New to 201 Breeding. Got some fry. best practice?

AussieSam

Member
Dec 18, 2017
8
0
1
Port Macquarie, Australia
Hey guys.

I'll give you a quick spec list of my setup before I get into the questions...

Tank: 4x1.5x1.5ft Tank In a rack setup
Filtration: Along with the other 3x 4ft tanks on the rack, are all plumbed through a 6ft sump. Also 2x Sponge filters in this tank
W/C: Daily 10% waterchanges through the sump. These are done automatically and very slowly (programmed to drain the water and refill over the course of an hour.) Water is prefiltered through a sediment filter and a carbon filter.
Water Parameters: Ammonia, Nitrite are both 0. Nitrate is under 5ppm.
Tank Details: 7x Caves of varying types. a few bits of driftwood. Fine pebble substrate.
Lighting: None. Small amounts of natural light
Temp: 28C (84F)
Tankmates: Red Cherry Shrimp
Current: Wavemaker turned off since finding fry

I leave this tank alone.. Waterchanges are automatic. Most feeding is automatic (Hikari Sinking Carnivore pellets daily) aside from fresh vegies, brine shrimp or Repashy every 2 or 3 days.

Quick back story is I had just a pair of L201s in here and they wouldnt breed for me. (only had for 6 months though). So i purchased a proven pair to hopefully get some action happening.

Now about a month ago, I found a little fry swimming around! So after having a bit of a look around I noticed 6 or 7 more! Tiny little buggers but swimming great and looking good.

I noticed not long after that the male appeared to have a female trapped again!

A few questions I've got are:

Current Fry: Should I leave them in the tank until 3/4 cm? or should I remove them to their own grow out tank now? It'd be nice to know how many there are actually in the tank, but I'm worried annoying them might stop the breeding cycles... its only just started after all.


Checking for eggs:
How do you all go about checking for eggs? I'm not really wanting to shine a torch in there to annoy the male.


Any other tips for how to keep them going? What should I feed the fry? I feel like I've only got half a dozen from that last spawn. But am unsure as its a big tank for them to hide in.

Any help would be great.
 

Bigjohnnofish

Global Moderators
Staff member
Apr 15, 2010
1,399
2
36
Perth, Western Australia
aussie advice... dont @#$% with them .... leave em alone and im sure you'll get more fry.....

if you want to relocate fry just net them out without disturbing parents... may or may not improve survival rate....

best food baby brine for the new fry... imo dont mess about with that repashy crap after all 201s are hypancistrus and carnivores.... not enough meaty protein in repashy... brine shrimp , cyclopese (cyclops) and daphnia are other good foods... i dont use carnivore pellets either as they are really designed for big protein intake for bigger fish species like rays , arrows etc... the more natural foods you can feed the better... just research your species and find out where it lives and what its diet is... best advice for any fish really....