ellnbea 0 Posted June 12, 2006 its day three since my fry hatched and they are more active than day 1 and 2. they swim a bit but then attach themselves to the sides of the tank again and hang vertically. should I wait annother day before feeding them.? Some of them look to have little tiny air bubbles in their tummys does this mean they are ready for food?? 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ranchugirl 17 Posted June 12, 2006 Sounds like it, yes - they are ready for food. Have you already bought something to feed them? There are quite some options out there. Egg yolk boiled, tiny piece smushed and liquified with water ( makes the water rather messy, but it great if you haven't gotten any other food yet). Then there is Liquifry for egg layers, it comes in a little container with a dropper nossle. Freshly hatched brine shrimp, frozen in the freezer section of your fish store, is another option. Or you can hatch the brine shrimp yourself with a container full of eggs, a soda bottle, and salt. 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ellnbea 0 Posted June 12, 2006 yes i am trying to hatch brine shrimp for them. I will also try them with some of the egg yolk and see if they eat that. they are swiming more now. I guess they can eat little microscopic stuff in the tank also. I hope they get big and fat quickly! 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gomby119 0 Posted June 12, 2006 Hi All, We've got some newly hatched fry as well. They just hatched today as a matter of fact. Should we start feeding immediately? We tried a bit of liquified egg, but they don't seem to be interested in food at the moment, although they are so small we can't tell!! One other question, how big a tank do you all keep your fry in? We hatched them in their own 10 gallon, but have moved them to a smaller space for the moment to keep the water pressure on them lower. any ideas? -Alex 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
abby15 0 Posted June 12, 2006 It's my understanding that fry need to start being fed once they are free swimming and not hanging on the side of the tank. At that point in time(usually 3-5 days), they have consumed their egg sacs will be ready for food. 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gomby119 0 Posted June 13, 2006 Good tips... One other question if anyone knows--how about filtration? I saw the bit on Koko's about using a low flow filter, but we're pretty worried about the fry getting sucked up! The other concern is disturbing the water too much. We were thinking of doing manual water changes to keep things calm. Does this seem feasible? 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ranchugirl 17 Posted June 13, 2006 I use something called a sponge filter for the fry - its mostly a biological filter, with a little bit mechanical (gunk gets sucked under the sponge, and you just vacuum it off when the fry gets bigger). All you need to operate that kind of filter is an airpump and airline tubing. Something like that.... http://cgi.ebay.com/Hydro-Sponge-IV-Aquari...1QQcmdZViewItem Most pet stores should carry it, or I got mine online at Bigals. There is no way that any fry can get sucked into, the whole thing is covered in a thick sponge that holds beneficial bacteria to "digest" any waste. The sponge comes in different sizes, depending on how big/small your tank is. You can very easily stick an airstone inside that filter, and you get airation at the same time. I get a control valve with my airpump, and make sure that not more than 2-3 bubbles per second come out of there. After a week or so, you can start increasing the airation. 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ellnbea 0 Posted June 13, 2006 at the moment my fry are in a 20 litre tank and I removed the filter just in case they get stuck in it. I am doing water changes to try and keep everything clean its difficult though cause even with the gravel vacum I have to be so carefull not to siphon any of them up. I will put an undergravel filter in next week perhaps. also not many of the brine shrimp seem to be hatching. Have turned the temp up to see if that makes any difference. the egg yolk is great especially cause it seems to stay suspended in the water for quite a while. Gives the fry a chance to get some. It is very very messy though. 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ranchugirl 17 Posted June 13, 2006 ...also not many of the brine shrimp seem to be hatching. Have turned the temp up to see if that makes any difference. Sometimes you have to play around a little bit, either with the temperature, or the salt dosage they are in. I found that with a little less salt the hatching rate is a bit higher, or you can find eggs with a higher hatching rate. Found some good ones on Aquabid.com, and the latest brand I got is O.S.I., and my local lfs carried it. 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ellnbea 0 Posted June 14, 2006 yes today it seemed a lot more had hatched. I fed them to the fry but didnt see the little guys chase after them or anything, hopefully they will eat them anyway. 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Padda's pal 0 Posted June 17, 2006 so Hows the feeding going ? 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ellnbea 0 Posted June 17, 2006 its going great now. I can see their little bellies are all pink from the brine shrimp so I know they are getting them anyway. I installed an undergravel filter so that should help with keeping everything clean. 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ellnbea 0 Posted June 18, 2006 I lost a few fry today found them this morning dont know why I tested the water for amonia 0 and nitrate 0.25 is this level enough to kill them? well I am just gonna do more water changes and hope I dont lose any more, annother thought I had was maybe it was from lack of food during the night.?? am I gonna have to do fish baby night feeds???? I mean nitrite was 0.25 not nitrate 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
