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I have a pair of catfish, which I have been attempting to identify.
I believe they are Dwarf Giraffe catfish.

I was cleaning my tank today, and lifted a big rock to find small squirmy fry underneath, along with one of the parents.

I have female Bettas in this tank, along with 2 plecos, and some corycats.

I want to move the fry to another tank, and I'm not to sure on how to care for the fry.

I don't know if they need to stay with a parent or if they can just be fed and be ok.

I plan to move them into an empty 5 1/2 gallon tank, with some gravel and some plants.

I guess I'm looking for advice or some one who knows how to take care of catfish fry.

Thank-you
Jen

Your catfish looks like <i>Parauchenoglanis guttatus</i> (if scientific names mean anything to you). Congratulations on spawning this fish! AFAIK, this is the first time I've seen anyone report a spawning of this species.
Care to share your secret?

no secret.

I don't know how or when it happened.

I wish I knew.

I went and looked at the pic for the Parauchenoglanis guttatus , and that does look alot like my catfish.

Do you know anything about raising catfish fry?
Is there any general information that can apply to all kinds, or even most kinds?

I guess if one of the parents is guarding the fry, it should be OK to leave them in there for the time being.
Might be a good idea to temporarily remove the other fish, though, just in case the fry end up as a snack.
There are some general principles about raising catfish fry that are pretty much the same, I guess. Why don't you browse the website for breeding articles on other catfishes to get a general idea?

Congrats!
I would leave them with their parents as long as possible, not only because they'll probably defend them against other fish, but also because fry is VERY fragile, and putting them in another tank (with other waterparameters) may kill them all. I speak from experience here....
It seems many Claroteids have parental care!
Just do whatever you did, all along (it worked; hence the fry), but you might think about adding baby brine and microworms to the food mix. You can put those close to the nest, by using a funnel, with a thin airhose attached, just make sure the babybrine is sieved and preferably "washed" with a bit of tankwater, or you'll be salting the tank.
other good catfishfry-foods is chopped-up tubifex, but use this only in tiny bits, as it can pollute the tank.

How big are your giraffe cats, catfish-gurl? P. guttatus reach an adult size of about 25 cm (say 10"). And what size tank are they in?

Like Silurus, I'm not aware of anyone breeding this fish in an aquarium before, so if it is in fact your giraffe cats that have bred, that is quite an achievement. Congratulations!

Dinyar

Congrats! Nice Picture.

ok...here's what I have done today.

I was very unsure about moving the fry away from the parents.

We bought a divider. None of the bettas can get to the fry.

The fry are still under the rock with one of the parents, while the other parent is on the rock.

The divider holes are too small for the fry to get through, but big enough so that the water circulates.

We bought a corner filter, so I have it with them on their side of the tank.

Once they are swimming I will remove them, and put them into the 5 1/2 gallon tank.

I am unsure of how to raise catfish fry, so this should be a learning experience for me.

I am debating about propping the rock up a little, so that I can see what is going on under there.
Any opinions on this?

Things look good though.

Also.......Thank-you Graeme, for the compliment on the pic
Dinyar you asked how big the tank is: currently I have a 20 gallon long tank.
At the time I bought them I was mislead about what they were.

I am working on a bigger home.

Here are some pics of how I currently have my tank set-up.

other pic

If it ain't broke, don't fix it, Jen. You may be the first person in the world to have spawned this fish in an aquarium (in a 20 gal, no less!), so take lots of pictures, maybe even keep a diary.

One of these days you may be telling your grandkids about this!

Dinyar

Dinyar>I'm assuming you mean, not to mess with it.

Maybe just let it go and see what happens?

I will take pictures, and I will record important information.

I might just keep a video journal of it all!

Do you think propping something small under the rock just to see what's going on, might be too much?

Yeah, just leave it alone for another few days. You're probably better off waiting to prop up your rock till the fry are a little bigger.

Maybe you'd be better off moving your bettas and other fish to your 5 1/2 gallon and leaving the fry with the parents in the 20 gallon.

