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Need some suggestions on alternate first food (non-live) for apisto fries. I am trying to avoid live feed like baby brine strimps. I have tried Sera Mikropan, but I think they are too large for days-old free swimming fries.
BBS are pretty much it, otherwise you're just going to be met with massive fry loss. Besides, hatching BS is so easy and cost efficient that it's actually cheaper to do it.
I use to feed my fry BBS but switched over to microworms. Very easy to culitvate, I actually keep five batches on rotation. Microworms live longer in the aquarium than BBS thus having live moving food in front of the fry most of the day.
With it's minute size it is excellent even for the tinest of fry. I have had great success with the last three batches of borelli fry, and continue feeding the microworms to the fry as they grow.
I have three tanks full 1/2 to one inch pelvicahcromis fry, and I use microworms with a pinch of round up flake food in it, and have not had one single loss since they started free swimming.
I've tried microworms, but Grade A BS own over microworms anyday.
Microworms are only really good as a subsitute if you don't have any BS available, it's more suited as a first food for tetra or killi fry.
I agree they tend to go for the movement more often, which is why they often don't accept non live foods.
I have had good luck with micro worms as a first food. The fish will accept them and grow but my favorite is still bbs. The fry just grow faster on bbs than micro worms. I am guessing the brine shrimp have a higher nutrition value.
Trevor
It's extremely messy and not recommended on smaller fry tanks and definately not unless you're performing large partial water changes daily. Again, it still comes down to fry only going after something moving, apisto fry don't really do well sans live food.