Possible baby/egg snatchers ?

[Mad Duff]

After reading Jim's post last night http://forums.loaches.com/viewtopic.php?t=7690 it got me thinking about my recent cheni activity. I was 99% certain that they had spawned and after dlenn confirming that the females to get quite fat before spawning just like I had witness I was 100% certain but it is 3 weeks now since the spawning activity and I've not seen any sign's of fry at all

This got me thinking as to what could have happened to the eggs or possible fry, fish wise there are 10 cheni in the tank along with 3 Sewellia sp spotted and one 3/4" bristlenose but I am thinking the culprits could be either the 4 Ammano shrimp or Trumpet snails . The shrimp seem to be the first onto anything that drops into the tank and I did remove the young Sewellia lineolata that Emma gave me because it seemed like the shrimp were harassing them and following them all over the tank, the other option is the trumpet snails of which there are hundreds in the gravel and I am thinking they could well have eaten the eggs while in the gravel.

I was wondering if anyone had any experience of Ammano shrimp taking fry or if anyone that has bred cheni has had trumpet snails in the tank

The tank that my Kubotia's and yoyo's are in at the moment is going to be converted to a river tank so I am going to leave that gravel in the tank because it is snail free so that should sort the trumpet snail's but do I add the add the 8 ammano shrimp that are currently in the 2 river tanks I have running at the moment

[janma]

The bristlenose is definetly a eater of eggs but won't attack fry. Don't have any experience with amanos but atleast red cherry and crystal reds are safe to have. Also have other bigger shrimp which I haven't had any 100% identification of, but they are harmless too and these guys are HUGE. Don't think it's the snails either, have these too though I pick them out every time I see them.

So I blame the bristlenose.

[Emma Turner]

Mark, it's really spooky that you mention this as I think they are predating on small fry in my tank and already have plans in place to remove them from my river tank. I intend to replace them with the much smaller Cherry shrimp instead. I have at least 20 (maybe more) Amano shrimp in the tank at the moment and some are pretty hefty. As you say they are first to grab food and I have seen them closing in on a young fry once before and have it on video somewhere (the fry was ok that time). Our new tank should be with us within the next couple of weeks - it's a foot longer but not so high - so this week will be building the new manifold. When the time comes to transfer sand/decor/plants/fish, the Amano shrimp are being returned to the shop in exchange for some Cherries.

Emma

P.S. Will have a look for that vid.

[Emma Turner]

As promised, the moment of concern is at the beginning of this vid of the very young Sewellia sp. 'spotted' fry:

http://s88.photobucket.com/albums/k183/ ... CN8156.flv

Emma

[Mad Duff]

janma - The bristlie will be coming out when the fish are moved to the bigger tank, I dont think the bristlie will have been the egg snatcher though as it was no where near the pits that the cheni were digging and is always up on the bogwood and with it being so small it womt have been able to dig for the eggs once buried.

Emma - Once I realised that there were no fry it was that video that got me thinking, I think I will either go for the cherry shrimp or even maybe a couple of the Atya or Atyopsis fan shrimp.

[Emma Turner]

Keep an eye out for these beauties then, which are around at the moment: Atya sp. Biak 'green lace' (wild from Sulawesi) :



Emma

[Mad Duff]

very nice, could you please pm me with price on those

[Emma Turner]

Arrrg! Sold out on those last week. But....they come from my favourite supplier of loaches, so more will be ordered over the next couple of weeks. I shall PM you with a price when they come back in.

Emma

[Mad Duff]

Thanks Emma

The shopping list for August gets bigger and bigger

[blued941]

i have apple snails in my large tank and they do eat almost anything so i would remove yr snails if u want some small fry ,my apple snails love eggs and thrive on eating them the little suckers.also shrimps do eat a lot of things too just keep an eye on them and be carefull hope this helps u in some sort of way

[Jim Powers]

Cherry shrimp are a good option for a river tank. I have them breeding like crazy in one of mine along with bumblebee shrimp and another small clear looking species. They seem to know how to deal with the current and must like the high O2.