Dinyar

One of the babies has come out from under the rock. It is no more than 1/4 inch long.

It has an egg sack attached to it.

I want to put it back under the rock, but my husband says it might be too much shock, and he's says I should just let it be.

It's moving around.

It is too big to fit through the divider in the middle, so I am very happy about that!

Patience, Jenny, patience.

Whatever you're doing has worked well so far. Just stay the course. Keep the other fish away. Keep up those 50% weekly water changes, but make sure you're addding a dechlorinator with the new water, and temperature, pH, etc. don't fluctuate too much.

Right now the fry still have their yolk sacs, so feeding is not yet a critical issue, but it soon will be. The daphnia you're feeding sounds like a good choice. You could also try live (or frozen) baby brine shrimp.

Dinyar

Your catfish looks like Parauchenoglanis guttatus

How can you tell? To me it looks like Anaspidoglanis macrostoma. catfishgurl1976 can you send bigger picture?..but anyway congratulations

I know I need to be patient, I'm just worried.

The little one made it back in, after all.

I kept an eye on it, off and on, and it made it back in later on last night.

My concern was the other parent is on that side, and I was concerned about him/her eating the little one.

The parent underneath the rock with the fry has bulit up a new wall.
I think he/she found the baby.

I will countinue with the 50% water changes weekly, and keep up the water quality.

I also have baby brine shrimp to feed them.

Should I be worried about feeding the parent under the rock?


Also.....I will see what I can do about some new pictures of the catfish.

Do NOT disturb the nest, in any case (thisincludes hands in the tank; lifting the rock, changing the routine in cleaning etc) because the parents might get stressed and eat their young.
under normal circumstances, fry caring catfish DO NOT EAT......so if you try feeding the parents, just put in a wee bit of food for the one who isn't in the cave.
Feeding the young: only if their yolkis gone, and they are visibly moving, and searching for food. Many nests of healthy young are wasted by food not eaten, because the dead food wastes the water....

Thank-You SG_Eurystomus.

I understand about not changing normal routines.
Now that I know the fry still have their yolk sacks, I do not plan on trying to feed them.

Thank-you for easing my worries about the one not eating.

this link I found looks a lot like the fish you have catfishgurl and it is even called dwarf giraffe catfish (Parauchenoglanis macrostoma or Anaspidoglanis macrostoma)
http://www.planetcatfish.com/jpg/clarot ... stoma1.jpg

Some People had wanted to see a larger picture of my catfish.
This is the best my camara can do.

I believe it is either Anaspidoglanis macrostoma, or Parauchenoglanis guttatus.
I'm leaning more towards Parauchenoglanis guttatus.

Here's More:

Pics of babies (as best as I can get yet)

If I can get a picture of the head from the top, I can tell you for sure whether its <i>Parauchenoglanis</i> or <i>Anaspidoglanis</i>.

Excellent!! what do you feed the babies currently, and are they eating well?
They seem already as big as baby Lophiobagrus (1-1,5 cm); these eat baby brine and all kinds of fine freeze food (only later on, they go for powdered flake as well). They're fully developed too? All fins and whiskers on them, like miniature adults?

Silurus>I'll try for a picture from the top of it's head.

SG_Eurystomus>Currently the babies are eating baby brine shrimp in small amounts, 3 times a day.

They are eating well. They know when it's feeding time.
They are very active! They are all over the tank, and it's so great to watch!

They look just like miniature versions of their parents.

Here's another pic of the little ones.



I think this one is a little better.

I just wanted to let everyone know that the fry is doing great!

They are eating well. They are very active.

They are about an inch long now.

Couple of things here.

Firstly, this is a very significant spawning - we need to document it and get some details online to spur people on to try an replicate this with perhaps or similar fish. Would anyone like to volunteer to get the details of the spawning together and supply it in a word document (or similar) to me for inclusion in Shane's World?

Secondly, is there any way we can get more pics with perhaps a slightly better digital camera?

Great achievement and on of the highlights of the forum to date.

Jools

Congratulations on being a pioneer smart looking catfish too