Rando be-be's

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Discuss all topics related to freshwater and planted tanks.


bonese
 
Posts: 30
Joined: Sun Jan 04, 2009 3:37 pm

Rando be-be's

by bonese

Yesterday i was cleaning the tanks out scrubbing the glass and changing the water. I got all of it done on my cihlid tank then i moved over to my planted. I started doing my planted tank by the time i was done everything was fine and looking good i moved the driftwood brushed the plants and sucked the gravel....Now i have 3 babies swimming up top right after i vaccumed and clean, i have guppies but i think there too new to be having babies at this time. i have glass catfish and some tetra's and rams, there is only 3 free swimming fry and i need to know what to feed them? and how to care for these misc. warrior fish.


Burgerking7679
 
Posts: 112
Joined: Thu Nov 20, 2008 10:53 pm

by Burgerking7679

It could still be guppies, they could have 'got freaky' at the fish store. Until you can positively sex them just grind up flakes in your fingers for them.


dizzcat
 
Posts: 648
Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2008 2:30 am

by dizzcat

It is probably guppy fry. If it was Ram fry they would be tiny and you would have known the parents were over eggs and fry because they do not let anyone near their chosen spot for weeks after the spawn. Tetra fry from what I heard are as tiny as a sliver of glass. and most likely the eggs would get eaten (mine always did). Don't know about catfish, but I think they also protect the eggs.

I have had guppy's and platty's give birth and you really cannot tell until its almost time (or at least 1 week after the spawn) that they are pregnant. I had one get pregnant when she was still 1/4th of full grown. You probably brought one home that way. The fry of these will head for the top of the tank, staying in plants or hiding behind filter intakes. I used to keep a piece of plastic plant grass stuff floating at the top of the tank for the fry. They get in there and just hang out.

You can do what BK said, grind up some flake food till its powder and sprinkle it near where they are.

Warning: once guppy's start, they are almost constantly preggers!! I know that Platties can have up to 4 batches of fry from one spawn! Not sure if it works like that with Guppys. I had a female who had 5 batches AFTER the male died! She was the only platty left. Was a great once a month meal for my Angles lol. My guppy mom had her's during the night one time. I thought they had all gotten eaten, but after a water change I found about 6 hiding in a plant. Must have uprooted where they were hiding out.


dizzcat
 
Posts: 648
Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2008 2:30 am

by dizzcat

Here ya go. I guess they do hold on to the sperm too:
"Breeding:
Because the young can immediately hide from predators from the moment of birth, livebearers don't need to be as prolific as egg layers; livebearers will commonly produce only 20-40 young although a few may drop as many as 150.

The females of the Livebearing families of Toothcarps (which includes the Guppies, Mollies, Swordtails, and Platys), through a process called "superfetation", have an amazing ability to store unused sperm from the male fish in her body for several months.
The female is then able to have young several times after just one mating! A female Mosquito Fish was noted to give birth 11 times from just one pairing! "

Pretty cool, huh? :-)


Burgerking7679
 
Posts: 112
Joined: Thu Nov 20, 2008 10:53 pm

by Burgerking7679

Wow, weird. That explains why I have a prego molly a few months after the only male had died, unless her month old kiddies knocked her up.


bonese
 
Posts: 30
Joined: Sun Jan 04, 2009 3:37 pm

by bonese

Yeah i understand that they can still be pregnant for up to 3 months after intially getting well...pregnant. what was weird for me was that there are only 3 fry. Guppies produce that low of a number in a batch? thats the main reaon against guppies but i think they are. How can you sex bolivian rams? sexing fish is ridiculously hard for me. i hope not JUST me though


dizzcat
 
Posts: 648
Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2008 2:30 am

by dizzcat

You are not the only one who has trouble, most everyone does. I still have a couple fish I am not sure of.

With Bolivians, you cannot go by color like you can with the German ones. My female is just as colorful as my male is. The very tip of the dorsal (towards the butt) will be longer and pointier on the male, the females more rounded. When full grown, the males fins, all of them, will be longer than the females. These differences will be hard to really see until they are full grown. Mine are almost 2 years old. The male is 3 1/2" and the female is almost 3". My male is bigger than most I have seen.

The first few fin rays on the dorsal (where the black vertical stripe is) will be longer than the rest on both male and female, but, on the male the 2nd or 3rd one will be a bit longer. The females will be more of a even curve. It is not as noticeable on Bolivians, so harder to see. It is hard to tell until they are full grown.

