Albino Bristlenose Babies

The babies finally started eating yesterday afternoon, which I am really happy about. They are contently munching on a lettuce leaf and overnight all the algae on a small rock I put in the tank had disappeared.

Albino Bristlenose Babies

Oh WoW!

I just did a head count of how many baby albino bristles there are and there is 21!! woohoo! adding the 9 that mysteriously died one night last week that makes 30 babies for their second batch. Pretty good going if you ask me ;)

Convict Cichlids

My convict cichlids finally started eating on the weekend.

My son Alex did some online research for me and found that besides the things I had been trying to feed them they also like beef hearts. So off to the aquarium shop we went to pick up some minced beefheart and blackworms.

They gobbled up the minced beef heart happily and Sunday munched their way through some blackworms. Now that they have started eating I should be able to introduce other foods to them without them fussing too much but have some backups onhand just in case.

Albino Bristlenose Babies

Yesterday I noticed that the Albino Bristlenose babies have finished absorbing their egg sacs and are now busy exploring their tank. Daddy Bristlenose is still in the tank with them to recuperate and catch up on eating, (daddy bristlenoses do not eat the whole time they are caring for the eggs and young babies till their egg sacs have absorbed, he fans and cleans them constantly) but will be moved out in a few days time, back to the other bristle tank.

My Very Rare Catfish

LMAO

Convict Cichlids

The convict cichlids are settling in but not enough to start eating yet. The size of them and the way they all school together looks pretty impressive.

There appears to be 3 females out of the 12. From what I have read online it is better to let the female choose her male rather than just pick one male and a female to put together. I only want to keep one pair - after the warning of more babies that I can ever want, that my friend Hasitha tells me, just one pair will do nicely :P

Rang my good friend Mick and offered him a pair which he was happy about, his 20 something year old son has just moved back home with all his tanks in tow so I knew they would be on the lookout for some stock.

The other thing I have noticed about the convicts is how easily spooked they get and I hear splashes occasionally, seems they are quite the jumpers.

Zanda found this great site with info on convicts -

http://www.aqua-fish.net/show.php?h=convictcichlids

Better Pics of the Albino Bristle Babies

These guys are soo cute with the egg sacs still attached :P The egg sacs are getting smaller and smaller. Shouldn't be too long now :)

There are now 16 escaped babies in the floating container with more than that still left in the terracotta pot.

Albino Bristlenose Eggs Hatching

Looks like the fry are all going to survive this time!

All the fry are still healthy and wiggling around on their egg sacs. I have found other escapees of the terracotta pot and added them to the floating container also. Daddy bristle must be busy in the terracotta pot as I haven't seen him once! Just as it should be :)

I can't wait to see the babies once they have absorbed their egg sacs and are free swimming! Which should be in another day or two.

Convict Cichlids

Whilst checking out Petlink around lunchtime I noticed a local ad for Free Convicts. The ad said there were about 15 convict fish at 3-7cm long, all healthy and some breeding. I rang the guy and yes they were still available. After consulting the train timetable and smsing Josh, I rang the guy back and told him when to expect us.

Ron was really nice, he took us on a tour of his tanks and we talked about our different aquarium experiences. He has some kribensis, which we also chatted about and I told him I have a couple of batches of babies. He expressed interest in them and I told him I would be more than happy to give him the first batch - especially when I was getting 12 (turned out to be 12) large convicts (all the convicts are around the 12cm mark - no idea were he got 3-7cm from...) for free and the kribs parents are breeding every month. I also managed to score a free two foot tank that needed repairing! LOL

As Ron was now promised the krib babies he offered to give us a lift home so he could pick up the babies at the same time. Suited us brilliantly as now Josh and I didn't have to juggle carrying a two foot tank and a heavy bucket of fish to the train station and then home!

Catching the krib babies was fun... NOT, gee they are sneaky little buggers and FAST! I thought I had caught them all but Josh found a few more after Ron left. I was okay with that, as I had always planned on keeping a few from my first krib batch.

I was really happy with getting the convicts as they were on my list of fish to get soon. Only thing is they were meant to be alot smaller :P never mind! Ron promises to stay in touch - alot of his workmates are into aquariums also and will be interested in buying breeding stock from me, and Ron is also interested in the two of us swapping fish another time. He has lots of baby electric yellows which I have my eye on... :P

My new Convict Cichlids....

This pic gives a more acurate idea of their size.

Albino Bristlenose Eggs Hatching

Seems that the bristlenose babies are hatching, from evidence of half a dozen stray eggs found wiggling around the tank this morning. The babies can be seen clearly on top of their egg sacs, which are still attached.

Well at least daddy bristlenose got them to hatching stage this time, although he is still guarding and looking after them all, the escapees shouldn't have been allowed to escape.

I scooped up the stray eggs and placed them in a floating container with an air stone, to protect them from predators.

In this photo, if you look very closely at the egg I have circled, you can just make out the baby attached to it. It was the best pic I could get at this stage.

I also wanted to share how comical it is to watch the eggs move around so I have added a short clip showing an baby attached to the egg on the move :P I apologise that the focus could have been better but you will still get the gist of what I am showing you.

