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We made it to week 3 Cacatuoides

Lunker

New Member
Messages
12
Location
Florida, USA
My fry seem to be doing well. Three weeks since my original post. I lost some but currently have roughly 70-80 left. Tomorrow I am setting up 2 20gal longs for the next step. How long should I keep them on bbs? How long should I wait to move them to the larger tanks (currently in a 10gal)? Jumping into It unexpectedly I think we are doing good Overall. It’s been a lot of work, fun, and getting a routine established.
F9A08170-9B00-4DA9-93CE-7792D03FDF45.jpeg
 

hongyj

Member
Messages
30
Tomorrow I am setting up 2 20gal longs for the next step. How long should I keep them on bbs? How long should I wait to move them to the larger tanks (currently in a 10gal)?

Start cycling the 2 tanks that you are getting. Get sponge filters as they don't have a lot of flow which impedes the health and growth of the fry. A lot of people feed baby brine shrimp to adults daily or for conditioning so you can keep feeding it to them; however, they will require more and more.

I have a daphnia moina culture going in a 5.5 gallon and it's been producing heaps of food that I feed to the adults and developing fry (let me know if you want some help on this because there aren't that many videos that are helpful). They survive in the water for 2 days (more time for them to be eaten and will be full most times) so the fish can snack when they want and are nutritious with some anti infectant properties I believe.

If the nitrates are manageable in the 10 gallon, you should keep them in the 10 gallon as putting them in a larger tank makes finding food harder and their growth will slow. Additionally, uneaten food will spoil the water in turn affecting the water quality and therefore the growth of the fry. I'm yet to breed apistos but my experience across other fish species seems consistent.

Once the tank seems a bit overcrowded or nitrate levels start to get high, move them to one of the 20 gallon longs. Before doing so, do water changes on the 10 gallon with water from the 20 gallon so they are adjusted to the water parameters.

If you're planning on selling the fish, try weaning them on pellet food so that the new owners can do well for their fish.
 

Lunker

New Member
Messages
12
Location
Florida, USA
Start cycling the 2 tanks that you are getting. Get sponge filters as they don't have a lot of flow which impedes the health and growth of the fry. A lot of people feed baby brine shrimp to adults daily or for conditioning so you can keep feeding it to them; however, they will require more and more.

I have a daphnia moina culture going in a 5.5 gallon and it's been producing heaps of food that I feed to the adults and developing fry (let me know if you want some help on this because there aren't that many videos that are helpful). They survive in the water for 2 days (more time for them to be eaten and will be full most times) so the fish can snack when they want and are nutritious with some anti infectant properties I believe.

If the nitrates are manageable in the 10 gallon, you should keep them in the 10 gallon as putting them in a larger tank makes finding food harder and their growth will slow. Additionally, uneaten food will spoil the water in turn affecting the water quality and therefore the growth of the fry. I'm yet to breed apistos but my experience across other fish species seems consistent.

Once the tank seems a bit overcrowded or nitrate levels start to get high, move them to one of the 20 gallon longs. Before doing so, do water changes on the 10 gallon with water from the 20 gallon so they are adjusted to the water parameters.

If you're planning on selling the fish, try weaning them on pellet food so that the new owners can do well for their fish.
Thank you for your informative reply. It reiterated the direction I am heading. This is my first time with apistos. I have seeded sponge filters and the 20gals are cycling now. Everything seems to be going good in their current tank so I am not in a hurry to move them. They may just be over 1cm in length and good eaters. I am feeding the 3 times a day.

I am using RO but I think I am going to start getting them acclimated to doing a mix of tap/RO water. I just don’t want to do it too soon.

If you don’t mind I am interested in learning more about the daphnia.
 

hongyj

Member
Messages
30
Thank you for your informative reply. It reiterated the direction I am heading. This is my first time with apistos. I have seeded sponge filters and the 20gals are cycling now. Everything seems to be going good in their current tank so I am not in a hurry to move them. They may just be over 1cm in length and good eaters. I am feeding the 3 times a day.
It seems like you're doing a good job with the feeding
I am using RO but I think I am going to start getting them acclimated to doing a mix of tap/RO water. I just don’t want to do it too soon.
yea that's also good, rehoming them might be risky if they've only lived in RO water
If you don’t mind I am interested in learning more about the daphnia.
would you like to keep the conversation on here? or have me email you or whatever. I might be making a video on this soon.

