Boesemani / Yoyo cross breed?! New fry!

[jaiden]

I am shocked... I have bought a total of 7 fish, 4 boesemani, 1 yoyo, 2 stiphodon gobies in this tank. As of about 4-6 weeks ago, I was down to 1 boesemani, 1 yoyo and 1 goby. Today, I noticed 4 baby fish in my tank!? I think it has been too long for this to be from the last rainbow to jump out and die.

I had noticed the yoyo and the rainbow (which I think is a female) have been very friendly lately and schooling together. Is a cross breed possible between such different species? They are swimming near the top of the tank, so I figure they aren't from the goby.

I read that eggs hatch in a week. How can I tell how old the fry are? Maybe they're a few weeks old? I've never had babies before! Should I pull them out and put them in the QT to protect them from mom?

 

[JohnPaul]

A yoyo loach and a bosemani rainbowfish absolutely cannot cross breed. Not in a million years.

As for what to do with the fry, you could try pulling them out to the QT but the problem is that just netting them will be stressful, and then if the water parameters in the QT are different from the water parameters in the QT then that is going to be an additional stress. Is your QT cycled?

Probably the better option would be to keep them in the main tank, and if your tank isn't that heavily planted, add some additional plants (whether live or fake) in order to give the fry more hiding places.

 

[jaiden]

Thanks for the reply. My best guess at this point as that their father jumped out right after spawning and the fry are 3-4 weeks since hatching. I have plenty of hiding spots, but not at the level where they're swimming! I'll have to find a plant (or something) that floats and is a few inches thick. Any suggestions?

I think you're right about the QT. I think their bioload would be absolutely miniscule though, since they are TINY. It's not cycled (just set it up 2 days ago) but I did move the filter sponge to the main tank. The parameters would be pretty different. They're too small to net, I was thinking of catching them in an acrylic box I have.

For now they'll have to take their chances in the main tank. I'm hoping the other three fish aren't interested in eating them! Maybe sunday I can find a hiding spot for them.

 

[Etunes]

Well first things first you need to get the tank cycled but i did not read the whole thread so i probably mossed something. But either way i wanted to input on the fact you think the yoyo and rainbow breed. That can never happen, the boesemani rainbow is in the genus Melanotaenia and the yoyo is in the genus Botia. I mean there is no possible way, there sex organs dont even match up a bit. It is the same as saying a fly and a spider had babies. Just cant happen. If the fish are long and stay at the bottom i would guess there yoyos. If they are floating like a regular fish then it could be your rainbows or your goby. I would shoot for the yoyos as they give live birth if i remember right but the rainbows are egg scatters. I would guess when you bought them 1 of them was pregnant as you dont have ideal breeding conditions for fish. BTW the uncycled tank will effect the youngs growth.

 

[taylorodw]

I have two iguanas and a fruit bat. One of the iguanas laid eggs, and I think the fruit bat is the daddy.

sorry I had to. Anyway. You can just float ping pong balls (like 6-10 of them). That should give some sort of cover at the top for the fry if you can't find a floating plant (like Wisteria). Of course, that is the uber lazy man solution. A breeder net would work better

Although tiny fry do have a tiny bio-load, they're also extremely sensitive to water parameters. Many people change the water in their fry tanks one or two times a day so I would suggest some sort of cover.