# WC Uaru just spawned, eggs on rock! Now What???



## Jesseschu (Mar 16, 2011)

Hi there,

I have a pair of WC Uaru that are in a 125 with several other types of fish: Geophagus Steindachnari, Geo Tapajos, Cories, Pleco, Dwarf Rainbows, Angels. They just laid eggs on the vertical surface of a rock in the tank and are guarding it.

Should I leave them as they are or should I move the male, femal and rock into a seprate tank? I am so excited!!!!

Please let me know your thoughts.

Thanks.


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## ahud (Aug 22, 2009)

The fry don't stand a chance in a community tank. So if you wish to raise them, the best thing you could do at this point is siphon off any wrigglers.


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## notho2000 (Dec 8, 2012)

Chances are, if you move all three (male, female, eggs) the parents will almost certainly eat the eggs in the new setting. The disturbance will likely break the pair bond too and the parents could turn on one another. Uaru are by nature,reasonably high strung fish and their pair bond (quite fragile) can be easily broken, especially if it is their first spawn. In the past, I've removed the eggs and hatched them artificially. The young, once free swimming are large enough to take newly hatched brine shrimp, or decapsulated brine shrimp. If kept with the parents, and the young reach the free swimming stage, they will initially feed on the slime coat on the sides of the parents. IMO, your best options are to let them remain where they are, and let the parents take them as far along as they can. If the fry get to the free swimming stage or even the wriggler stage, you would then siphon some out and raise them away from the parents. Best to leave some in with them as it will help prevent the parents from turning on one another and help maintain the pair bond. The other option is, as I said before, pull the rock out with the eggs, and put it in another small tank with water from the original tank. Make sure the temperature is 84-86 F (or at least matching that in the parents tank) use an anti-fungicide (methylene blue or acriflavine) and aerate the eggs nearby with an air stone. The eggs should hatch within 72 hours and the young become free swimming in another 3-4 days. Good luck.


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## Jesseschu (Mar 16, 2011)

Thanks for the info ahud and notho2000. Very timely and it helped a bunch. The eggs lasted about 2 days and then the parents started gobbling them up. It seems like they were stressed with all of the other fish getting near the eggs. They laid them in the middle of a 125 so they had fish approaching the eggs from all sides of the rock.

Question: Should I move that same rock to a corner in the tank so that the next time they decide to spawn they are in a safer place?

Question: Should I reduce the number of tankmates? This is definitely one of the important fish in the tank. I can move some out if it would increase the chance of survival.

Thanks again for the help!!!!


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## notho2000 (Dec 8, 2012)

Often, the pair will become better parents (i.e. not eat the eggs) after a few spawns. But your pair might not continue to spawn. I've had Uarus that spawned a couple of times and then "went on hiatus" for a long time. So if you want some young to raise, you should act now. Your best option is to remove either eggs or fry (in the wriggler stage) and raise them away from the parents. Moving the rock to a more secluded spot may help prolong things. If you want to try and raise the young with the parents, you'll pretty much have to have them alone in the tank. Then the question arises ...will the pair bond be maintained? The presence of some 'threat, whether real or perceived will help keep the pair bonded and of like mind.


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