julidochromis fry behavior?

[eitakppurk]

Hey all.

 I've been letting my cyprichromis fry go in my community tank because they are always spawning and I don't have time to raise the fry right now. I saw a bunch of fry in the tank yesterday morning and dismissed them as cyp fry but then I realized they look a lot smaller and instead of swimming around in the open water they were hugging the back wall of the tank (feeding on the algae I'm thinking). I don't think they were cyp fry... the only other mating possibility in the community tank is julidochromis (or rasbora because I have two harlequins in there that act as my "canaries in the coal mine" when I start up a new tank). I thought that julies protected their fry but these fry are just left to fend for themselves. Unfortunately I'm too late, as far as I can tell they've all been eaten, but I was wondering if you could describe how your juli fry behave and how their parents care for them so I can figure out if that is what I had! Otherwise I'm thinking a cyp spit prematurely.

[Ron]

IME, julies care for them initially, but then the fry venture out of the cave and off into the world as they get older. In a species only setup, this isn't so bad because the parents will become aggressive towards the older fry in time if they are raising more and push them off. In the community tank as you've seen, non-julies may eat them. I wouldn't be surprised if you still have a few that have found crevices to hang out in and are there, despite them all appearing gone at this time.

[GrizzlysDad]

IME, julies care for them initially, but then the fry venture out of the cave and off into the world as they get older. In a species only setup, this isn't so bad because the parents will become aggressive towards the older fry in time if they are raising more and push them off. In the community tank as you've seen, non-julies may eat them. I wouldn't be surprised if you still have a few that have found crevices to hang out in and are there, despite them all appearing gone at this time.

x2 in my experiences of breeding Julidochromis for several decades.