mermaid Posted March 19, 2004 Share Posted March 19, 2004 I hope this is in the right part of the forum Anyway I was thinking of introducing some live food to my Kribensis fry's diet. At the moment they eat crushed up flake (2 varieties) and they also seem to suck a lot on the algae growing on the side of their tank (I left it there for that reason). Any suggestions for live food? I want it to be easy as I work during the week. Also not expensive either! heh Also the fry are only tiny - about 2-3mm. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah Posted March 19, 2004 Share Posted March 19, 2004 how about some microworms, or brine shrimp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mermaid Posted March 20, 2004 Author Share Posted March 20, 2004 Does anyone have any info on raising microworms and/or brine shrimp?? Maybe a url for a webpage that explains how to raise them etc. Also, where would I get them? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Posted March 20, 2004 Share Posted March 20, 2004 Hi mermaid, I havent read these pages but they all contain info on microworms microworms microworms microworms microworms I can buy them through my LFS but not all stores are to bothered by having to order them.Tthe easiest way to get them is through a breeder or from someone on this site. HTH Josh and Evelyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah Posted March 20, 2004 Share Posted March 20, 2004 Mermaid you can sometimes pick up a microworm culture at a mini auction as for brine shrimp have seen it for sale at various lfs, if you have trouble getting either you can buy liquid food in a tube as your fry are so tiny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YeW Posted March 20, 2004 Share Posted March 20, 2004 Microworms are definately the easiest. There is info on the SCP FoodFAQ. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fiona Posted March 20, 2004 Share Posted March 20, 2004 Mermaid I have microworms and can let you have some. I am going up to Richmond tomorrow arvo to see my horses and pay some agistment so can bring some with me if you like. Contact me if you are interested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
novafishy Posted March 20, 2004 Share Posted March 20, 2004 hi mermaid, i currently have kribensis babies about 1 cm now..i continue to feed them baby brine shrimp. they absolutely adore it! i find that they grow really fast on the bbs (baby brine shrimp) i suggest u hatch some bbs. your tiny kribs will love you for it!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fiona Posted March 21, 2004 Share Posted March 21, 2004 I forgot to mention ... only put a little dab of microworms in at a time because there aren't that many babies and they don't eat heaps ... a small dab contains lots of worms. If you give too many and they don't get eaten and die you can have an ammonia spike which isn't great! You will soon figure out how many is good. Try to leave as much of the worm growing medium behind as you can, not collecting it with the worms, as it can be pretty potent with all that yeast and so on. The higher they climb up the sides of the container, the less of that medium they will drag with them. Since your babies are mobile I would give a little swirl as they go in to spread them around the tank. When babies are smaller and not very mobile I mix the dab with tank water, suck some into an eyedropper, and give a gentle squirt of the worms to where the babies are. I also do that with the ground up flake or pellets (I use a mortar and pestle to grind them up really fine). Yours are pretty mobile so if you give a swirl they should be right. Best to give the worms in the morning because the worms live for some hours in the tank and the babies can graze on them during the day. Then give them the crushed up flake in the evening. I reckon you will notice the difference in the growth rate! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mermaid Posted March 22, 2004 Author Share Posted March 22, 2004 Hey fiona - the little worms are going great, hundreds of them crawling up the sides! I managed to catch all of the krib fry (I think!) and I put them in a plastic mesh colander in the 2ft tank so they still get a heater and filter, but I'm able to feed them easier because they're all together I hope they survive! *fingers crossed* I'll do a double-check to see if theres anymore fry left in the tank (they hid under the gravel!) and if there isn't, I'll put my convict in there so she has a heater. Normally she's a shy little thing, but since you left she's been out and about all the time! I think she thinks she's top stuff because someone came and looked at her lol She's not shy at all now, rarely goes in her cave, and spends most of the day begging for food (or throwing gravel if we don't give in to her demands!). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fiona Posted March 22, 2004 Share Posted March 22, 2004 Wow, catching those tiny bubs - I'm impressed. Are they in the 2ft that their parents are in? With the container you have them in, you need to make sure of a few things: that there is enough water flow so there isn't any build up of waste, that they can't get through or stuck in the holes, and that fish outside can't suck them through and take them as tasty snacks - it's happened to me, mostly with the fabric mesh fry savers, that I don't use any more. That convict sounds like a real character! