Da One and Only

toddnbecka

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I was feeding last night (actually almost 4 a.m. this morning) when I noticed a wee black fry in the 75 with the eureka red peacocks and Synodontis multi's. My first thought was "the BN aren't large enough to spawn yet :confused:) Looking closer, I saw that it was actually a tiny Syno fry. So, instead of turning off the tank light and going to bed I started pulling half the cover out of the tank. Naturally, the wee bugger was hiding under the very last rock I pulled out. Looked a bit ragged around the edges, presumably the tight squeeze inside the mouth of a young female Aulonocara, but a very plump belly. I netted it and moved it into the 38 with the L-10a and a new brood of BN fry.
Here's a couple pics I took while it was in the transfer container:
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I saw one female peacock with a mouthful of something, looks like eggs. It remains to be seen if any more wee catfish will turn up. I stripped the rest of the tank down but didn't find any more, and none of the other females are holding now.
 

toddnbecka

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The wee bugger doesn't bother to hide now that he's in the 38, or move much either apparently. I found him in the same area tonight that he was in when I snapped this pic early this afternoon:
P1040294.jpg


I'd estimate the size at around 1 cm. The BN fry are larger than that, and they still have a bit of yolk sac remaining. This little muncher has probably already chowed down a handful of cichlid eggs and several siblings before being released by the female cichlid. I would have thought he'd be more developed before going off on his own, but the young female Aulonocara don't have very large mouths.
 

Jumbie

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That’s really awesome Todd...I have just picked up a few different types of Syno's over the past few months I hope I get them to spawn form me.
 

toddnbecka

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I also have a group of petricola and lucipinnis (think there are actually both) in another tank. I've been growing them out for several years hoping for fry, but nothing yet. Maybe swapping the fluval for an eheim canister will help. I've read that several folks have found petricola fry growing out in their eheims. :p
 

toddnbecka

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This one has a round head like Charlie Brown with a skinny little body/tail behind. The belly isn't as plump as it was when I found the wee bugger. I hope it finds enough to eat in the 38. I could put it into a net breeder for a while if necessary.
 
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