# 3 month old Thickskin fry in parent tank.



## Duke Mookum (Feb 15, 2013)

Hello all

I have kind of a weird situation. I downsized a majority of my tanks and kept just a small portion of my fish. However, I couldn't get rid of my beloved thickskins and moved a pair of them into a 29 gallon. Also with them is an albino bristlenose pleco. While this is a small tank, they are very happy in there with a ton of hiding places. The male harasses the female a bit but she has been very healthy. In fact, healthy enough to breed which left me with 21 fry. Being a noob, when this happened I moved the new fry into a 10 gallon. Now the fry are a little over 3 months old, getting good color and are out growing the very small tank.

I am curious if I could move those 3 month old fry into the 29 gallon with the mom and dad. I know this is merely another temporary solution but can buy me some time before I can do numerous things. But, will the babies survive in the tank or will the male (dad) chase them and kill them? There is a huge size difference which is what concerns me.

I am new to raising fry so any advice would be great.

I plan on getting rid of a majority of the babies but would like to keep a few. I would move them into my new 75 gallon mbuna/pundamilia tank but can't yet because those fish will definitely kill the baby thickskins. Hopefully in 4-5 months they will be big enough to defend themselves and have a good shot of survival.

Obligatory pictures:
Male

Female

One of the many babies (older photo and a few of them now have color)


----------



## Duke Mookum (Feb 15, 2013)

Well I went ahead and added them to the tank today. So far so good.

Here are my observations over the first few hours:
They stick together in a group everywhere they explore.
The female likes to hang out with them and the babies are drawn to her.
The male like to scatter them apart but there is no seriously mean behavior.
I cant find 1-2 of the babies already.


----------



## Darkskies (Mar 17, 2012)

Glad to hear they're doing well! It's interesting that they hang around the mother. Do you think she still recognizes them? When you say you can't find 1-2 of them already what do you think has happened? Are they small enough to fit inside the adults' mouths?


----------



## AlmightyJoshaeus (May 2, 2013)

Expect trouble when the male fry grow old enough to breed...


----------



## Duke Mookum (Feb 15, 2013)

Little update: Today they are 4 months old

The juvenile fish are doing amazing! I couldn't find two for a few days actually. Turns out that they were in some amazing hiding spots. I was convinced i had lost them but after few days they began swimming in the group again. So I am still going strong with 21 babies.

The male adult thickskin (kanye west; his colors makes him a gay fish) has settled down a lot. During the first few days he would swim into the group of fish make them scatter. He still does this once in a blue moon the juveniles have gotten pretty used to it.

The female will still hand around all of them. She just swims through the middle of the pack and seems to enjoy the company. Has definitely reduced the amount of stress that was on her when it was just those two in the tank. Since then she has gotten healthier and getting a big belly again.....

AlmightyJoshaeus:
How old will they be when they begin to breed? What do you suggest I do when the aggression begins? I have no problems giving/selling them when they get to that point. I just hope to save a few for my new tank!


----------



## AlmightyJoshaeus (May 2, 2013)

When the male fry start to gain color, they will probably try to breed, and then you will see fireworks between the father and the male fry. Even the male fry will likely start to argue at that point.


----------

