Raising Fry?

[MariO]

I have CPD that are breeding in a ten gallon tank. It is an old established tank with a lot of plants and hiding places. Several times I have noticed fry, sometimes of different sizes, but cannot get them to maturity. There is microfauna in the tank, such as rotifers, etc., and I have used baby brine shrimp, which are too big for the fry. Does anyone have any ideas on what to feed the fry? Are the parents eating them, or are they just starving? The tank also contains one small (2 1/2″)Chromobotia macracanthus and about 8 Amano Shrimp, a couple Otos and a small corydora. Anyone with experience raising these little buggers?

[altaaffe]

I’ve got a separate tank for fry and they are scooped up placed in there now. I have had fry grow out naturally with their parents but their only company were ramshorn snails. As for feeding mine were raised on infusoria then hikari 1st bites until big enough to take crumbled flake.

[celestialdude]

Hikari First Bites is a good idea… it’s a fine powder.

Then Sera Mikropan. Then baby brine shrimp. Good luck!

[SearunSimpson]

I’d say infusoria is a good start. Put a bucket outside with a lettuc leaf in it for a week or so, and then use a pipette to put a couple squirts into the fry tank. Also, Spirulina mixed with water might be a good idea.

[maximumbob]

i used interpet liqifry with good results

[thierry123]

Is it possible to raise the fry on crushed granulate or crushed flakefood? or can I raise them with the egg yolk of a hard boiled egg or something else that doesn`t require a trip to my LFS?
the reason why I ask this is because I just found 3 fry in my tank, but I got my finals going on so I don`t have any time left to go to my LFS.

Thierry

[chrisb]

It depends on the tank environment.
I raise mine without special feeding, but the tank is 180 liters and there are lots of plants, moss and of course live food (infusoria, etc) for the fry in there.
I only feed the adults (with crushed flakes that i some times wet with tiny amounts of liquid vitamins).
So, if the tank is full of microscopic life, you will get very fat and active fry without any special feeding.
Problems with such a scenario might be:
– having only fast growing plants or lack of large amounts of moss
– the filter intake killing the fry
– resent medications or other reason that caused lack of infusoria and other microorganisms.
– small tank
– too much tank cleaning (glass, substrate, algae removal, etc)
– lack of oxygen in the water
– dangerous surface films (e.g. due to lack of surface agitation)
– too much surface current (exhausting the fry which stay and hunt close to the surface)
and probably others

I’d say that just a few fry in a tank with lots of healthy moss, would not need special feeding.

a cheap student microscope would be very helpful to evaluate the biodiversity on your mosses in case of doubt.

I think it is better if the mosses reach close to the surface, with the help of vertical wood, or a moss wall, because the fry stay and hunt close to the surface.

the added advantage with such a raising setup, is that any problematic genes will be naturally screened and this is the only way to hope for a good future of the kind. raising fry with quantity as a priority, can only harm the species.

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