Wooohooo Got Convict Wigglers

[MySpace Mike]

So I checked on my fry tank which has about 50 Convict eggs, and noticed tonight they are starting to become wigglers. So far I got about 5 wigglers wiggling away in the pot the eggs are in.

Wooohooo cant wait til they become free swimming, thank god I was smart enough to add a couple live plants to their tank, so when they become free swimming, I can shut the filters off. This way none of them get sucked up into the filters.

Below is a pic of my 18 gallon fry tank.

 

[excuzzzeme]

Unless you have a super strong filter they won't get sucked in as the parents won't let them get that close to danger.

You should be able to see a small egg sac still attached to the under belly. That will disappear after the first wriggling week. They actually will feed off it. The parents will then fan the sand to stir up micro-nutrients for them to feed on. At this time I feed baby brine shrimp eggs or Hikari First Bites. I will also treat them with some powderized flake I mixed and crushed up.

Congratulations and enjoy watching them grow!

 

[MySpace Mike]

The parents are in my 55 gallon tank, and only the wigglers are in my fry tank. Last time I put the parents in when they spawned the male almost killed the female convict. So this time I chose to leave the parents in the main tank, and raise the fry alone.

All the eggs are now wigglers, every last one of them. This time I got lucky with every one of them making it thru and becoming wigglers. I'll leave them be in the pot for the next week, but once they start free swimming I'm for sure turning my filters off, because last time I lost around 20 fry because of the filters.

 

[livebearerfreak]

lets see the parents?

 

[Rbishop]

Congrats!

 

[MySpace Mike]

Here's a pic of the parents when they were in the 18 gallon tank about a month ago. The male is now pushing 4" and the female is pushing 3"

Here's a pic of the male now, the female didn't like me being by the tank and hid behind a plant.

 

[67chevelle]

What are you going to do with the fry?
You can always leave the female in with them. Watching her taking care of them is very interesting,and she will fan them and make sure they are taken care of. Do you have a powerhead pointed toward them?

 

[MySpace Mike]

Right now I got 2 power filters running, along with a couple live plants to supply oxygen. I have the pot tilted at a slight upwards angle so they don't quite pop out.

Since the substrate is natural ocean sand from Pismo Beach California, soaked in boiling hot water to clear out any ruminants of salt water. But the natural sand will make it easier so they dont get stuck like they would in gravel. I'm thinking of getting a sponge filter for them once they become free swimming.

As for the fry, I'm hoping to get a couple nice pink Convicts out of the fry, to grow out and add to the 55 gallon. Either way I'll choose the best looking ones from the fry bunch as they grow, and get rid of the rest.

 

[67chevelle]

Sponge filters work great with fry tanks,and sand substrate.