blackfoot clarkii eggs

[mary]

Anyone in the southern Mass. area want to raise some Clarkiis? I do not have the facilities to raise blackfoot, one turned to yellow and black, the other kept its blackfeet, {fins}but have just discovered a mass of beautiful pink eggs on the rock next to their finger coral. They are hovering and caring for them now but in several days when they hatch, they will be food for all my other inhabitants including the parents. Also the larvei are extremely hardy eaters and must have specialized food constantly.
This is why I shouldn't have bought a pair. They have been together for 5 years now and this. Now it is heartbreaking to know the eggs will hatch and be eaten. My LFS does not have the proper set up or they would take them. Never epected them to breed in a community 90 gal..

 

[viper_930]

It is ok for the fry to be eaten. In the wild only a few fry live up to adulthood from each spawn.

 

[mary]

Well, you are correct :yes: However there is that conscience that makes me feel that somehow I should still have prepared and had a tank set up for such surprises. Have to look at it as fresh live food for all the fish including the clowns. To think that I didn't realize their increased anxiety level for what it indicated. Thought it was something wrong with the wate perameters etc.. So strange that they protect the eggs before hand and then eat them when hatched.

 

[fish4eva]

I know how you feel. My fish had babies and only 2 are alive. I wonder if you can move the eggs into a baby saver. I did that. But that was in fresh water. I was up looking at my fish at 2:00 in the morning and they where live birth. That day I bought the food for the babies and a baby saver. I didn't know that they where going to have babies. I only have 2 left. I think some kind of chemical got into my tank because a whole bunch of my fish dead.I've cleaned it 2 times. This just happend 1 week ago. I have a air pump going. I had my water checked, it's perfect. I just don't know what to do...

 

[mary]

What kind of fresh water fry did your fish have? I used to have cichlids and loved their parenting. Easy with them. They take care of their broods. Even sold them when they became large enough. Clown fry are larvea. So tiny they must be fed foodstuffs smaller than the eye can see and live. Our aquarium has rotifers and such in the system but enough to feed one or two babies in a day. They eat enormous amounts of food, yet develop very slowly. I have to look at is as fresh food for all the community as well as the parents who now are caring for them aggressively, yet when hatched will devour them. One could possibly survive but it is unlikely in a 90 gal. tank. I do have a notice on the LFS web forum to anyone interested in raising them. What chemical did you use that caused the demise of your fish?