This is too crazy! LOL

[DizzCat]

Sooo...... Last Weds, one Guppy gave birth. Found 3 fry hiding in a chunk of Hornwort I keep at the top of my tank. Noticed 4 more of Thursday and the other Guppy skinny! So, Weds and Thursday were Guppy birth days. Noticed my African Mbuna going nuts Friday afternoon, and sure enough, I had an Acei spawn. Saturday morning before I turned the tank lights on I discovered my group of Zebra Danios rolling around in a chunk of Java Moss spawning! This is where they like to spawn. Saturday evening my Bolivian Rams then spawned! Sunday my Red Zebras spawned so have another holding mom. Monday one of my Greshakei females released her fry and today the other is releasing hers! I have a Yellow Lab due to release by the end of this week. Is all this nuts or what??

Tally is:
Weds & Thursday: Guppy fry
Friday: Acei spawn
Saturday: Zebra Danio and Bolivian Ram spawns
Sunday: Red Zebra spawn
Monday: Greshakei fry released
Tuesday: More Greshakei fry released.
Whats tomorrow?

Both my small fry grow-out tanks are full so don't have room to save any fry this time. There are about 6 Guppy fry making it in the main tank. All the Danio eggs got ate right away and the Rams eggs got ate by the end of the day. Just too many fish in there for them to keep all away and they ended up eating the eggs. Because I don't have room I didn't put the tank divider in to save the eggs. And I can see little Greshakei fry peeking out from under rocks today.

Whew!!! The crazy thing is, I am behind on my water changes and its been close to 2 weeks since I did one! It is usually after I do a big 40% water change that all this goes on. Must be all the thunder storms we are having hahahaha.

 

[spoonman]

I wish I lived closer! I would love some of those Greshakei!!

 

[hacket]

What the heck are your water parameters?? And what do you feed them?? I've never heard of something like that LOL.

 

[mcgrady7761]

that is friggin insane. and yes what are ur parameters?!!?

 

[mgamer20o0]

something big to eat off all the extra fry for tomorrow?

 

[mom2reds]

I wish i lived closer to you so I could take some off your hands and also so you could teach me your tricks.

LOL congrats on your happy fish

 

[Ruadh]

I'd be makin sure your wife/girlfriend/lover/whatever isn't drinking the water in your town.

 

[DizzCat]

I'd be makin sure your wife/girlfriend/lover/whatever isn't drinking the water in your town.

LOL, I am DONE with kids! My youngest is 22, so they can have them now! And since I am a "she" I know I wont be surprised!

To be completely honest, I really don't know my water perams. I stopped testing all the time awhile ago. I do know that the water from my sink is very soft, so my planted tank has very soft water with a pH at 7.0 or below. I only have a high range test for pH. My African tank has a pH at 8.4 and I add lake Malawi buffer each water change. I test for Ammonia and pH regularly. My tanks have been set up a long time.

I got to thinking about what may have happened. Since I am a few days behind in my water change, the level in both tanks are about an inch or so below the top, so the filter is making that rain effect. Added to that, the last few days we have been having huge thunder storms. The thunder has been shaking my house! They must feel/hear it in the tanks, ya think? The fish in the planted tank naturally spawn in the rainy season, that is why you create a rain. Mbuna and Guppy just spawn, no matter what LOL.

something big to eat off all the extra fry for tomorrow?

The Rams, frogs and Danios will slowly pick off the Guppy fry until there is no more. The Mbuna adults eat the fry that are released. So, unless I go to extra measures to save fry, nature takes them away. My fry tanks are full, 30 Bolivian Ram fry in one, 25 Mbuna fry in the other. I am thinking of trying a Zebra Danio tank to see if I can get some fry. Filling the bottom with marbles like they suggest and adding chunks of Java Moss because that is what they always roll in.

One trick I can pass on is this: When you do a water change, empty the tank of about 25-40% of water, leave the filters running, that way it creates a rain effect. I will also move stuff around a bit, either a lot or a few things. It is when I do a major rearrange that I get the most spawns. My Rams spend an hour or so exploring and then if she is ready they spawn. My Mbuna males spend a lot of time reclaiming areas and I guess this excites the females. I also don't turn the lights on in my tanks till around noon most days. All my fish tend to spawn a couple hours after daylight, but before I turn the lights on.

And what do you feed them??

I feed all my fish the New Life Spectrum brand. The Mbuna get the pellets and the community fish get either tiny pellets or flake. I also feed the community fish frozen blood worms a couple times a week. My Mbuna get fresh veggies. They also get treats of shrimp pellets and algae pellets to give them variety. I love the NLS foods! Since switching my fish look so much better and act so much better! They don't seem to poop as much either, so the tank does not get grossed out as bad. I didn't really realize that until I ran out one time and had to use a different brand until I could get more. I noticed my Mbuna tank got gross really fast on the other stuff! Its more expensive and you usually have to go to a small fish store, but so worth the extra few bucks!