Wrong Decision

[CNgo2006]

Hi guys,

I thought I should share with you an incident that happened last night, I have a female mischling that had just recently dropped her babies a couple days ago, last night she molted and of course the boys (at least 15) were going crazy chasing her like they were teenage boys chasing a naked centerfold. I thought to myself I really should seperate her for some R&R but chose not to in the end. WRONG DECISION! this morning she was half a carcass under the sponge filter then :sorrow:. I was already short on girls!

Tip number 1- Where possible ensure the male: female ratio is at least 1:2

Tip number 2- If you see the female getting chased and harassed by 10+ boys maybe seperate the girl with 1 nice boy or give her some time to herself for some R&R if she dropped a lot recently

Tip number 3- Don't be lazy and think "ah she'll be right" like me IDIOT!

Tip number 4- Make sure there are enough hiding spots for the girls

Just thought I would share a sad experience with you guys in case any of you ever experience something similar, which I'm sure a lot of you will. If there is anything on that list I have forgotten please add to it guys.

Cheers Chi.

[ineke]

Awww Chi that's sad.I will keep an eye out for that thank you. I also notice the boys still chase newly berried girls. I think my next project will be a tank for berried girls but I get a bit worried about moving berried girls as twice I've done that and lost the babies even though the water was almost identical. It's hard to know what to do for the best sometimes. Thanks for sharing sometimes it takes someone elses misfortune to teach us all.:)

[CNgo2006]

Maybe get yourself some of those external or internal breeder boxes. I use external ones with some benibachi soil (CRS) and it seems to work great! I have had 3 berried in a single external breeder living peacefully, once they drop I return them to tank, babies do well in them til they are a bit larger then I put them in tank as well, have had really good results.

Truth is I usually remove harassed girls but I am really sick atm and did not have the energy to chase her around the tank to remove her last night hence her passing...DAMN!

[ineke]

DAMN . hope you get better soon. I might look into that I like the DIY ones but don't have the right filter setup.

[CNgo2006]

DAMN . hope you get better soon. I might look into that I like the DIY ones but don't have the right filter setup.

Have a look at this ineke http://www.sydneycichlid.com/fry-nursery.htm very easy and very effective and cheap to make.

@Mods If I'm not allowed to post those types of links please remove

[ineke]

Thanks Chi that may be worth a try :encouragement:

[KiwiBigD]

Tip number 4- Make sure there are enough hiding spots for the girls

Cheers Chi.

This is the one I think is key, it gives her places to hide and takes the males longer to find. If you do have enough girls in a tank then it

really becomes a case of only keeping your best 2/3 males in with them, its generally enough.

[ineke]

I'm still having trouble with defining the sexes in the crystals they don't sit still long enough for me to see the antennae :redface-new:

[ineke]

I have started to put little rock mountains in my tanks that give great hiding spaces for the shrimp- not sure how they will go with debris getting in there but when siphoning the water I take it from above the rocks and it seems to be working ok.

[CNgo2006]

I'm still having trouble with defining the sexes in the crystals they don't sit still long enough for me to see the antennae :redface-new:

You will never be able to be 100% sure imo...until they saddle/berry up that is but then there are girls who never seem to saddle up...

[CNgo2006]

Thanks Chi that may be worth a try :encouragement:

You may want to find a finer mesh netting than the fly screen mesh they use there...Maybe an old fine net you aren't using or media bag or something similar.

[ineke]

Thats another thing I can't see the saddle on these the cherries are easy but not crystals. so far only 1 berried female but with at least 30 shrimp there should be a reasonable ratio.Starting to notice more of the bigger ones have a curved underbelly so pretty sure they are female. Just need to wait and see when they eventually get berried. Still all a big learning curve for me.

[Squiggle]

Spewing dude, I hope everyone else will be ok, including you :encouragement: thanks for the heads up :victorious:

[Gbang]

Noooooo :( yeah man shrimp are like guppies. Make sure the boys ain't being naughty!

[MrShrimp]

Your evil chi.

[CNgo2006]

Your evil chi.

No where near your level Andrew!

[shrimpstan]

sorry about the loss i hope its just a one off. but anything to stop more deaths.. good post chi!

[Foxpuppet]

Sorry to hear that chi, it's always a heart felt pain when you lose a nice breeder. I've felt it wayyy too often!