Occie Fry

[ggburke]

I have three male and three female gold Occies in a 20 gallon long all three females have fry.  I thought the first pair would drive the rest of the fish in the tank to the corner?  Do they often coexist like this?  Should I be worried?  My Melagris, J Orantus and Brevis have also spawned also.  There must be something in the water.  The most  aggressive are the Brevis and they live alone.

[Sean]

Ive always had a pair of occies, never in harems, I noticed that all the females seem to reject the fry after a while and they go to the male. I don't think the fry will last very long, My meleagris seem to kill all the babies no matter how hard the female guards her fry. More of the frys fault, their always curious and venture out too far. I would remove them to another tank.

[Alleycat]

I would remove them to another tank.

I agree, the odds of their survival aren't the best with that many adults in there. Pretty cool that you have 3 females with fry at the same time in the same tank.

[ggburke]

I moved some of the Occies and Melagries to a 15 gallon.  But they don't seem to be doing so well.  It's a lot of water for twenty very small fish.  They are not hiding in shells, are not as active, it's hard to get the food to them.  It's like they learn skill from the parents.