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mermaid Posted March 22, 2004 Author Share Posted March 22, 2004 It took me nearly 2hrs to catch them little buggers! Yeah I'll move it closer to the filter bubbles so they get a good flow-through of water. I don't think they'll be able to get out or get sucked out.. I hope not! I searched everywhere for those darn fry savers but couldn't find them, so I bought a $2 colander from the reject shop Ooh and I was at richmond petshop today, and found at that the fish I was looking at were lombardoi. But the girl told me saulosi are better looking and better tempered so I'd be better off sticking with the saulosi Plus they had an older lombardoi male there who was really aggressive and he was starting to lose his stripes.. not very attractive at all! I'm so excited about the saulosi! We priced brand new tanks today, $150 for a 4ft tank (just the glass) and $120 for the stand (at the expensive petshop) so I know I'll be able to get them either brand new somewhere cheaper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fiona Posted March 22, 2004 Share Posted March 22, 2004 Lombardoi *are* nice looking fish! Boys become an all over yellow while the females stay stripey blue. With saulosi it's the opposite, they all start yellow and the males become stripey blue. You will like the saulosi. They also stay smaller than lombardoi so you can have more of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
novafishy Posted March 22, 2004 Share Posted March 22, 2004 mermaid - u can siphon the krib fry out using a small hose. that's what i did with mine today and it only took 5 minutes. just make sure the bucket the hose is going to is below tank level. (i'm sure uknew that! ) then transfer them to the colander. u can get brand new standard 4ft tanks for under $100. $150 is way too expensive. PM me if u need a place to get some brand new cheap tanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gutty Posted March 23, 2004 Share Posted March 23, 2004 When syphoning just be sure that the exit end of the hose is underwater when the fish start getting sucked through. You know what it's like hitting water from a hieght............smack !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mermaid Posted March 23, 2004 Author Share Posted March 23, 2004 Well I found 2 more fry left in the tank this morning, amazing they survived - I forgot to turn the heater back on in that tank! I moved them over to the colander with the rest and they seem to be doing okay. Okay this is the main reason for posting today: THE MICROWORMS ARE ESCAPING!! It's gross! The big ones with the black heads (or butts.. dunno which end it is) keep crawling up the side, around the rim and slip under the lid. I checked on the takeaway food container today and I had miroworms crawling everywhere! It's sitting on the water heater and there was about 10 worms crawling around on the top of that, and some had crawled over the other container! I picked them all up and put them in my fish tanks but the fish just stare them like I put some kind of alien in their tank What am I doing wrong? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anchar Posted March 23, 2004 Share Posted March 23, 2004 Hmmmmmmmm Mermaid....I think you are talking about maggots which have infiltrated your microworm container . Microworms dont have a black end and you surely can't see individual ones crawling around the rim...unless you have been drinking something that Willow has made merjo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ducksta Posted March 23, 2004 Share Posted March 23, 2004 EWWWWW MAGGOTS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mermaid Posted March 23, 2004 Author Share Posted March 23, 2004 OMG YUCK! They were there the next day though How would they get in there if I didn't open the lid til the next day? Which was when I seen them. I thought they may have been bigger microworms or something.. but ewwww maggots! I'm gonna try and just get some of the microworms out to start a new culture then throw the rest out *gags* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Memphis Tank Posted March 23, 2004 Share Posted March 23, 2004 Dont be too hasty throwing them larvae(as we have to use in the hospital) out as they are great for the fish full of protein though so watch who gets em. You guys think its gross that they have infiltrated a culture of microworms, how do you think the person that i had to treat last year that had to have live larvae(maggots) put onto a gangrenous wound on their leg every day for 14days. saved the leg. see they eat all the old and decaying tissue. once its gone the crawl away. Hence there is nothing for them in your culture so they are leaving. Mmmmm is that spag bol i can smell darling. YUM Cheers Memphis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mermaid Posted March 25, 2004 Author Share Posted March 25, 2004 Well thankfully, none of my fish were interested in the maggots and I threw them out. That was the most disgusting thing I've had to deal with But on the bright side, I know have a thriving culture of microworms thanks to Fiona!! You should see it, it's going so well! I was having trouble feeding them to my krib fry though, as they're in a colander so the microworms kept falling out the bottom. Well about 30min ago I moved them to a small plastic container (sold in BigW pet section for a small fish tank or to house mice in) with 2 Litres of the heated tank water. It's not a big container so the water level is about 3 inches even with just that small amount. Since the move to the 2ft tank, only 5 babies have survived, and I feel that other then the move, they weren't getting enough food as they no longer seem interested in flake. So as soon as I put them in their new 'tank' I added a swipe of microworms. It only took them about 5sec or so to realise these little tiny wrigglers were food! Boy do they love them! They were swimming everywhere excitedly hunting down the little microworms! Now the main problem with this tank is there is no heater or filter. Do you think they will be okay sitting on the water heater? To give them a heater, I'd have to take the heater away from my convicts tank. Any suggestions? I may be able to buy another air pump with an air stone to get the water moving but as far as heating goes.. The water heater stays a nice warm constant temperature, and I can move them off in when we have a shower just to be sure. What do you think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.