Here are pics of mine, maybe that will help.
Male: Notice the 3rd dorsal ray is a tad longer than the rest? And see how long his Pelvic and Anal fins are?
http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/dd35 ... T00772.jpg

Female: Her dorsal is more rounded in front and back. The 3rd ray blends in more and her pelvic and anal fins are shorter
http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/dd35 ... CT0004.jpg

The tips of the Males Caudal fin (Tail) has long filaments, where the females doesn't. You can see them in this pic:
http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/dd35 ... CT0169.jpg

Here they are together. The male is in full flirt mode here;
http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/dd35 ... 0_6413.jpg

As to the questions in your other post I will try to answer. Sorry it took so long, I have had a nasty cold and couldn't handle more than short answers.

""Any advice or basics as to courting colors or behaviour would be helpful, I have 3 of them but 2 look alike 1 looks different (stripes verse no Stripes)""

What do you mean by stripes? Do you mean the eye and dorsal stripe? Or the vertical barring they get at times? Bolivians will change colors due to mood. As you can see in the first pic of my male, he was relaxed and his colors were very muted and soft. So, when relaxed they are a pale silver/pearl color. When wound up while flirting or sparring they get intense colors, deep dark golds, blues and pinks. When they sleep or are stressed out they get vertical barring that will turn them almost black.

As to behavior: I started with 2 females and 1 male. The females each had a side of the tank and fought if they came in contact. So you cannot go by territory behavior alone. When I first put the male in, he spent equal time on both sides of the tank. He then started spending more time with one female, and eventually spent 90% of his time on her side. They didn't tolerate the extra female after they paired so she went to a lfs.

When not spawning they now spend time at different sides. Him on the left, her on the right. Sometimes they hang out, sometimes not. If she is not ready and he is, he will chase her until she hides behind something. When she is getting ready she will fight back. There is a lot of sparring going on for a few days. Then they start to dig pits and clean off a rock. You need to have something in the tank for them to spawn on. I used a piece of terra cotta pot the first time, now I have flat river stones in there, which they much prefer. The male will clean, dig, and my favorite is he will poof up all his fins and push at her with his tail. You know eggs are going to be very soon when you see the female digging and cleaning. She will not do this until its time. It is the female who ultimately chooses the spawning site. Her colors get very deep and dark and she will fuss at the rock. She will chase him. She will also twitch her tail at him, in a scissor motion, and twitch her dorsal. They may also vibrate their heads.

After spawning the colors go way softer, to the soft pastels and their bellies get yellow/gold. They may or may not care for the eggs/fry together. The first few times mine did, but after spawn 4 the female would fight with the male as soon as the spawning was over. So I separate them afterwards. I left the eggs with mom one time and pops this last time. Their fry are now a month old and he is still on one side with them, protecting them. Biting me every time I try to do something on his divided side!

This is right after a spawn. This is the rocks I have that they like so well:
http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/dd35 ... s/Ram4.jpg

Here is a video of them fighting 10 minutes after a spawn. She went nuts and attacked him!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuWx66Addag

Mine spawned the first time after I had them 2 months. But then didn't spawn again for almost a year. The first batch was a success, because they put the wigglers in a pit in a lava rock. They spawned again 4 more times, each time they lost their fry in wiggler stage in the rock substrate. This can happen in anything bigger than sand because they are not good diggers. I had the kind that I can see in the pic of your ram. They dug a pit, put the wigglers in, but the wigglers fell deep into the rocks and the parents could not get them out. I then changed to sand. 2 more batches did not make it, I think due to the temp being too low. As they hatched the mom ate them. I now keep my tank at 80° because the fry have more a survival rate at the warmer temps. Since upping the temp all batches are living.

My rams will spawn a few times within a couple months, and then go a long time between.

Hope that helped you some. Rather long winded huh? LOL

BTW, I think the Ram in your profile is a male because the fins look long. Hard to tell with the black background tho.


bonese
 
Posts: 30
Joined: Sun Jan 04, 2009 3:37 pm

by bonese

dizz, your going to have carpal tunnel syndrome. I can not tahnk you enough. i figured i have 2 males 1 female and no pairs.
your pictures really helped as thats what kind of learner i am and i appreciate it so much.
I'll take pictures of all 3 f i can and show you.

Rando be-be's

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