Borellis are breeding!

830 Views 8 Replies 4 Participants Last post by irishspy, May 5, 2017

n25philly

Discussion Starter · Apr 29, 2017 (Edited by Moderator)

You got to love it when they lay the eggs in the plants right at the front of the tank where you can watch the whole thing. The female is going crazy fanning them while the male is standing on top of her and I can just picture him thinking "why did she make me eggs for breakfast if she won't get out of the way and let me eat them?" They are first time parents. I took a quick video but need to figure out how to edit it and get it online. I'll get some pics/video this afternoon with my good camera and share.

Just found the second female also protecting eggs. Apparently they are having a productive morning

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Nlewis

· #2 · Apr 29, 2017

This is very typical of apistos. If one female spawns it usually triggers other females in the tank to do so as well.

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n25philly

Discussion Starter · #3 · Apr 29, 2017 (Edited by Moderator)

Ok, first attempt at photos, tried my macro lens and had all kinds of troubles, mainly with focusing. Autofocus was stuggling and everyone was being really spastic which make manual really tough.

The happy poppa (mainly he was rushing around the tank trying to make sure everyone knew he got some)

I think I heard him demand a DNA test though...

Color is a bit off on this one

Hoving over the one female saying "Who's your daddy?"

She came out to flirt a little. I think this one is the girlfriend since she is being friendly. The other one must be the wife since she seems to be pissed off at him. Everytime she chases him away I see him turn back to say "Come on baby, it's all about you, she means nothing to me."

Focus is bad as I couldn't even see what I was shooting it's so dark in the plants down there, but you can see a few of the eggs. I couldn't position to take a shot of the other eggs even those they are more visible.

https://youtu.be/VWAkirc_IRE

Video I took with my cell phone when I found them, you can see her fanning the eggs and him waiting for her to leave so he can have a snack. Sorry it took me around 20 second to get the focus right.

Nlewis said:
This is very typical of apistos. If one female spawns it usually triggers other females in the tank to do so as well.

I have no idea which one went first, I saw the male dancing around with the other female yesterday (they of course stopped almost immediately when I got the camera on them...

https://youtu.be/wLecOM5a_V0

They looked ready to breed from almost the night I put them in the tank. The females spent about a week squabbling at they figured out territories. I'm guessing they are not cave spawners since there are three cave and they didn't use any of them (well, the second one did put hers on the outside of one of the caves)

https://youtu.be/XakpZTT2vL8

A bonus, a video I took last week where the male's ADD didn't kick stopped for a few seconds.

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JJBTEXAS

· #4 · Apr 29, 2017

gorgeous fish!

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JJBTEXAS

· #5 · May 1, 2017

updates?

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n25philly

Discussion Starter · #6 · May 1, 2017 (Edited by Moderator)

Nothing to update on, eggs haven't hatched yet

The first female is still by her eggs, but I have a feeling they aren't fertalized. They look quite white. Some look viable, so maybe she was the second to have them. At this point I'd assume if they don't hatch by the morning they won't. The second female had most of her eggs hatch and there are wigglers. Can't get any pictures or video though where she has them, I have to shine a light there to even see if by eye which I don't really like doing.

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n25philly

Discussion Starter · #7 · May 4, 2017

Should the females be bringing their fry out in the open once they are free swimming? Both are hiding in the grass, I never saw any wigglers with one and the second moved them deep in the foliage where I can no longer see them. I hatched some baby brine shrimp and have been releasing them where the females are figuring that even if the fry aren't ready for them the females have something to eat without leaving the fry and I feed the other fish in an area away from them. I'm guessing they have fry because they chase away the male if he gets too close. The only other fish in the tank is five cherry barbs and they have shown zero interest and leave the females alone.

Having such a heavily planted tank has it's advantages and disadvantages...

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JJBTEXAS said:
gorgeous fish!

Thanks, I lucked out as I got them at a chain store I normally would never shop at. They are still pretty young and the male seems to get more beautiful by the day. Less than a week since I took them and he looks noticeably more colorful.

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