I have 5 pairs of Endlers and all the females look quite pregnant (very dark gravid spots), with a few in the "oh my god, she's going to explode" stage. Everyone is active and eating well. The males are well colored-up and hitting on everything that moves. With 5 females and a 23-day gestation period, I figure I should be seeing a batch of fry about once a week. So riddle me this:
2 weeks ago: got 6 pairs of Endlers (yay!)
day 1: lost one female (I assume from shipping stress)
day 3ish: saw solo fry that was alive, but not swimming well. Seemed well developed, but died within a day. Adults showed no interest.
day 5ish: found one male dead, cause unknown. No visible symptoms before or after death.
day 9ish: found another solo fry, dead, much less developed. Again, adults showed no interest.
day 14: still no fry batches.
Could those two solo fry have been premature drops? Or did I miss two batches of fry and Endlers are more cannibalistic than I thought? I have some plants for fry cover, including moss and floaters, but I was also counting on the reportedly small chance of cannibalism among Endlers.
Of course, I won't get really worried until I've had them at least four weeks, but I am getting impatient!
Stats:
- 10g
- plants
- driftwood (boiled every day for two weeks, soaked for 2 more, still leaching a little but not bad)
- cuttlebone (calcium carbonate) to counter any acidifying from the driftwood
- pouch snails...er..."water bunnies"
- Whisper 40 in-tank filter (w/floss)
- 75*F
- 40-50% water change weekly, plus whenever I start fretting over them (which is every few days right now)
Last I checked (a few days ago):
- ammonia/nitrite/nitrate: 0
- pH: 7.5
2 weeks ago: got 6 pairs of Endlers (yay!)
day 1: lost one female (I assume from shipping stress)
day 3ish: saw solo fry that was alive, but not swimming well. Seemed well developed, but died within a day. Adults showed no interest.
day 5ish: found one male dead, cause unknown. No visible symptoms before or after death.
day 9ish: found another solo fry, dead, much less developed. Again, adults showed no interest.
day 14: still no fry batches.
Could those two solo fry have been premature drops? Or did I miss two batches of fry and Endlers are more cannibalistic than I thought? I have some plants for fry cover, including moss and floaters, but I was also counting on the reportedly small chance of cannibalism among Endlers.
Of course, I won't get really worried until I've had them at least four weeks, but I am getting impatient!
Stats:
- 10g
- plants
- driftwood (boiled every day for two weeks, soaked for 2 more, still leaching a little but not bad)
- cuttlebone (calcium carbonate) to counter any acidifying from the driftwood
- pouch snails...er..."water bunnies"
- Whisper 40 in-tank filter (w/floss)
- 75*F
- 40-50% water change weekly, plus whenever I start fretting over them (which is every few days right now)
Last I checked (a few days ago):
- ammonia/nitrite/nitrate: 0
- pH: 7.5
