4 months later, November 8, a second spawning took place. Like in the first one, the male was guarding the eggs. I took the flower pot and put it in a plastic ice cream box, with a hole on it's side fit with sponge, and floated the box in front of the filter's output spraybar in the tank, allowing some water from the filter to pass in the box and back in the tank through the sponge.

The theory was right, but in practice, constant flow did not permit any anti-fungus to stay in, most of the eggs fungused, and the sponge was not fit tight enough, allowing the few hatched larvae to pass through. A full work schedule and the presence of our Aquarist Association in a Pet Trading show did not allow me to take care of the eggs.

Not even a month later, December 5, a third spawn took place. This time, to my surprise, it was the female that was guarding the eggs! I took the flower pot and put it in a 3 litres bucket with tank water, added 20 drops of methylene blue and an airstone. Reports about methylene blue being harmful or not to newly hatched fry being contradictory, I took no risks, and started changing water from the day after. Having in mind Sonia Guinane's warnings about Pe. nourissati fry being very sensitive to nitrates and phosphates, and fearing about chlore in the tap water, I decided to use bottled mineral water - I found a brandt that had the same pH - GH parameters as the tank's water.

Methylene blue did it's job, and fungus on the eggs was minimum. Six days after the spawn, at a temperature of 26°C the eggs hatched.

One day later, the larvae were all over the bucket's bottom. I removed the flower pot.

3/4 water changes with the same bottled mineral water were made every day.

When the fry begun to try to swim upwards, I started feeding with newly hatched Artemia salina. Most of them accepted the nauplii even before their yolk sac disappeared.

A power failure of almost 20 hours brought the temperature to 19°C. I thought I would lose the fry, but they seemed fine, and after a slow rise back to 26°C there were no losses.

20 days after the spawn, the fry were transferred in a 20 litres tank, filled with java moss and Ceratophyllum demersum. The tank was almost emptied and filled with the same bottled mineral water before the transfer.

From that day, I do daily 2 litres water changes, with tap water and a drop of antichlore.

No losses since their transfer, 20 young Paretroplus nourissati are growing nicely.

40 days old, they are fed Artemia nauplii, and start accepting grindal worms and dry powder food.

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