New Borellii

[Hassles]

I no longer have borellii fry - don't ask as I don't know - nothing in the tank that would consume the fry except the parents. I have acquired another pair of German bred borellii (opal) and it will take some months to mature these (bloody small) fish to breeding size. I "may" keep the original pair and attempt cross-breeding at some future time. Six months of work for nought! To think, the things I could have bred in that tank.

I also acquired a lone cacatuoides (triple red) male which I shall cross breed with those I have bred from my double red parents.

thats my news

[Rod]

I have found the parenting ability of dwarfs to be very fickle....

If your main aim is to observe the parenting process....obviously eggs stay with the parents

If your aim is offspring....take eggs off them....hatch and raise them away from parents....that's what they do on commercial farms....no where near as enjoyable but outcome is far more predictable.

You can have an each way bet by removing eggs till you get a batch and leave further spawns for parents to have a go!!

I wonder if fish breed in commercial way are less likely to be Good parents???

[Hassles]

I have found the parenting ability of dwarfs to be very fickle....

If your main aim is to observe the parenting process....obviously eggs stay with the parents

If your aim is offspring....take eggs off them....hatch and raise them away from parents....that's what they do on commercial farms....no where near as enjoyable but outcome is far more predictable.

You can have an each way bet by removing eggs till you get a batch and leave further spawns for parents to have a go!!

I wonder if fish breed in commercial way are less likely to be Good parents???

My post was supposed to be an addition to an existent post - my mistake

I personally always allow the parents top raise the eggs. This is because I do not want a quick array of successive spawns nor do I wish to maximize the yield nor do I wish to spread the fish over too many tanks. I am quite happy with any fry the emerge, The dramas with my pair of borellii is that they have constantly proven to be either bad parents - eating the eggs or fry. The few times fry have emerged they have ben quite small and perhaps this has not allowed them to survive - who knows.

The temp is fine so I know premature development is not an issue

On another note = the observance of a mother escorting her brood across the tank is nothing I am prepared to sacrifice, it really is a wonderful sight.

Anyway I have another pair now and shall mature these fish and breed these - hopefully. I shall continue to persevere with the existent pair for the purpose of the exercise and will most probably relocate them to new premises.

I have never personally found Apistos difficult to breed (not that I have as yet tried my luck with a difficult specie) so this borellii episode is quite odd. I once expected immature parents but that excuse has long become invalid. I can only suspect habitat (although I am sure this is not an issue) or some other factor.

I was adamant that I would hand rear the last batch of eggs but....the behaviour of this pair seemed different recently so I decided ro let then have 'another' go

maybe next time

[gingerbeer01]

I generally leave the mother and remove the father. The father is the one who is likely to cause problems.

It seems to me that fish grow quiker when left with there parents as the mother will guide the fry to the food.

The father will tend to want to breed again and also is in danger of a flogging with some species - depending on use of dithers and size of tank.