MartyMA
Aquarium Advice Activist
I bought five wild P. taeniatus moliwe about four weeks ago. One female disappeared and was left with two pair. One male and female bonded right away and were the much more robust of the four. The tank is a heavily planted 60g with a few coconut shell caves scattered about. The female of the bonded pair had been spending a great deal of time moving in and out of a cave. It did not seem that the male paid much attention but apparently he actually did. Yesterday, I found her herding a school of about 20 newly hatched fry. Cute as can be. They are ferocious parents so no worries about other fish snatching the babies. My biggest challenge is feeding. The upper level of the tank is 'guarded' by a large colony of endlers. They make it their business to eat every bit of food dropped into the tank. I have worked out a strategy however. Step one: shut off the filter. Step two: distract the endlers with flake food on the side of the tank opposite from the mama and babies. Step three: squirt some microworms directly over the babies. This has worked fairly well so far. I have to be quick and sneaky. The stupid endlers are always looking to steal whatever is dropped in. They are like pigeons. No pictures yet but will try to grab some. In all of the years of fish keeping, I have never managed to have free swimming fry from egg layers. It is about time.
