6749]

I would advise against moving them at this point. Apistos are generally good parents and you may have quite a few fry. If you try to move them though I wouldn't be surprised if all were lost. If you want to do water changes just siphon with multiple air line tubes to speed up the process. You should be fine without changing the water though.

[Zagz]

Sorry to hear of the loss of the eggs Bill. They may or may not have been fertilized who knows. There will be another attempt soon I'm sure. I'll be crossing my fingers for you.

HiJaC might I suggest you start your own thread with the pics. It's kind of like keeping a journal for the development of your wrigglers/fry. Not to mention it doesn't hijack someone else's thread. I'm sure others would be interested in your log.