# Comp Fry Not sure what to do



## plug (Nov 10, 2013)

So in my 125 Front Tank, I also have 4 White Calvus (all males) as well as 3 Yellow Head Comps
Well the last little while I have noticed that the smallest Comp has been hiding in a cave and not coming out to eat
I also noticed that the other Comps, Calvus, and even some Fronts are all hanging around the front of the cave
So today I took a flashlight and peeked in and to my surprise I see eggs in there with little tails wiggling around.

so definitely this Comp has spawned with someone. Now obviously its either a Comp or a Calvus that it spawned with

the question is now what do I do??

If I leave them in there they will surely get eaten when they hatch

Can I take the cave and the mother and babies out to another tank??
Will she stay in the cave as I pull it out??

I really want to see these babies

Open to any suggestions


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

What will you do with 100 babies (I got 180) that might not be pure? They are a lot of work to raise, but if you want to raise them read the article in the Cichlid-forum Library on raising Altolamp babies by Razzo.


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## plug (Nov 10, 2013)

I would definitely give it a go at trying to raise them
Of course I would not know if they would be pure or not until they grew a bit, but then even it may be difficult to tell

My main question now is can I remove the cave and all the babies to another tank. If yes, I have a 22 gallon tank with 2 upside cats in it that keep it cycled and I would gladly move them and put these in there.
It's a challenge I would like to take on

Will the mother stay in the cave as I remove it, or will she bolt??
If she bolts, they babies are surely doomed

I await anyone to respond as I am ready to move the cats out


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Check the article...you might want to wait until the babies are a little older than an egg with tail. As long as they are not leaving the cave.

Ideally when you go after the cave (I use shells, easy to remove in one piece) the mom will duck inside and you can lift the whole thing to the new tank.

I would keep the babies in your house for their lifetimes.


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## plug (Nov 10, 2013)

The cave she is in is a one piece small cave
I was able to lift it out with the female and eggs all in the cave
Placed in the 22 Gallon tank that had the 2 catfish (which I removed to another tank)
So now the mother is alone in the tank and we will see what develops from here

Never saw this coming but am glad as I am looking forward to the challenges of these fry


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I had to buy 2 55G to raise them and the daily nursing took over a year. Never again, LOL. Got your brine shrimp hatchery set up?


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## plug (Nov 10, 2013)

Nothing yet for the brine shrimp
Need to look into this

did not think it might be this difficult


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## noddy (Nov 20, 2006)

I just raised over 100 gold head fry for over a year. I ended up with 10 in a 40g long and then I did a w/c and forgot to add Prime.
I ended up with two in my 210g and now I have one juvie left. Of course it just had to be the one with the dislocated jaw that survived.
Never again.


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## plug (Nov 10, 2013)

You guys are scaring me with all this heartache and pain
I will see how it goes with this and see if its worth all the trouble

I am up for a challenge, as long as I dont have to change my whole lifestyle...


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## plug (Nov 10, 2013)

Once the fry start swimming around, do I keep the mother in the tank, or do I remove her?
How long will she stay with the babys without eating them


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## noddy (Nov 20, 2006)

Once the fry start to swim out of the shell, remove the female from the tank.


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

The problem with Altolamprologus calvus/comp fry is they are lazy, and intolerant to poor water, and chlorine. When they are very small, I'd recommend keeping them in shallow tupperware containers, with a bubble stone. Change half of the water daily, using the water from the parents tank... or at least an established tank. Baby Brine shrimp helps, but I've raised them on very crushed powder flake as well. Even as they get larger, if you put them in an aquarium that is larger... and I'm talking 20 gallon, they won't go after the food that well. Once you get them to close to an inch, typically they are fine... but still intolerant of fresh water changes, when it contains chloramine, or chlorine.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I saw somewhere a fishkeeper recommended mixing the calvus fry with bristlenose fry...just to keep the calvus fry moving. Any thoughts? I did have both at the time, but I was afraid to try it.


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## plug (Nov 10, 2013)

well, right now they are in a 22 gallon tank
when they start swimming I will take the mother out

I guess I should have put the female and the cave with eggs in a 10 gallon tank

would it be still possible to do that, as I have a 10 gallon tank that I currently have some other fry in and I could easily switch them around...


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

A 10 gallon is still really too big for fresh fry... at least in my experience, and from what I've seen some very good breeders do. Shake the shell out in a tupperware container... something about 8x4"... about two inches of water.


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## plug (Nov 10, 2013)

I think I will move them to the 10 Gallon Tank tomorrow
a small tupper would be nice but how would I keep it warm

also if these fry are so lazy to move, how the heck do they eat in the wild if they barely move around


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## plug (Nov 10, 2013)

so the babies have come out of the cave and so I moved the mother and the cave to another tank...the mother still stays in the cave even though there are no babies in there strange??

These babies just sit on the bottom, barely moving.
I grew some brine shrimp...what a pain that is, especially trying to suck them out...got more unhatched eggs than actual hatched shrimp...need a magnifying glass as these buggers are so small

I started feeding them Hikari first bites...they eat a bit but barely move to chase the grains

this looks like it may be a long futile battle here...will see how it goes


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## plug (Nov 10, 2013)

10 days later and the babies are still there not sure how many could be 30 or so
they just sit around all day and barely move, even to get food

i do a small water change every day


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Did you could when you first removed the shell?

I found the best way is to take a pic, blow it up on the PC, print and count the dots...marking them as I go.

One of the problems is they die off so that's why people track this.


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## plug (Nov 10, 2013)

I could never get a good counts as I put them in a tank with several small lace rocks
maybe next water change i will take the rocks out and take a picture and see and count

i do notice they eat and have grown some, and they are starting to swim a bit more, but mostly they just sit on the bottom


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## plug (Nov 10, 2013)

The babies have grown a bit, but I have lost at least 10 so far that I have found dead...not sure why
I do daily water changes of 2 1/2 gallons of 10 in the tank
Still feeding them Hikari First Bites, and they are swimming more, but overall they just seem to sit around on the bottom for the most part


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## noddy (Nov 20, 2006)

I found that I had to use water from the main tank to do water changes and make sure that they get lots of protein.
Crushed up NLS grow and cyclops eeze as often as I could.


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## plug (Nov 10, 2013)

I will try crushing up some grow
They are so small but I have noticed that they have grown some

The big question is did the female comp spawn with a Male Comp or a Calvus??


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## plug (Nov 10, 2013)

Well its been almost 6 months since these babies were born
What slow growers
I have about 30 or so left, still in a 10 gallon tank and still maybe an inch max in size, if that

They are finally starting to look like fish and swimming around

And of top of that, my pair of comps has another brood in a cave going, so it looks like I may be in for some more growing pains with these, but I have to admit it is a challenge


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

I spoke with an old timer earlier this year in May. I've bought quite a few Malawian fish from him. He told me at one point he was breeding 30 different locales of Altolamps. He told me the keys were live baby brine, established water, and baby/fry plecos. I asked about the plecos, remembering this thread. He said they were vital in feeding on any brine that died and settled on the bottom. In such small aquaria it wouldn't take long for the water quality to drop.


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