# Nothobranchius rachovii fry.



## Ian61 (23 Jun 2022)

Hello all. As a child I had a tropical fish picture book which featured these stunning fish. Well, approx 50y later I have approx 40 fry having purchased some eggs off eBay. I’m hoping to accommodate several adults in my 120cm planted tank.
The fry are smaller than I’d been led to believe and far too small for brine shrimp. Fortunately I’d some rotifer cultures on standby. I reckon it will be the best part of a week before they’re as large as newly born guppies. Updates to follow.     Best wishes, Ian.


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## jasonjleach (23 Jun 2022)

nice


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## Ian61 (24 Jun 2022)

*Here’s a close up of 2 day old fry with a cyclops or two for size reference

*


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## Ian61 (26 Jun 2022)

Day 5 and have now happily reached the brine shrimp stage. The rotifer cultures have largely been overrun by cyclops anyway.


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## The Miniaturist (26 Jun 2022)

They look great & well fed! How long will you have to wait before they begin to resemble the adult fish with their beautiful colouring?


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## Ian61 (26 Jun 2022)

Apparently they start to colour up at about 6 weeks. Development seems to be turbocharged given their short lifespan.


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## Ian61 (12 Jul 2022)

Now 3 weeks old and averaging about 10mm. Voraciously feeding on brine shrimp


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## Ian61 (18 Jul 2022)

4 weeks old tomorrow. Very impressive growth and now just starting to colour up and also sparring.


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## Ian61 (20 Jul 2022)

Ian61 said:


> Apparently they start to colour up at about 6 weeks. Development seems to be turbocharged given their short lifespan.


Make that 4 weeks. Changes apparent on a daily basis


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## Ian61 (26 Jul 2022)

Moved four largest males out of growing tank to big community tank. 

Seem to have settled well


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## Ian61 (7 Aug 2022)

Near 7 weeks old and in their prime. Really impressed how they have settled into the community tank. Always visible and not too aggressive. 2 females in with 7 males but they don’t seem to be too harassed. Have 3 other females conditioning in a separate tank with a view to spawning and completing the cycle. If you enjoy your fish keeping in a ‘high octane’ style then these may be the fish for you.


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## Ian61 (16 Aug 2022)

8 weeks after hatching and the turbocharged lifecycle is complete. One male has been in a separate tank with 3 conditioned females and an ice cream tub containing coco fibre. After 4 days abundant eggs are clearly visible . The coco fibre has now been put into storage with hatching due around Christmas.


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## The Miniaturist (16 Aug 2022)

The whole cycle of life in two months, it's amazing!


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## Noakesl93 (28 Aug 2022)

I've just hatched my first few fry. How long does the belly slider phase last? Wondering if I've got swim bladder issues or just apart of the process.


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## Ian61 (1 Sep 2022)

Noakesl93 said:


> I've just hatched my first few fry. How long does the belly slider phase last? Wondering if I've got swim bladder issues or just apart of the process.


Hello. Sorry for the delay, just seen this. My rachovii fry were swimming freely within the first 24hrs with one or two belly sliders out of 40 or so fry. As they developed more did succumb to belly sliding, even apparently healthy fish, over several weeks. A few also never seemed to grow despite abundant food and very rapid growth in their siblings. In all 12 fish reached maturity in very good condition. 
In contrast I hatched out some Fundulopanchax nigerianus eggs and from the 11 fry that hatched 10 have reached early adulthood in fine fettle with no belly sliders. They, in my limited experience, seem much more robust as fry. I’m pretty convinced that I couldn’t have done much more to increase my success rate above 12 adults from 40 or so rachovii fry.

best wishes and good luck . Ian


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