Blue Bar Babies!

[SGypsyMermaid]

i noticed about 2 1/2 weeks ago that one of my blue bars was holding. she was in the 70 gallon hap tank which has a lot of rocks...she usually squeezed herself under a slight overhang. i was dreading breaking down that tank, and just this morning was discussing alternate strategies for catching her when wonder of wonders--she left her crevice while i was still talking about her! i got out a large net and slowly lowered it into the tank...she wasn't alarmed, just a little cautious...but not cautious enough--caught her! i placed her in the five and a half gallon tank that i got the other night for 2 bucks, took a piece of holey rock and some sand from the multi's tank , grabbed a box filter from another tank, built a fry labyrinth/shelter of small pieces of branching coral, water from her tank, and voila!...maternity tank! i watched her for a bit swimming up and down forward and back, checking out the neighborhood. i dropped in a few grains of high protein, super fragrant pellet, then went upstairs to put the clothes in the dryer. when i got back downstairs...free-swimming fry. i lay down on the floor so that i could watch them for a bit(their tank is on the bottom shelf of a fifty-five gallon tank). she looked at me, decided that i was no threat, and went back to foraging for bits of food. a couple of the babies kept swimming at her mouth trying to get back in, but she was having none of it...talk about throwing the baby birds out of the nest! of course, i was late meeting my friends for dinner, but i just had to watch for awhile!:D

p.s.--when i returned home this evening, she had picked them up again. i guess she figures that her mouth is the safest place for them while she's asleep.:D

[samak]

Hi Gypsi, i've done the same for a young female alluaudi but she jettison her fry in the net, 25 little fish swimming in the babies tank. But before catchin' her,i had to get out 150 kilos of rocks from my tank, it takes me one hour to do this.
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[SGypsyMermaid]

samak--someone else(either olepi or gass, i think) told me how to keep them from spitting in the net: the trick is to keep them submerged at all times, so before bringing the net out of the water, i scoop up the fish in a clear plastic cup, then lift her out of the tank. i use the net to cover the cup in case she is inclined to acrobatics. works like a charm--no net-spitting.

[samak]

The net was submerged but she was too afraid for keepin' them, she jettison them in the litlle plastic tank where I placed her. it was her first spawn so I think she was too anxious by the change. In normal time, I place my females in a babies tank where they can finish her post buccal cares without disturbances.
Christophe

[SGypsyMermaid]

this was the first spawn for my blue bar female, also. you don't think that your alluaudi would have picked them up again once she calmed down? i would have put her in the tank with the babies.

[samak]

I let her 2 hours for recheckin' them but she didn't do it, so it was done.
now the baies swim in a 60 liter tank and eat well.
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