March 4th
I couldn’t resist!: As it is my first fry, I decided to avoid the risk of the adults eating their own offspring.
So today I controlled the film canister again to see how far the fry would be: Several pigmented larvae “jumping” around on the canister’s bottom forming the back wall of the cave in the light of my headlamp.
So I put a small (about 250 ml) plastic container into the tank – and very slowly emptied the cave with both male and larvae into the container. Luckily, the male was to upset to go after it’s fry so I could catch him out without additional urgency.
A first look into the container showed about 20 larvae searching for a place to hide – which I no added in form of some beech leaves, two elder cones and a halved film canister.
As the larvae already swam freely, I also gave some micro worms and a very small pinch of Sera micron into the container that now floated in the parent’s tank.
Since then, I twice a day change about 50% of the water by skimming it out of the canister with a small can and refilling it with water from the parent’s tank. Here, sometimes some larvae get sucked into the can, too, so that I have to empty the can into the canister again: The whole procedure needs some patience. – In addition, after each water change I again stir small amounts of micro worms and Sera micron into the water.
UPDATE March 13th
As far as I can see during the water changes (in the mornig and in the evening), no losses yet. So I guess the larvae find something to feed – although I haven’t observed hunting or eating so far. – Also, the small fish start to really swim around instead of “jumping” from wall to wall – making the water change even more a puzzle…