I have a few 3 week old bolivian ram fry – they’ve been free swimming for 8 days now, I removed some of them from the parents in the main community tank. This is the very first spawn!!
Originally, I took about 25 fry out and put them in a 3 gallon fry tank, with the finest layer of light sand, a sponge filter, and a piece of driftwood with lots of java moss tied to it. I’ve been doing at least one 30-40% water change (with de-chlorinated water) per day, using a dropper to collect any debris, and feeding twice per day – I started with Liquifry, and more recently BBS (jeez what a chore THAT is). If I’m able, I increase the frequency of feeding and water changes, but mostly I’m limited to messing around with the tanks twice per day max.
Even so, my 25 fry have diminished to 12. Is this fairly normal, i.e to be expected? Am I doing everything I should? Should I give more variety of food….earlier I tried a powder of crushed algae wafer and cichlid pellet, but they don’t seem to touch it!
Also, I have a query about BBS – when feeding newly hatched BBS, therealways seems to be a little bit of salt water that goes into the fry tank with them……will this do any harm? And, obviously a 10ml dropper injects thousands of BBS into the tank……how long do they live in freshwater if not eaten, and will the uneaten ones cause ammonia to rise?
And, can I keep the hatched BBS going for another 12 hrs or so to feed at the next feeding time? What would I need, just a reasonable sized vessel of salt water?
Thanks for the advice and tips……this is a first attempt, so I’m looking to improve the longevity of the next batch. The fry I left in with the parents are all gone, so they’re preparing for round 2!
Originally, I took about 25 fry out and put them in a 3 gallon fry tank, with the finest layer of light sand, a sponge filter, and a piece of driftwood with lots of java moss tied to it. I’ve been doing at least one 30-40% water change (with de-chlorinated water) per day, using a dropper to collect any debris, and feeding twice per day – I started with Liquifry, and more recently BBS (jeez what a chore THAT is). If I’m able, I increase the frequency of feeding and water changes, but mostly I’m limited to messing around with the tanks twice per day max.
Even so, my 25 fry have diminished to 12. Is this fairly normal, i.e to be expected? Am I doing everything I should? Should I give more variety of food….earlier I tried a powder of crushed algae wafer and cichlid pellet, but they don’t seem to touch it!
Also, I have a query about BBS – when feeding newly hatched BBS, therealways seems to be a little bit of salt water that goes into the fry tank with them……will this do any harm? And, obviously a 10ml dropper injects thousands of BBS into the tank……how long do they live in freshwater if not eaten, and will the uneaten ones cause ammonia to rise?
And, can I keep the hatched BBS going for another 12 hrs or so to feed at the next feeding time? What would I need, just a reasonable sized vessel of salt water?
Thanks for the advice and tips……this is a first attempt, so I’m looking to improve the longevity of the next batch. The fry I left in with the parents are all gone, so they’re preparing for round 2!
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