~~~Help My Fish Has Eggs~~~

I don't know what to do. I'm not even sure who the baby's daddy is. The fish gaurding the eggs is blue with black stripes and red on the belly. I originally thought it was a convict but then leaned more toward a Honduran red point. I am going to guess the daddy is the pink con I have.

Ok that was the jest of it. Should I remove the power head from my tank? Also the tank mates are the following dovii, pictus cat, I think a Texas convict cross. Again thought it was a regular con. A female convict and lastly a spotted pleco.

Any one that can help please let me know. Should I remove the pot and the mom or just leave them. Should I
pull the other fish out?

Anyway thanks in advance. I can get pics but probably won't show up well.

well you either have to remove the other fish, or remove the eggs.... your catfish will eat them eggs tonight when mom is sleeping..... if you remove the eggs make sure you get allot of water movement around the eggs, (bubbler, etc) and some anti fungal meds in the water or move mom with the eggs.... Also put sponges over any filter intakes, so when they hatch they dont get sucked in..... dad can stay in the other tank, one parent is more than enough.

convicts/ hunduran reds are the easiest fry to take care of... super hardy.... and the moms are AWESOME parents.... anyway, after the eggs are free swimming you should feed freshley hatched brine shrimp.... you will get the best growth this way. I attached a video on how to make a brine shrimp hatchery, its easy. crushed flake, or frozen baby brine shrimp or good too... but I always like to go fresh!

TAKE SOME PICTURES! and congratulations.

When should I start the brine shrimp thing?

the day they start free swimming..... it only takes 24 hours to get your first batch, and thoughs will be good for about 48 hrs.... this is my schedule I used.

1st day while brine shrimps eggs hatch, feed crushed flake, or frozen baby brine shrimp
2nd day baby brine shrimp are ready! so feed them 2-4 times a day thoughs
3rd day same as day two
4th day, brine shrimp should start to die, so feed crushed flake and restart the cycle.

Thanks for your info man. One day drinks on me!!! And info about fish on you lol.

Oh how do I know if there fertilized. I removed the mom
and pot ( with eggs ). Into my ten gallon I'll check on them tommorow. Thankfully I have the Day off. Time to redeem some credit at aquarium paradise. Lol.

good choice on keeping mom with eggs until they are free swimming.... the eggs will turn white if they are not fertilized, and mom will eat them.... so in about 48 hrs if there are still eggs, your gonna have little wigglers within a week!

I dont know what kinda filtration system you got in there, but make sure you have a sponge covering any intakes.... after free swimming you can put mom back with the others, she will make more babies really quickly, and you will never have to buy live food for your dovii again!!!!

The filter is just a hob filter. Is there a special sponge to cover the intake or just anything? Man I'm excited lol like welping my first litter haha

here is my little break down of events, as it has worked for me....

its about 72 hours after the fish lays the eggs, that they hatch.

they will have a egg sack attached to them that keeps them from swimming, they will also feed off of this egg sack. after about 1 week they will become free swimming. at this time is when i start feeding them. i personally just buy the small package of "first bite". i will soak it in a glass of aquarium water for a couple minutes till it sinks, then shoot it down into the swarm of babies with a turkey baster. usually 2 or 3 times a day.

as far as the filter goes. i just go out and buy the smallest aqua clear sponge, then i use a knife and make a little hole in the end and put it over the intake tube of my filters. once i didnt do this and every day when i would come home from work i would pull babies out of my filter. they would usually be alive, it was just a pain inm the ass to pull them out ever day. sponge works alot better.

its a long proccess before they get "normal fish size".

hope this helps. and again i am no expert. this is just what i have done in the past and it worked for me...good luck!

Very informative, Rattle. Thank you. I'll be heading to aquarium paradise after lunch to get a couple things. So I'll look for the fish food you mentioned and some brine shrimp too. Thanks again.

dont forget a sponge of some sort to cover the intake on the HOB.

Ok cool. Leaving Now.

Ok so I got a aqua clear sponge the smallest one they had. It's from 5-20 gallon filters. I also got some first bite food. And some filter pads cause I needed some.

keep us updated daily... I am really excited for ya!

So it's been roughly 24 hours. I got home last night at about 2:30 am and I always check on the fish when I come home.

Here are some pics. Sorry I can't upload the actual
photos just the links but atleast it's something.

Also I did make a thread awhile back with this fish looking for an ID. I originally thought it was a convict but it just didn't seem right. So if anyone wants to take a crack at an ID again please be my guest. I think we settled with Honduran red point.

Here are the links.

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that's the female. Normally more colorful but I did burst into the room and turn the light on just to get the pic lol

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those are the eggs. A couple white ones but she does a fair job picking them
out.

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just a basic 10 gallon tank. HOB filter. I forget what kind of heater. This tank is always running and always has some kind of fish in it. I keep it as the protective custody tank or in some cases solitary confinement lol depending on the circumstances. And now more recently a nursery woohoo.

definetly a HRP, and lookni like fertile eggs, you will definletly have some wigglers very soon... congrats again! and thanks for the pictures.

Moving to a blog.

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