fishynewbie

Hi everyone,
I appreciate you reading my long post and any help, ANY HELP AT ALL!
I am a freshwater newbie. I've been reading the articles on this forum for a while and was relunctant to post but now I feel like I have a real emergency.
I have a 20 US gal tank that is in the process of cycling (I didn't know about cycling until I had the aquarium and fish ) Currently I have 1 dwarf gourami, 1 tinfoil barb (I know it'll outgrow my tank) and 2 jellybean parrots (I didn't know the abuse they go through when I got them, and yes I know they will outgrow my tank) Now my reading are: Amonia: 0 nitrite: between 2 and 5 I can't really tell what color the liquid is, nitrate: 5. I've been doing water changes everyday with treated tap water to keep the levels of Nitrite down because I know how toxic it is. My problem today is that I discovered jellybean fry by mere coincidence in one of my caves and now I don't know what to do. QUESTIONS: 1. Do jellybean eat their fry? 2. Should I move the mother/father and fry to another container to protect from tinfoil and dwarf gourami? 3. Should I change the water or will it disturb the new family? 6. Should I add plants into the cave from other parts of the tank to protect the fry? I'M COMPLETLY LOST AND SHAKEN UP AND DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO. I became very Motherly towards my fish and try my best to keep the alive and prevent them from being poisned by toxins. I fed them tropical flakes and bloodwarms (twice a week). I never had fish and now I'm really nervous. PLEASE ANY HELP WOULD BE APPRECIATED.

hopesmom

hi there, congrats! I ran to the web to read what I could as I have no experience with parrots...from what I have read, the parents will eat the unfertilized eggs, but will protect and raise the fertilized eggs together. they will be very territorial, and you might want to move the barb and gourami out if you have another tank ready. Someone with experience will be along to help you better...relax! you are doing a good job, and I can tell you love your fish. Denise

badger

Are there actually fry or just egss right now, becuase supposedly parrots are very often infertile, and the female while lay eggs but the males are unable to fertilize them. So if there just eggs dont get oo excited just yet, if theyre fry then congrats, but Im not sure there is all that much documentation on the parenting habits of parrots. I assume they will be fairly protective parents as most cichlids are. As for your cycling problem I will leave that to the many people here who are more knowledgable than myself

hopesmom

oops, sorry, I thought they were eggs, not fry.
Denise

badger

Im just unsure and checking, dont want them to get there hopes up for nothing

fishynewbie

I'm sorry if it was unclear it's just eggs. I know that most males are infertile so I'm not getting my hopes up I just want to do everything right. Thank you for all your replies you have no idea how much I appreciate them. Thank you everybody who answered and who still will

Butterfly

If you have 0 ammonia, 2-5 Nitrites and 5Nitrates then your cycle is moving along nicely.Your doing a great job with the water changes to keep the Nitrites down. The Nitrates are fine for the time being. Do you have live plants?
As for the eggs, What color are they. If they are infertile they will all be white by now. If not you have several options 1) you could leave them alone and see what happens 2) you could move the eggs and hatch them yourself. 3) you could move everybody except mom amd dad to another tank and let them raise their babies. Good Luck!!
Carol

Isabella

I don't know anything about the fish you have, but I suppose - as with any eggs and tiny fry - you should be doing large daily water changes. In your case, you do need such frequent water changes not only for the eggs, but also to remove the nitrites. Change up to 50% of water daily and monitor your water daily as well. I suppose you could perform even larger water changes than 50%. When your nitrite = 0, you can decrease water changes (although if your eggs make it, I'd continue daily water changes because of the fry). Looks like your fish made it through the worst part: ammonia, so that is a great thing. To make sure they're OK through the entire cycle, like I said, perform daily water changes to be removing nitrite. I hope everything goes well for you.

fishynewbie

Does anyone know how long does it usually take for the eggs to hatch?

hopesmom

I've looked thru the sites I know of ( problem is, I'm a newby too) and all I can't find one that tells about your particular fish...seems most cichlids eggs hatch in about 3 days...hope your do too! how exciting! keep us posted!
Denise

Butterfly

The eggs should be hatched by now If their not fertile they are usually white by the day after laying. SOOOOOO..... do we have babies?
Carol

fishynewbie

Today I noticed the eggs moving and I think they might have little tails. The problem is I noticed the mother eating a few. I'm thinking of moving them. Should I start feeding them now or when they'll be able to swim? What should I feed them?

Thank you for any help

Butterfly

That stage is called wigglers.Congrats!!! Mom is probably cleaning them and fanning them so they stay clean. this also fans fresh water over them and provides more oxygen for your developing fry. They are probably stuck to gether or to something right now. fry have a gland on top of their heads thats allows them to stick to things, and all the little tails wiggling are exercising their muscles. In a couple of days they will be free swimming, meaning the will be out of their eggs and probably in a little cloud. At that point you could probably move them safely. Do not feed them until they have been free swimming about a day. This allows them to absorb their yolk sac. Then you can feed them freshly hatched brine shrimp, or you cold try Hikari tiny bites. If you decide to move them we can discuss daily water changes then
Carol

fishynewbie

Well instead of moving them I put in some java moss in the cave. I'm also thinking of buying a breeding/fry net. Thank you for your answer

Isabella

Wow, they made it! You'll have some beautiful babies I remember my angelfish eggs becoming wigglers - I was so happy to see their tiny tails wiggling, lol. You'll love it when they go free-swimming. It'll be so cute when they'll be learning to swim on their own. If you have a filter other than a sponge filter, make sure the intake tube won't suck the babies in. It's very easy with a regular filter. What I did was I wrapped my filter's intake tube with a stocking and decreased the water flow to VERY low, so that no babies are sucked in. Also, even if the intake tube is wrapped in a stocking, it may still suck the babies in if the flow is too strong. You have to be very careful with that. A baby net would be very useful if you have a powerful filter that is likely to suck the babies in. Also, other fish in the tank may eat the fry as well. If you don't have a mature sponge filter large enough to support your tank and if your current filter is too strong, definitely do something to protect the fry, such as the baby net. It'll be easier for you to feed them when they're all in one net. This way you'll make sure they all eat and grow.

badger

Thats great, congratulations and good luck with the babies, dont suppose you have any idea how many yet right?

Butterfly

Good going Isabella!! I never thought of the filter!
Carol

Isabella

LOL Carol - it just dawned on me as I was thinking of my angelfish fry. I suddenly remembered my filter and the stocking. I thought I'd write about it just in case.

chickadee

Congratulations, the very best days are when there are new babies in the house. (all kinds)


Rose