C.orentalis offspring. checklist?

[Crysta]

My older two CFBN are breeding, it's a very un-expected reeding as I was under the impression they were still a little too young.

I became aware of this only yesterday when I found a BABY =D around 1cm - 1 1/2 cm long, with big fluffy gills and front legs. - it's the only survivor of that age I found, on closer inspection it turns out there was quite a lot of eggs, I've took most of them out the tank (on their leaves/plants) to keep in another to avoid them being eaten, but left a lot in because otherwise there'd be no-where for my female to lay.

Because I was completely un-prepared for this I'd like some sort of checklist on the go, to make sure I haven't forgotten/am not missing anything to help them on their way. I also wanted to know how people felt about sand substrate, as in the thinnest layer, realising how small they are i'm wondering if even these tiny bits of sand may cause them problems.

+ Separate tank.
+ Daphnia.
+ Close to constant observation.

- please try to bring to my attention anything I've missed.

 

[OZIRIS]

I think a barebottom tank is easier to keep clean for the newtpoles. You can set the new tank with water of the parents tank also, in this way you will avoid problems related to water changes.

Good luck

 

[Crysta]

I was thinking more toward a bare bottom, as i'm going to have to increase the size of the tank they'll be in very soon - as there's just more and more hatching. I always use pre-cycled water (unless there's something wrong with it).

thanks for that, bare bottomed it is! it'll be a plastic one anyway so there will be grip in there.

 

[Ken Worthington]

Hi Crysta, congratulations on the babies :happy:
My orientalis have been 'playing happy families' since about Christmas.
I've never seen any mating behaviour, but my 'pear-shaped' female has been busy laying for a while now.
I love to watch her lay eggs and wrap them up in a leaf ! (I prefer Molch's description of making an egg sandwich with their feet, whilst blindfolded )
When I saw the larvae in the tank, I seperated as many as I could catch, and put them in a bare plastic tank with some water and Elodea from the parents' tank, and added some baby brine shrimp.
I removed any larvae which were not so healthy, and changed the water daily with a mix of (parents') tank-water and bottled spring water.
To be honest, the larvae that remained in the main tank, and those which have been born since, are thriving, and seem to be doing better than those which I seperated
The parents' tank has a bare-bottom (hehe) and is very densly planted with Elodea and Frog-bit. I add Daphnia regularly, and there's all the tiny micro-fauna in the (established) tank.
My plan is to transfer the parents into a new tank (which I should crack-on with) and leave the babies in situ to see how they develop.
I've seen the male eat a couple of eggs before, but I haven't seen the female eat any.....(that doesn't mean she doesn't, of course!)

This is my recent (and very limited) experience with orientalis babies, so I hope it's of some help, Crysta

PS. How is little Moomin these days?