goneself Posted January 15, 2013 Report Share Posted January 15, 2013 As some may know from another forum, I have had no success breeding anomala. This current batch may be my last shot, as yesterday my cracking male wedged himself between some wood and popped an eye out. So, once again I have fry, free swimming, eating nls fry food..this about the point where problems begin. If I take the female out,they seem to start dropping off one by one. If I leave the mother in, she gets randomly spooked and eats them. ..either way, I need to make the call. So, first hand advice from any breeders, please, set up, filtration, etc etc..anything! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pk333 Posted January 16, 2013 Report Share Posted January 16, 2013 Can you tell us how you have the tank set up at the moment. How old are the fry? Is the male in with the female and fry? Are you using town or tank water, can you feed BBS instead if the fry are still very young. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goneself Posted January 16, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2013 2x2 cube, sponge filter, dim light, shallow layer of sand, some java moss and driftwood for decor. Male is not in the tank, had to take him out to medicate. Water is town water, treated with prime, have done a 10% change with no noticeable loss. Fry are now a week old, free swimming, fed bbs for the first time, however that seems to stir up mum and she tried to protect the fry from them, moved them away. Now eating powder, seem to be doing ok at this stage. Nitrite, nitrate and ammonia are fine ph is 6.9 to 7.0. Nothing else in the tank except 3 apple snails which mum keeps well away from fry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regani Posted January 16, 2013 Report Share Posted January 16, 2013 for my pair I found that the fry had a tendency to disappear after 2-3 weeks, probably eaten by the female. the parents were quite hard on each other even in a well decorated 2ft tank with lots of cover (male beating up female before spawning, female beating up male after), but most of the time was able to keep both parents in the tank. now i siphon out the fry after 1.5-2 weeks and raise them separately (in an established tank with the same water conditions). i get good survival rates this way, feeding them mainly BBS and then starting to mix in crushed flake and/or fry food at week 3-4. weekly 30% water changes to keep the water ok. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regani Posted January 16, 2013 Report Share Posted January 16, 2013 to keep them in a 2x2 you will need quite a bit of cover to prevent injury, they can get quite aggressive. I keep them in a 2x1 foot tank that has quite a lot of cover and they still maage to beat each other up regularly. picture of the tank (side-on) below. with less decoration you'll need at least a 3ft tank imo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goneself Posted January 16, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2013 Hah! I remember that tank! The pair are actually pretty good, haven't seen any aggression between them, and the dad did get involved in raising them. Although, the first time they bred I had a trio and the knocked off the other female overnight. Interesting that you've seen them dissapearing too, every bit of info out there says they are great parents...I might separate them into three batches, I have a fluval edge that chock full of java moss and cherry shrimp, and another bare tank they can go into. If not, I might have to just send you a message in a few weeks and beg for some of yours..poor male is not looking good at all today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regani Posted January 16, 2013 Report Share Posted January 16, 2013 raising the fry separately should work, they don't seem too sensitive. I'll keep my fingers crossed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
