Topic: Need to get rid of Con fry...

[NightRayne]

I have apprx 100 (guess) ¾ inch fry and can't give them away. The lfs's wont take them as they eithe have too many or it's against policy. To make matters worse, my cons also have a second batch of little swimmers in their pot.

I saw a prev post from Adam concerning JD fry, that if you take the fry out for a week or so and then re-introduce them a few at a time the parents will them look at them as feeders and eat them.

Does anyone think this will work for my cons too?

I don't know what to do with the little guys.  It breaks my heart to see them be feeders but that is the only choice I have.

If anyone wants any and are in my area please let me know. (Oshawa, Ontario - Canada)

Any other suggestions are welcome!

P.S. I am thinking of getting rid of one of my cons in the future to prevent this from happening again.... I'm still looking for a nice pair of texas to get to go in the 55g with the cons (lfs sold out before I could get them) I think that would help control any future fry populations too....

[Dan]

Yes unfortunately,  they are probably gonna be used as feeders.

How big are your Texas's gonna be? Remember, you gotta think of the space thing too with only a 55 gallon.  God luck on whatever you decide.

[Oman420]

you shouldnt need to take them out for a week....as soon as the parents see the older fry as being a threat to the new batch, they will take care of your fry problem fo  you

[NightRayne]

I think the new batch got ate (thankfully).

I have no idea right now about the texas yet, none of the lfs have any. I had a prev thread on here about having them and their should be enough room for both pairs, I'll just have to watch for any bad aggression.

I can't give the fry away as feeders even, none of the lfs will take them, and I don't know anyone that can use them. That's why I'm going to try and use them as feeders for the cons. Getting a new small (20-30g, not sure exactly yet) tomorrow, that I'll set up and move them into in about a week or so. Then after a another week I'll put a few of the fry in with the parents to see if they'll eat them or not.

I hope they do, nothing else to do with them if they don't. (But they are so cute, I hate to see it come to this, oh well.)

[Dan]

Texas get quite huge, that's why I was just wondering, if you had an idea on the size you were getting. Again, Good luck in whatever you end up deciding on.

[butch]

i had the same problem, i ended up giving the parents away and raise the fry for 3 months and gave them to the lfs to sell, after i fed the first batch to my oscar i couldn't do it the second time, i get attach to them after a while, at least this time i gave them a chance to live.

[Dan]

I can see how for some that, that might be a tough thing to do.

[NightRayne]

I know, they are so cute, I've been raising them for about 3-4 months now, but none of the lfs in my area will take them.  So I'm gonna have to use them as feeders. A friend of mine that is living with us for awhile is thinking about getting a clown knife fish for a 20g I just got. I know that that tank won't be big enough for him for too long, but after he starts to grow to big for the 20g he will probably sell him back to the lfs, unless he gets back on his feet (just broke up with gf) and gets himself a bigger tank.

[Dan]

Smart move!  Clownknifes get huge!  Very cool fishes though.  I like them alot!  They eat anything that fits into their mouths!

[tracey]

I hope your friend is well aware of what he's getting himself into with a clown knife.  They are awesome fish, but they are a lot of work to look after.  Very sensitive to water conditions when small and often hard to get to eat.  He better make sure that the lfs will take a larger fish back, I've heard that a lot won't due to the problems in rehoming a fish with the potential to get so large.

[Dan]

It all depends on where you go here in Philly. Your right Tracey.  Most LFS  here won't even take back Oscars, let alone Clown knifes. If your offering it back for free,  I never see why they wouldn't take the chance, if they put it back into a tank by itself.  What harm would it do?  That's just the way things go I guess, LOL :-[

[NightRayne]

Yeah he had one before a few years ago now, but ended up having to get rid of it when he moved, he sold it back to the lfs last time, but I'll tell him to check on that before he gets it to see if they'll still accept it. Big Al's is a good chain here so I'm sure they will.

[JC]

You might be right there Nightrayne. Big Als will take a lot of stuff back. They can always use bigger fish in their display tanks so it's no huge loss to them.

[Dan]

Sounds Cool!  I wish we had one here.  It's hard to sell back fish here other than to 2 LFS

[NightRayne]

Things have changed slighlty  Were gonna move my pair of cons and the fry together to the 20 (which looks alot bigger than you would think) and were getting a black ghost knifefish for the 55g. Big Al's has 2 left for $16.99 cdn and they are only 3-4 inches right now, from what I've read they don't grow too fast. I've seen alot of diff tank size recommendation ranging from 50 - 100g so if he does grow too big for my 55g it probably won't be for almost a year or so at which time I can look into getting maybe a 75g or so, will have to wait and see how big he/she grows.

I can't wait, they look soooo cool!!! 

By the way, the cons seem quite content with the 20g, it will only be them in there by themselves once I use the fry as feeders. They only stuck around  one half of the 55g anyway.