# Introducing fry to main tank



## mpls612 (Oct 14, 2013)

I have 4 red zebra fry (my first brood ever) which were born in October, and I'm thinking maybe they are big enough to put into the main tank soon. They are roughly 1" long at this point, maybe a little longer. I need them out of the nursery tank soon because I have a holding cobalt blue zebra and I'll have to strip her next week. My nursery tank is only 10g and I don't want to overcrowd it.

My main tank is a 45g with 2 cobalts, 2 red zebras, 1 lightning yellow, 1 M. Livingstonii, and 1 M. Grashakei. All adults.

Just wondering if people think this is a good idea at this point, or should I wait longer? There is obviously a considerable size difference between the fry & adults, but I think my aquascape has enough hiding spots for the fry to get away from most of the aggression...

Is it common for adults to murder the fry if they are too small? They are certainly not "bite size" anymore but they wouldn't stand a chance if one of the adults decided to get nasty either. Thanks


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Do you know for sure who spawned with your red zebra female? There's a high risk of hybridization in your tank with the other Metriaclima. Poor ratios as well. What are the tank dimensions?

1" is too small to add to the tank with adults. 1.5" is the size to shoot for. But you have Livingstonii in the tank. If it's an adult then 1.5" fish will not be safe.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

You should count the tail when you measure. Depending on the dimensions it might not be a good idea to add any fish at all, and Iggy is right, you may not want to save fry spawned in a tank with three metriaclima species.


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## mpls612 (Oct 14, 2013)

DJRansome said:


> Depending on the dimensions it might not be a good idea to add any fish at all, and Iggy is right, you may not want to save fry spawned in a tank with three metriaclima species.


Why's that?

Also, hybridization is not an issue because these fish are no longer allowed to breed (except the cobalts). As soon as one is holding, she gets stripped and the eggs go down the toilet. Population control.

Tank is 3'x'1'x2'. I realize that everyone is going to tell me I should only be keeping cichlids in an 8 billion gallon tank, but I live in a small apartment and 45g is as big as its going to get. The fry are going in there either way, just wondered how big people thought I should let 'em get first. I'll let 'em gain another half inch. Thanks for the replies.


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## notchback65 (Apr 3, 2013)

I never remove my fry....I've got all different sizes in my main tank all mine that are around an inch swim around just fine with all the others;my smaller ones hang out in the caves and very rarely swim out of the caves until they get sound that size.

I just posted this video,but here it is again showing some of my larger fry.


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## mpls612 (Oct 14, 2013)

Nice tank...looks like the fry are doing fine in there. That's encouraging.


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## peacock-mark (Apr 25, 2013)

Interesting topic. I just put some 1" to 1.5" fry in my main tank last night. I'm curious to see what happens. The adults didn't seem to pay too much attention to the fry (while I was watching, anyway).


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## noki (Jun 13, 2003)

I think it is normal for adults to ignore juvenile fish. People think that since fish can be aggressive, that they will be bullies and attack the kids... there is no reason to beat up the juveniles.

Now if the fry are too small, and you put them in the tank and the fry act panicked... this triggers an instinct for the larger fish to be predators. The panic behavior really attracts larger fish, and they can gang up on smaller fish.

You can always add the youngsters after dark, give the juveniles time to settle down. Now your tank sounds too small to begin with, which is another problem.


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## peacock-mark (Apr 25, 2013)

My theory is they really don't see the juvies as a threat, so why waste time chasing them.


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## chopsteeks (Jul 23, 2013)

peacock-mark said:


> My theory is they really don't see the juvies as a threat, so why waste time chasing them.


True, but the Livingstonii will look at the fry as food.

I just received the shipment of Afra Jalo juvies...size between 1"-2". The almost full grown Red Zebras and Yellow Labs have ignored the little ones. Also added same size Demasonis, even the adult Dems do not really bother them.

BTW, the folks in Utah shipped me with 2 extra Jalos....what a pleasant surprise. Very difficult fish to find in my necks of the wood.

Good luck.


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## mpls612 (Oct 14, 2013)

Thanks to all for the replies. I'm going to wait until my holding cobalt is ready to be stripped (next week-ish) and just before that, I'll put the fry in there...I'm not too worried about the Livingstonii being a jerk, he is still relatively small and is dealing with his own problems with the bigger fish. He doesn't have time to pick on the fry.


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

So the Livingston isn't an adult?


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## mpls612 (Oct 14, 2013)

PS I understand that my tank is too small but I'm over-filtering as much as possible. I live in a pretty small apartment and 45g is as big as its going to get. A good friend of mine has a 90g tank that came with his house, I've already paid him for it but its way too big to put in here so these guys are going to deal with 45g for the next year at least, unfortunately.


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## mpls612 (Oct 14, 2013)

Iggy Newcastle said:


> So the Livingston isn't an adult?


 I don't know, he's adult-ish. Grown up but maybe 2/3 the size of my other Mbunas. Bought him about 1 month ago. I'm not an expert.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

There are some Malawi that would be comfortable in a 36" tank, just not the Metriaclima (red zebras, colbalts, greshakei). Also the fish will be more comfortable if kept in harems (1m:4f) because in pairs the male may kill the female.


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## mclaren880 (May 20, 2012)

Is Livingston another name for livingstonii? If SO, those guys get large, like 10". The 90 in a year or so, in my opinion, is doable for him. Ideally you'd have a 6' tank but I know people who do that and it seems to work fine. I think the main concern is them just getting straight up eaten, not necessarily bullied.


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