What a suprise!

[ken]

So I was walking past my c.o. tank the other day thinking that I really need to clean the front glass when I caught a glimpse of some movement along the bottom of the tank.

Upon closer inspection I have a very cute 1/2" baby c.o. hopping about in there! He's so cute. I may have more that I don't know of but there's so many hiding places in the tank I have no idea.

I have a plant in the tank that I call the newt tree because all three of my females are always in it, either laying eggs or eating eggs. I noticed recently that there wasn't too many eggs in the tree so I assumed that they ate them all. Apparently I was wrong.

The little guy spends most of his time hiding in java moss, under the mulm or stuck between rocks. He has all four legs, feathery gills, and moves about with a hopping motion.

My tank water is a bit deeper than a foot deep right now, and my terrain has varying levels that raise from the bottom right up to the top, with an underwater island about 3 inches from the surface and plants that break the surface.

Will he be able to reach the surface once he absorbs his gills or should I remove him? I'd really rather leave him in the main tank as it's quite a healthy tank other than needing a glass cleaning, but I don't really want to disturb them too much with the little guy in there.

 

[jennifer]

He'll find the surface, no problem. If you want him to bulk up enough to be a big healthy morph, it may help to keep live blackworms in the tank, or separate him.

 

[pamela]

Hi Ken,

That is a nice surprise, and yes, they are CUTE! There very well could be another one, two, or....

 

[ken]

As a matter of fact, I've discovered six thus far! More keep popping up all the time!

 

[joseph]

Wow great to hear! Good luck with them! C. o larvae are tons of fun.

 

[joeri]

Ken, sounds like they are several weeks old already if they have 4 legs. Good luck with them. I'd separate them, just to be sure they won't be eaten. And then you can monitor them easier.

 

[sharon]

Thats so funny!!! Congratulations on your 6 bundles of joy! Got any pics?

 

[kelly]

congrats on that! Your icon scares me though....

 

[ken]

The baby count is now up to 8 that I've been able to see at one time. There's lots of hiding spaces and java moss in my tank, so I doubt that I've seen them all yet.

There seems to be quite a difference in age between some of them as they range from very tiny to about an inch long.

I'd like to separate them, but I'm worried about injuring the gill structure, it looks so fragile! Also, they're incredibly fast when they want to be. I saw one of my adults hunting a small baby last night and man can they move when they want to! The adult had no chance whatsoever to catch it.

I tried to take some pictures last night, but they're so tiny that my cheap digital camera has a tough time focusing on them instead of the rocks and such in the tank.

Thanks for all the congrats, I think maybe we should be congratulating Grievy the proud papa! He's apparently enough man to keep three women happy

Kelly, sorry that my icon scares you, imagine how my fiancee feels waking up next to that face every morning

 

[pamela]

Yo, Cossitt!

Just (notice how casual that word is), use a fish net for catching the little ones. Of course you'll be careful, you're already worried about their gills! You can try using a herding device such as a long spoon or somethin'.

Let me know how long it took ya (to round the critters up)!!!!?????

Good luck,

 

[joan]

I use a brine shrimp net. It's a lot softer than a fish net, and it's smaller.

 

[joseph]

You could use a cup or something similar and herd the larvae into it.

 

[sharon]

I was going to suggest a brine shrimp net also.. lol use one of GFs stockings... go ahead ... cut it up... rotfl

Sharon