This depends on where you live but you can get a starter culture of daphnia. I recommned moina because it is smaller and hardier than most other daphnia which means it's easy to keep and also easy to feed. I got mine through eggs which are more cheaper and easier in my opinion from green water farm. I got it on amazon and there's some on ebay. The daphnia prefer hard water but can't tolerate any chlorine. They're hardy and resiliant to ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and don't really require good water quality. What you have to do is feed them and make water changes if necessary. I don't do water changes on mine because I have a pothos plant. You ideally want a 5 gallon or larger and fill it with dechlorinated water. Don't use seachem prime or other dechlorinators because they are sensitive to that too. If you don't have a carbon block attachment to get rid of chlorine then put tap water in the tank or bucket and let it aerate for a few days to get rid of the chlorine. They don't need aeration and don't really like it either and they live in little oxygen to no oxygen environments due to their hemoglobin, which is why they're pinkish. Hatch the eggs in a jar, just put it in declorinated water, and put it in the sunlight and you'll see tiny baby daphnia in about 4-8 days. Once you get a good amount of daphnia hatched, transfer it to the culture tank or bucket. You just feed sporadically. You don't need anything special, just bakers yeast. Mix the yeast and dissolve it in the water because moina are filter feeders and can't really eat the chunks. Then pour it into the bucket or tank. Then with a light over it, look through the water. As someone put it well, you want it to be "cloudy, not milky." When the water is clear, feed again. Sometimes cultures can crash so it's a good idea to keep some eggs on hand or not be too reliant on the daphnia like feeding half daphnia and half BBS. And most people keep a smaller backup culture in a 1 gallon jar or mason jar in case of crashes. Crashing happens when you overfeed and the population skyrockets and no matter how much you feed, you can't feed them enough to sustain all of them and they die. Sometimes, if water quality gets super bad the population will start cutting a bit but light water changes help. If I have extra, I either refridgerate or freeze them. When collecting, use a light and they are attracted to it like BBS and u can use a sieve or fine mm net to catch. I know this is a lot of information but I've included everything I feel is important so hope this helps!
 

Lunker

New Member
Messages
12
Location
Florida, USA
It seems like you're doing a good job with the feeding

yea that's also good, rehoming them might be risky if they've only lived in RO water

would you like to keep the conversation on here? or have me email you or whatever. I might be making a video on this soon.

This depends on where you live but you can get a starter culture of daphnia. I recommned moina because it is smaller and hardier than most other daphnia which means it's easy to keep and also easy to feed. I got mine through eggs which are more cheaper and easier in my opinion from green water farm. I got it on amazon and there's some on ebay. The daphnia prefer hard water but can't tolerate any chlorine. They're hardy and resiliant to ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and don't really require good water quality. What you have to do is feed them and make water changes if necessary. I don't do water changes on mine because I have a pothos plant. You ideally want a 5 gallon or larger and fill it with dechlorinated water. Don't use seachem prime or other dechlorinators because they are sensitive to that too. If you don't have a carbon block attachment to get rid of chlorine then put tap water in the tank or bucket and let it aerate for a few days to get rid of the chlorine. They don't need aeration and don't really like it either and they live in little oxygen to no oxygen environments due to their hemoglobin, which is why they're pinkish. Hatch the eggs in a jar, just put it in declorinated water, and put it in the sunlight and you'll see tiny baby daphnia in about 4-8 days. Once you get a good amount of daphnia hatched, transfer it to the culture tank or bucket. You just feed sporadically. You don't need anything special, just bakers yeast. Mix the yeast and dissolve it in the water because moina are filter feeders and can't really eat the chunks. Then pour it into the bucket or tank. Then with a light over it, look through the water. As someone put it well, you want it to be "cloudy, not milky." When the water is clear, feed again. Sometimes cultures can crash so it's a good idea to keep some eggs on hand or not be too reliant on the daphnia like feeding half daphnia and half BBS. And most people keep a smaller backup culture in a 1 gallon jar or mason jar in case of crashes. Crashing happens when you overfeed and the population skyrockets and no matter how much you feed, you can't feed them enough to sustain all of them and they die. Sometimes, if water quality gets super bad the population will start cutting a bit but light water changes help. If I have extra, I either refridgerate or freeze them. When collecting, use a light and they are attracted to it like BBS and u can use a sieve or fine mm net to catch. I know this is a lot of information but I've included everything I feel is important so hope this helps!
It sure does. Thank you for taking the time.
 

hongyj

Member
Messages
30
It sure does. Thank you for taking the time.
No problem, when I first replied I was in class and the teacher was doing a lecture but I saw this and thought I might chime in because no one really said anything useful as far as I could see.
 

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