Princess Cichlids Profile

I found a very informative site on Princess Cichlids - it covers general information on them, preferred water parameters, suggested tank set ups, feeding and breeding.

http://aquariumate.blogspot.com/2007/01/neolamprologus-brichardi.html

I also really liked the wikipedia page on them. I found it fascinating how Princess Cichlids have extended nurseries with other breeding pairs, and older fry, protecting and raising all the new babies of the group.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neolamprologus_brichardi

Their scientific name is Neolamprologus Brichardi.

Princess Cichlids are from Lake Tanganyika in Africa.

Albino Bristlenose Eggs - take 2

Once again I was pulling everything out of the bristlenose tank for a cleanout, when I found the male protecting eggs in the flowerpot! What is it with me wanting to do tank cleanouts and him having eggs? LOL

Unfortunately I also found a small cluster of eggs on the ground between the flowerpot and the back wall. :(

So, fingers crossed again - I hope this time, these eggs make it.

Princess Cichlids

I brought 5 baby Princess Cichlids today. They are such beautiful, graceful looking fish and I have wanted some ever since I first saw them :P

At the moment they are settling into a quarantine tank, till I arrange a tank more permanent for them.

My Pakistani Loaches

Pakistani Loaches are so much fun to have - they are passive fish (suitable for community tanks) that should be kept in a group of 5 or more. They are extremely curious and are often found "dancing" up and down the glass by themselves or as a group.

Caves of rocks/driftwood are a necessity as they love to hide plus they prefer warm, slow moving waters.

They have the quirkiness common to loaches, which is sleeping on their sides making it look like they are dead. Often a very startling thing to witness. And Pakistani Loaches are often heard "talking" They do this by making clicking sounds which is their pharyngeal teeth grinding.

Pakistani Loaches are also called YoYo Loaches - if you look on their sides, the words YoYo appear in the black and white pattern. This can be seen clearly in the second and fourth pictures.

This paki was caught dancing up and down the glass, shortly after it was taken another paki came to join him:

You can clearly see the words "YoYo" written in black on their sides:

Funny how often Pakistanis seem to line up next to one another:

Another side view showing the word "YoYo":

Baby Blue Tail Guppies

All my female blue tail guppies had their babies last weekend except one. She was getting so huge I thought there was a possibility that she was either 1. Going to explode or 2. The babies would start falling out by themselves lol

When I came home this afternoon I checked her and saw heaps of little babies swimming around! FINALLY!

There was actually too many babies to get out without stirring them up for her to chase so I decided to make life easier for all concerned and take her out. lol Once the new mum was out of the tank I took my time catching the babies and putting them in a container for transporting to the tank with the other blue tailed babies. Anyway, I ended up counting 35 babies. :D

She done good ;)

So now, I can't believe it - I have 60 something blue tail guppy babies! Well there is that tank of blue guppies that I wanted without even paying for them :P

This is a pic of the 35 baby guppies that were born today.

Chronicling Kribensis Fry Development

One of my aims while breeding Kribensis, was that I wanted to chronicle their development at regular intervals. Observing the life cycle of any living thing fascinates me.

Newborn fry (approx 2mm in length) -

The fry at one month (approx 6mm in length) -

The New Kribensis Fry

This morning I noticed mummy and daddy kribensis moving gravel under the big green pot in the tank. They were making a tunnel at the back of it going from one side of the pot to the other. Funny as they did exactly the same thing in the first tank...

Another look at the tank a couple of hours later, revealed that today was the day that mummy and daddy kribensis decided to show off their new batch of fry with a cautious excursion from the terracotta pot to their new tunnel under the green pot. This afternoon they ventured to the front of the tank and my son, Joshua, took these incredible first photos of them all. (thanks Josh!!)

I can't believe that it has only been one month since their last batch and I had forgotten just how tiny the babies are. I have probably said this previously, but honestly they look like a moving cloud of dots under mum and dad. So so sweet.

OMG OMG OMG

I noticed that my female Kribensis belly was looking whitish the last couple of days so I just couldn't resist checking... and OMG yep there are tiny gray moving eggs inside the pot!!

Woohoo!!

This time I upended a terracotta pot in their new tank instead of lying in flat to see if that would make a better cave for them - apparently it did as there was no digging and moving gravel this time. ;)

Baby Kribensis - 1 Month On

The baby Kribensis turn one month old today!

The babies are happy, healthy and fending for themselves.

Mum and dad kribensis were relocated to another tank recently, so they can prepare themselves for a new batch of fry, leaving the babies to their own devices. At first it was a big shock to the babies but now they cruise the tank in smaller clutches rather than the previous group formation their parents kept them in.

They are around 6mm in size, compared to 2mm when they first appeared in the tank. Their diet consists of finely crushed flakes, hard boiled egg yolk, baby brine shrimp, micro worms, algae wavers and vegetables.

Click on the pics to see how big they are now ;)

Introducing Brah and Bro

My son surprised me when we were at the aquarium shop the other day, when he asked if he could have a couple of goldfish!

So we are pleased to introduce Brah (the comet with the black stripe on his top fin) and Bro (the gold and white goldfish)