Topic: is it safe to do a water change with eggs in the tank???

[convict artist]

this apears to be eggs, but i cant tell if there white or yellow/brown because of the color of the pot. but what i really need to know is: is it safe to do a water change with eggs in the tank or will i piss off the mother? and also if they hatch and eventually start swimming around can i change the water then too? or will i end up sucking up the babies? i have put a piece of screening around the filter intake so they wont get suck in there, and if they do maybe mom will come to the rescue. i know there are a few people with answers!

[Ezekial]

I'm no expert in this area but i'd say it's safe for the eggs but it will tick mom and dad off.  I'd expect them to attack the tube.  You might just want to do a water change or just vacuum on the opposite side of the tank from the eggs. 

[Gerry]

I would still do a water change, Just don't get to close to mum and you should be fine.

[JC]

You might want to wear gloves if you're gonna stick your hands in there. My male con once got a good hold of the folds on the knuckles and ripped off a chunk. Wasn't particularly pleasant and I screamed like a little girl (It really startled me-I hadn't realized there were eggs in there yet).

[convict artist]

REALLY!!! what a bugger! i new they were aggresive but didnt think they would actually do that! mine are only 2.5"s but still i'll be careful, i did notice when i go up to the tank they flare there gills at me. thanx for the tip 

[JC]

Hehe I think in that instance mine just got lucky and happened to catch a susceptible spot, but I never gave it the chance to do it again

[Luke]

if you are worried about sucking up fry when they hatch you could put some mesh around the syphon tube like you did on the filter.

[fnesr]

i usually just syphon from near the top of the tank and skip vacuming whilst the fry is still very small. if you don't overfeed the parents you should be ok to go awhile without actually vacuming, until you can be confident they are large enough to not be accidently sucked up.

[convict artist]

ok thanx, but can anyone tell me the best food that i can feed my cons because im goin to the lfs tomorrow and want to pick up some fish food, they dont seem to want to eat much of the stuff im givin them (sinking shrimp pellets) and i dont want them to turn into bottom feeders! thought i might pick up some frozen stuff too, any suggestions???

[packer43064]

I got little baby fry moving around in the tank. I have done a water change while they were eggs just do it on the other side the eggs are. Also I have done a water change with the fry, just do it on the other side too.

I've heard that some people use that stuff that is like a liquid and it will float to the bottom and they will eat at it.  It's something for bettas, but I think you could use it for them.

I got a question about feeding them too. Ok there's like algae growing on some of my fake plants, can the fyr eat that. They are already on the fake plants and is eating it i think but would it be ok for the fry to eat that. I still crush flakes up but the fry seem to like the algae.

[JC]

Well, it won't hurt them if they do eat it, but it shoudlnt' be considered their main staple food no

[fnesr]

I've heard that some people use that stuff that is like a liquid and it will float to the bottom and they will eat at it. It's something for bettas, but I think you could use it for them.

i haven't seen one for bettas but there is a liquid fry food available specifically for egg laying cichlids (produced by wardley).

[JBa3fan]

okay here we go .........last saturday night I noticed my two young  convicts acting  kinda strange ( past experianceI knew what was up)......  granted I have  just took my old  55 gal tank out of storage in March  ......cycled it for  about 6 weeks . put some fish in ... some didn't make it  but  my female  convic  did........ not her mate ....   early  in May I bought a  new 90 gal tank and  moved all the water and  some new gravle along with the old  stuff from the  55 gal and recycled the   55 gal  again  ( with sand this time) ....  but I am getting off topic  ... so now  mid May I got two new male  and one female  lfs  cons .......  rigtht away  one of the new set  pared off they went  throuh the motions ....but seeing  that these guys are barley pushing an inch in size  didn't pay much attention to em .......... so after a week of courting   thy spent a week hiding in the top corner of the tank .... she passed away  :-[........  that  brings me to  2 weeks ago...  where  the  newest  male  decided  to hook up with the  origanal  female ...... they spent  most of the end of  their first week  cleaning a nest of gravle . in the corner  near to my intake of my  enhime 2236 and whisper 40 and laid eggs  last saturday  while  we were gone  .......... my nitrates   are really high so i have been sticking to a  good  once a week  25-30% wc ....  so  last week I checked web sites  to see about THIS same  post   about  water changes ...........  this is funny .. I  didn't see anything  about it .. so   sunday I went ahead and did a   water change ..... figuring   I don't really wan't to deal with     babys yet  . checked my  water  again monday did another  water change tuesday ........ tuesday befor  we went to bed ...... the eggs were gone .....  but the parents  were still gaurding  the  area  good    ......... Thursday I did another  wc .....  my nitrates are still  high (above 80 parts) and  the new parents are still owning  40-50% of the right side of this  90 gal tank ......... the other fishys  are   not trying to  get near . soo ...........   this saturday we came back from   yard sales and  what do I see ......... about  50- 75 little bayb fishys  swiming arround in the corner        ( not too bad for  some 4-5 ?  month old fishy's)

I am pretty  sure  this   mommy con  went throught the    back end of  two cycled  tanks  the daddy  (who is  about 3/4 the size of the  female) probably  cought the tail end of  the  seccond cycling  of  the new  90 gal tank

but anyways  today I did another  water change  .... the biggest problem seems to be to  the other tankmates .....  my Midas (4 1/2 inches) ...  Firemouth ( 3 inches)  pair of  Green Terrors ( 2 1/2 inch)  a  Jack Dempsey ( 2 1/2 inches) and a Plecko  ( 6 inches) ......... when they would  move away from the   vacume  tube  they would wander into the  cons   corner  with the  fry ...........   the 2  smaller  fish  had  six shooters  with them and as hard as it is to belive  them two small  cons   know how to  tag team ...

[Gerry]

 
 
but anyways  today I did another  water change  .... the biggest problem seems to be to  the other tankmates .....  my Midas (4 1/2 inches) ...  Firemouth ( 3 inches)  pair of  Green Terrors ( 2 1/2 inch)  a  Jack Dempsey ( 2 1/2 inches) and a Plecko  ( 6 inches) ......... when they would  move away from the   vacume  tube  they would wander into the  cons   corner  with the  fry ...........   the 2  smaller  fish  had  six shooters  with them and as hard as it is to belive  them two small  cons   know how to  tag team ... 

 
Your going to have problems when this lot get bigger, as you are overstocked and have some very territorial fish there.

[JBa3fan]

yes I know  that ..... plans are for a nice  plywood  tank in my  spare bedroom into the  livingroom wall .  but also I  think i have that  in my profile that i am over stocked with my  2 tanks  but can't seem to be able to  make it show  . even with a picture  of my tanks   undre  my screename