Channa Fireback! plz Help! think they have become a pair

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C

CyroXz

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 4, 2012
39
17
8
Sweden
Two of my eight Firebacks i think have become a pair.
Are they mouth breeders?

Cous two of my bigger ones have been with each other for like 6 weeks. Havent seen them dancing.

But i think the smaller one of them that doesnt even come down from plants to eat have something in the mouth?
You guys think it is time for me to remove the other six of the firebacks from the tank?

Becouse the big one of the two always protecting the otherone that just lays up in the plants.
the biggest one that sometimes goes to the other side of the tanks and attack the others. Nothing serious tho.

I will share some pictures

Greetings // Peter

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They are both around 17-22cm long.

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Congrats! Certainly sounds like breeding !

The male will mouth brood, female typical is the bigger one who drives off the others . By the looks/sounds of it you had enough room that a pair formed and bred without killing the others. I would however remove them ASAP. At first the male will likly mouth brood a bit longer to protect the fry , keeping him out of the fights while the mother drives them away from the "nest" .

This will likly escalate significantly when the fry get too large to mouth brood/start venturing out of the nest . I doubt the others will survive if left much longer .
 
-DC- said:
Congrats! Certainly sounds like breeding !

The male will mouth brood, female typical is the bigger one who drives off the others . By the looks/sounds of it you had enough room that a pair formed and bred without killing the others. I would however remove them ASAP. At first the male will likly mouth brood a bit longer to protect the fry , keeping him out of the fights while the mother drives them away from the "nest" .

This will likly escalate significantly when the fry get too large to mouth brood/start venturing out of the nest . I doubt the others will survive if left much longer .
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Thanks Btw ;-) The Female is Always guarding the tank and sneaks up on the other firebacks
and bite their fins. Nothing serious jet. Will remove them tonight.
He havent eaten for 3-4 Days. For how long do they Keep the kids in the mouth?

Should i leave one of the others or remove all of them?
 
It's hard to say exactly how long he will hold them . They develop quickly but he may hold on longer to protect them from the tank mates. Mouth brooding stretches well beyond just hatching the eggs, fry may come and go from his mouth at first even after they are all released he will even gather fry back up if he feels they are in danger.

Don't worry about him not eating, I only feed my adult channa every 3-4 days, they can go weeks without food with no ill effect. Even after he releases them he'll Likely be too preoccupied with fry to pay much attention to food.

I would highly recommend removing all but the pair. As the fry grow (which happens remarkably fast) and start to explore the tank the aggression from the parents will rise . the extras will almost certainly get killed.

Aggression gets go bad that it's not unusual to have fights break between parents over defending fry , if that occurs I recommend a divider rather then separation , something that allows the parents to see and sense each other but not be to fight other then to flare at each other.

If you separate the pair into different tanks there is a good chance they won't except each other as a pair when you reintroduce them and may even flat out attack each other after being alone for even a relatively short time.

Also if it come to using a divider I recommend you choose something that allows fry to easily swim back and forth . Most mouth brooders are also egg feeders and in several other species it's been recorded that fry removed from parents who can't egg feed have a MUCH lower survival rate. I find white plastic egg crate like used in fluorescent office lights works well.

Hope that helps.
 
-DC- said:
It's hard to say exactly how long he will hold them . They develop quickly but he may hold on longer to protect them from the tank mates. Mouth brooding stretches well beyond just hatching the eggs, fry may come and go from his mouth at first even after they are all released he will even gather fry back up if he feels they are in danger.

Don't worry about him not eating, I only feed my adult channa every 3-4 days, they can go weeks without food with no ill effect. Even after he releases them he'll Likely be too preoccupied with fry to pay much attention to food.

I would highly recommend removing all but the pair. As the fry grow (which happens remarkably fast) and start to explore the tank the aggression from the parents will rise . the extras will almost certainly get killed.

Aggression gets go bad that it's not unusual to have fights break between parents over defending fry , if that occurs I recommend a divider rather then separation , something that allows the parents to see and sense each other but not be to fight other then to flare at each other.

If you separate the pair into different tanks there is a good chance they won't except each other as a pair when you reintroduce them and may even flat out attack each other after being alone for even a relatively short time.

Also if it come to using a divider I recommend you choose something that allows fry to easily swim back and forth . Most mouth brooders are also egg feeders and in several other species it's been recorded that fry removed from parents who can't egg feed have a MUCH lower survival rate. I find white plastic egg crate like used in fluorescent office lights works well.

Hope that helps.
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Thx DC
i have to Day removed the others from the tank. Now there is only the pair in the 450 liter tank :-)

It took me 2 hours to catch them tho xD
will add more pictures tomorrow
 
Lol ya channa ar'nt easy to catch especially in a well decorated tank. I usually bait them up with food but that only works on the first couple then the rest catch on and the real hunt begins lol.

Good of luck with the pair , keep us updated!
 
-DC- said:
Lol ya channa ar'nt easy to catch especially in a well decorated tank. I usually bait them up with food but that only works on the first couple then the rest catch on and the real hunt begins lol.

Good of luck with the pair , keep us updated!
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I Will m8!
;-)
 
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