Move Apisto Eggs and Mom?

[MapleNeil]

I found some apisto eggs on the roof of a coconut in my community tank! It would be great if the mom raises the fry, but the golden killifish are sure to get the fry if the nerite snails dont get the eggs first.

Is moving mom and her coconut with eggs to a 5.5g tank to raise the eggs a reasonable option?

[charliebankston]

Yes, I think that would work. I wouldn't bet my life savings on it, but breeders move eggs and fry all the time to protect them, so I think it would be OK

[MapleNeil]

I wonder if she would still recognize the coco hut and eggs as hers in the new tank.

Anyway I gave up because she was impossible to catch, and I noticed the dad has started viciously defending the eggs too. I am instead trying to rescue the other female.

[charliebankston]

Originally Posted by MapleNeil

I wonder if she would still recognize the coco hut and eggs as hers in the new tank.

Anyway I gave up because she was impossible to catch, and I noticed the dad has started viciously defending the eggs too. I am instead trying to rescue the other female.

That's prob the safer move, lol

[MapleNeil]

This hasn't gone well at all...

While trying to catch the mother of the eggs, I noticed that the other female (false) viejita has an injury. The strange thing is that the one with the eggs is a recent addition, the other one that is now injured and in the hospital tank was getting along very well with the male until very recently and I expected her to spawn with the male before the new one.

Also, there are golden wonder killifish in the tank. There has been some aggression between the killifish females but I havent seen them bother the apistos.

So I'm not sure who hurt the female viejita. There are several scales missing from her back and she is laying low and hiding in the hospital tank. Could it have been the male? Perhaps everything changed when the new smaller female spawned and he became aggressive.

Also, the eggs are gone now. Not sure if they hatched and I let them loose to become snacks for the killies. Or whether the mother ate them due to the stress of me tearing up the tank and moving her coconut hut around. It's all very sad and a learning experience but I hate for a fish to get injured.

[charliebankston]

The other apistogramma prob injured her. Cichlids can become very aggressive when spawning, even the more laid back species. The male left her for a younger woman and then beat her up. What a jerk, lol

[charliebankston]

Killifish prob ate them all in hit and run strikes