Teamsherman Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 Gday, I have a problem with getting my fry to survive. I have a pair of convicts and a pair of rainbow cichlids (Herotilapia multisinosa), (i know these fish might not be anything special to some people, but for me they are so please put aside your love/hate for the fish and help me out) and over the past few months i the fish have bred quite steadily, but, not one fry out of 3 batches each have survived. I have tried leaving them with the parents for longer amounts of time each batch but they still seem to die all the time. They get to about a cm, free swimming and seem to be able to forage for food themselves but once they get to this size (both breeds) they seem to drop like fly's. Is there anything i can do to keep them alive, as i would like to have some successful batches at some stage. Both pairs have only bred 3 times, will they need to go through a few unsuccessful batches before success? I have tried everything from water changes to different foods (liquidfry, crushed flake, ground pellets). I have tried to put them in a fry grow out tank, and still they die. The water is good each time they breed, but they never seem to make it past the cm mark. Help me please as i am out of ideas and solutions. Cheers, or should i say tears.... Alan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 teamsherman do they all die at once or does it happen over time? I have never had trouble raising fry once they get to that size. If they eating well and and the waters right I dont know what it could be. Goodluck Josh and Evelyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mbuna Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 are you finding the bodies or are they just dissapearing? if they are just dissapearing, the parents may be eating them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamsherman Posted March 18, 2004 Author Share Posted March 18, 2004 The convict fry all die over the span of a day or two, i have seen the parents taking care of the fry. The covict parents only eat the dead fry as a sort of clean up. But the rainbow fry seemed to die over a few days and then one day, about 20 were still alive but by the afternoon they had all dissapeared. I have tried to use the white net fry savers but the fish dont seem very happy in there and it looks like it doesnt get enough oxygenated water pass through the netting so all the fry swim/float to the surface. I dont know, maybe i should just keep trying but get a new fry saver, one that can have water flow through a bit more freely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViS Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 Make yourself up a large ice cream bucket fry saver and add an airstone to it. If the fry still die in there, then you'll have to look at water conditions / quality or food type. What are you feeding them as fry and once they hit 1cm? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamsherman Posted March 18, 2004 Author Share Posted March 18, 2004 Once they hit the 1cm mark i am giving them crushed up cichlid flake, and powdered up cichlid pellets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anita_ozfish Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 Hi Alan, In my opinion mate, they are starving to death. I have found that they need heaps and heaps of food when they get to the free swimming stage and 3 times a day as well. I killed several batches of festae when they got to that stage and couldn't work out why till someone said that to me and ..... hey presto !! ..... it worked - I actually raised the little buggers Try micro worms and grindle worms as well - live food seems to increase their growth rate hugely at that stage. Hope this helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ducksta Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 I agree with Anita. Small egglayer fry need NO MUCH food its ridiculous. I mean, I can have a mouthful of Africans a day after release and forget to feed them for a day and they are fine and still fat. Young substrate brooders need to be fed a good meal every 3-4 hours IMHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamsherman Posted March 18, 2004 Author Share Posted March 18, 2004 Sounds like a plan, but, i work during the day and wont be able to feed them 3 times a day so can i feed them a shedload in the morning and a shedload at night when i get home? or should i feed them before i leave for work, when i get home, and before i go to bed? Cheers, Alan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willy Wombat Posted March 19, 2004 Share Posted March 19, 2004 The fry will live on egg sack and other microfauna in a tank for a period of time before they start to need bigger food. As they are still small (1cm) - its best to move them into a separate fry tank ASAP with a simple air-driven sponge filter, and no substrate and have baby brine shrimp in the water with them. That way they can eat all day, and you just top up the brine shrimp in the evening/morning. Then slowly wean them onto crushed flake, etc feeding them heavily in the morning and night. You can set up a fry tank for under $50 quite easily. One other thing - you must make sure your filter is fully cycled before adding fry to a fry tank. Otherwise you will run into big problems due to uneaten food. Hope that helps mate WW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamsherman Posted March 19, 2004 Author Share Posted March 19, 2004 Willy wombat-- do you mean dead baby brine shrimp? cause i havent hatched these guys before live and i really dont want to, cause it seems like a really big hassle. cheers, Alan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willy Wombat Posted March 19, 2004 Share Posted March 19, 2004 No - i was refering to live baby brine. These guys wont fould your water too much. I am not sure if you can even buy frozen baby brine? Anyone? Its not that hard - but i guess it is a bit of a hasdle. Perhaps you could try some micro or vinegar worms? WW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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