Bolivian Butterfly fry.

[Agent]

Hi, I came home at lunch time today to discover 30 little Bolivian Butterfly fry, free swimming, in my comunity tank, is there anything special I should do? Also have 4 discus, 1 x flying fox, 2 x bristlenose in there as well, they all get on well, the proud Mum & Dad keep curious onlokkers at bay.
Regards,
Rob....

[Th0mas]

Given they're in the community tank already, it would be difficult to seperate the family from the rest of the tank.

I suggest leaving a dim light on during the night to allow for the parent to protect the fry from the bristlenose and flying fox.

[aquaholic]

Thanks ThOmas, Im on Aquaholics computer.
Do I have do do any special thing with food requirements???
Rob...

[Th0mas]

Given they're bigger than apisto, I would expect food shouldn't be as tricky. BBS would be fantastic, but there won't be much the fry would get due to other fish and the big tank.

If you have a cluster of Java moss, they should be able to pick on micro-organism from there. Otherwise they'll find food scraps from adults and other fish.

[fishgeek]

i would be surprised if they are not eaten or the parents scatter them in trying to defend them
sorry to be pessimistic

mine did ok with microorm if you are meaning altispinosus

[Th0mas]

I think it's altipinosa, it is commonly known as Bolivian Ram/Butterfly down here.

Given the pair has got that far already, they've done a really good job. The only problem with growing kids is they tend to wander away. In a community tank, these wanderer don't usually come back so expect the number to dwindle over time.

[Agent]

Good news, the fry made it through today, no problems, left a LED light in all night, Mum & Dad are fiercely protective, I thought there were around 30 but on closer inspection, looks more like 80-100! . Would I be best to take out the flying fox & the Bristlenose as I have another couple of tanks, one, full of plants in pots & on logs that Im experimenting with gardening skills??.
Last night a large snail got a bit close while food foraging & the BB parents actually pushed the snail over to move it away. The 4 discus only get tuned when they are foraging & get a bit too close, although it looks like they are not interested in the fry. I'll increase the Brineshrimp as the parents like them (they sink to the bottom), while the discus prefer LR's food formula, they hand feed up top.
Thanks again.
Rob...

[Agent]

update 18/7/06. All going fairly well, did a quick count looks like there are about 30 fry, mum & dad still keeping a watchfull eye on them, think they are eating BBS, if not they must be getting some good stuff off the plants, they move camp every few days to another part of the tank, any idea why?. Hope they get through the next couple of weeks. Cant catch the bristlenose or flying Fox, they outsmart me every time!
Rob....

[fishgeek]

i found as the fry grew they spread themselves in a wider swarm and this was when interest from other fish was peeked

if there are only the suckers left them hopefully you will do ok

keep up the regular small water changes and try and direct the brine shrimp down airline to near where the swarm is
lose's can occur with not enough food and concentratig what you have near them is important

andrew
fingers crossed

[Agent]

So far so good, the parents have taken half each, (to opposite areas) maybe for protection, you can even see some colour in the fry now, they are getting more adventurous & the numbers appear to remain constant now, the others in the tank seem to leave them alone, when the snail gets too close, the parents simply roll it away, quite funny to watch! Being carefull with water changes that I dont suck any up, all going well, will keep updates coming, maybe it was just luck or good parents, all I have to do is get the food near them, they do the rest.
Rob...