# Cyprichromis fry :-)



## Razzo (Oct 17, 2007)

When I received my new tang community on Dec 17th, I inherited two holding female Cyps. After seeing those cute little dudes, through the window in their mother's buccal cavity, turn from wigglers into fry, I decided it was time to strip them OR risk them becoming a snack for the comps. Thanks to advice from Mike at Aquatic Teknology and to one of the articles in the Cichlid-Forum library http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/c_leptosoma.php, I got some pretty good step-by-step instructions on how to do it. A special thank you to the staff of C-F for all the great resources in the library!

Whelp, I stripped them last night and it was much easier than I expected. I ended up getting approximately a total of 25 fry between the two moms. I have them in a floating nursery in a fry tank. This is my first time with cyp fry and some of the advice that I have been given was to make sure the water quality is great (two water changes each week) and feed them twice a day. I have some Ocean Nutrition Omni Flake that I have ground up (to almost a powder).

I have noticed that the tank lights seem to dissorient them, so I am leaving the lights off for the time being. If anyone else has any tips for me - please reply - that would be much appreciated. As most of you already know from my recent posts, my cyps are some WC _Cyprichromis leptosoma_ (Mpimbwe). Here are a couple pics of their F1 fry (I hope these little buggers survive)...



















Here some more pics below that I have previously posted...

One of the mom's a couple weeks ago, you can see an egg sac:









Here's a few pictures of the boys (cyps are not easy to photograph as they are constantly moving)


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## Number6 (Mar 13, 2003)

I used to use the same sort of fry trap for Cyp fry... make sure to clean it regularily. I used an air line tube and "vacuumed" the fry trap to make sure it was always spotless. 
Other than that, it worked great.


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## Razzo (Oct 17, 2007)

Number6 said:


> I used to use the same sort of fry trap for Cyp fry... make sure to clean it regularily. I used an air line tube and "vacuumed" the fry trap to make sure it was always spotless.
> Other than that, it worked great.


Thanks


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## alicem (Jul 26, 2007)

That's so exciting. :dancing: 
Your picts are great!
Another option to "vac" the bottom of your fry trap is use a turkey baister.


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## Multies (Mar 9, 2007)

cool cyps!
i love the 5th pic  he looks shinier
maybe you should move them to an actual tank for faster growth rates?


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## Number6 (Mar 13, 2003)

Multies said:


> maybe you should move them to an actual tank for faster growth rates?


Actually, I didn't find that with my cyp fry. The fry trap I had I used an air powered aqualift to keep a steady flow into it, and with the daily cleaning with a turkey baster or mini-vacuum, I actually get faster growth in this thing than released into the main tank. 
I think it has to do with the BBS staying easy to catch for longer in the trap and the fact that Cyps are a social fish not stressed by being crowded.


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## Razzo (Oct 17, 2007)

alicem said:


> That's so exciting. :dancing:
> Your picts are great!
> Another option to "vac" the bottom of your fry trap is use a turkey baister.


Thanks 

I had a little accident using the tube vac method... I accidentally sucked two fry into the tube and I lost them  Total bone head move on my part. I guess I shouldn't do that when I am sleep deprived and not as careful as I normally would be. Well, I still have 23 left - I'll have to be more careful.

Where in Central Illinois are you from. I graduated from SIU many moons ago.


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## Razzo (Oct 17, 2007)

Multies said:


> ...maybe you should move them to an actual tank for faster growth rates?


Thanks 

Their floating nursery is in a 20L which will become all theirs once I ship some frontosa fry out to NY in the next couple weeks.


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## alicem (Jul 26, 2007)

> Where in Central Illinois are you from. I graduated from SIU many moons ago.


It seems like my whole family (Mom and Dad too) graduated SUI Carbondale. 
My daughter graduated from SIU Edwardsville.  
We live south of Effingham a few miles (in the sticks). Do you know where that town is? That's why I say "south central Illinois."
Travelers using I-70 or I-57 pass through Effingham. Many have eaten or at least have gotten fuel there. :thumb:


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## Razzo (Oct 17, 2007)

alicem said:


> > Where in Central Illinois are you from. I graduated from SIU many moons ago.
> 
> 
> It seems like my whole family (Mom and Dad too) graduated SUI Carbondale.
> ...


Effingham, sure do  On my way down from Chicagoland (I57), we always stopped in Effingham. I graduated from SIU in 91. I loved it down there - they have a beautiful campus. Me and my room mates used to like to go to the Shawnee Forest (little grand canyon and we liked the spillway too... can't forget Giant City SP and Fatman Squeze either :wink: ).

That is where I picked up my nickname "Razzo" from one of my roomates. I guess it stuck :lol:

Ahh, the good ole days.


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## alicem (Jul 26, 2007)

Oh, sheesh, I forgot about Fatman Squeeze. :lol: It's been a while since I've been to Shawnee...


> Ahh, the good ole days.


 :thumb:


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## Razzo (Oct 17, 2007)

Update: my cyp fry are doing very well. I think I have about 22 or 23 (not easy to count them)  I released them from the floating nursery a couple weeks ago into the 20L with some very small frontosa fry that just came out of the tumbler.

I have been doing water changes twice per week and clean the ac filter once per week and I vacuum once per week too. I have been told that water quality is huge with cyp fry so I have been try to do a good job.

I really enjoy watching the little boogers dart around. They seem very happy and healthy. I will clean the glass on Friday and try to get a couple pictures and will update this thread.

Thanks for your help and for looking.


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## exasperatus2002 (Jul 5, 2003)

Great job. just be diligent in your cleaning & they should be ok. Great pics. keep em coming!


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## Razzo (Oct 17, 2007)

exasperatus2002 said:


> Great job. just be diligent in your cleaning & they should be ok. Great pics. keep em coming!


Thanks 

Here's an updated photo from tonight. Gotta go do my water change now :wink:


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