bolivian ram fry

[mrlimpet]

hi all.

this is my first post, though i've been lurking for a little while.

my rams produced fry 15 days after i put them into their own tank!
i've been researching old threads ever since they laid eggs.

i'm starting to culture infusoria but that won't be ready for a few days.
what will they eat in the meantime? do they have an eggsac that will hold them until the infusoria is ready? what else can/should i feed them?

also, i'm worried that the parents may eat the fry because they're inexperienced. this is their first brood. i'm gonna get some java moss to give the fry someplace to hide.

does java moss also provide food for fry, or will i still have to supplement with infusoria or something else?

thx

 

[Konigwolf]

I'm not sure how long it takes before ram fry start needing food, but if do you need something before your infusoria is ready you could try some hard boiled egg yolk ground up very small, its suitable for betta fry size wise it it shold be fine for rams as well.

Konigwolf

 

[Mike Wise]

If the fry are freeswimming they need to eat something. Baby brine shrimp should work, be they live or frozen. Java Moss houses microorganism that the fry will eat, but you will need a large mass to adequately feed the fry for a day or 2.

 

[mrlimpet]

thx for all your replys.

If the fry are freeswimming they need to eat something. Baby brine shrimp should work, be they live or frozen. Java Moss houses microorganism that the fry will eat, but you will need a large mass to adequately feed the fry for a day or 2.

fry are not freeswimming yet. they're still a quivering mass in a sand pit dug by mom and dad. i think they probably hatched about 12 hours ago.

so, i don't have to feed them until they're freeswimming? are they subsisting on their egg sacs?

sorry for all the questions... eager learner. :wink:

 

[Konigwolf]

so, i don't have to feed them until they're freeswimming? are they subsisting on their egg sacs?

Roger that, with most fish they live off the rest of the yolk sacs for 1-3 days (depending on fish) at which stage they usually become "free swimming" and need to be fed fairly soon after this. Unless someone with experience can give you some streight figures your going to need to do some research quickish. (Sorry I'm no real help while I have a pair of Bolivains getting very friendly with each other my only success with breeding so far is lyretail swords and a pair of bettas in a community tank - needless to say the eggs didnt make it to hatching)

Konigwolf

 

[mrlimpet]

Roger that, with most fish they live off the rest of the yolk sacs for 1-3 days (depending on fish) at which stage they usually become "free swimming" and need to be fed fairly soon after this. Unless someone with experience can give you some streight figures your going to need to do some research quickish. (Sorry I'm no real help while I have a pair of Bolivains getting very friendly with each other my only success with breeding so far is lyretail swords and a pair of bettas in a community tank - needless to say the eggs didnt make it to hatching)

Konigwolf

if at first you don't succeed...

hang in there and keep trying. this is the fourth time my bolivian rams have laid eggs. first two batches went nowhere and third batch became a tasty snack for bristlenose plecos! at that point, i decided to use my hospital/QT tank as their private breeding tank. (hope no fish get sick!)

i plan to get some java moss and baby brine shrimp before the fry become freeswimming. right now they're just huddled together in a quivering mass in a sand pit dug by the parents. they've been moved twice already. i guess it's the parents' natural instinct to move the fry periodically for safety. it's very interesting to watch. better than reality tv! :biggrin:

you've been helpful and i appreciate your input.

 

[Woody]

Although I am just new to breeding Apisto's I have expereince with African dwarf cichlids and angels. I found that it works best for me if I wait for 12 hours after they are free swimming before I commence feeding.
After fussing with brine shrimp, I find that if I start the fry off with microworms, cultures are easy to propograte and find, that the fry eat them readily, and they are slightly smaller than brine shrimp so even the runts get to eat. And the microworms live longer in the aquarium than brine shrimp thus reducing the food fouling the water.
I have in fact raised entire broods of angelfish entirely on microworms, not even using baby brine shrimp.
I have found that I have less die offs using microworms than with brine shrimp.

 

[mrlimpet]

thx for your response woody.

the fry hatched less than 36 hrs ago and are not yet freeswimming so i guess i have some time before i'll have to feed them. so far so good. parents still guarding fry and i just checked to make sure the water params are still good: 7.0ph, zero ammonia/nitrites, and 20 nitrates.

i've heard from a couple of others that a great first food for mobile fry is gunk from the filter. that's what i'm gonna use initially because i have lots of that!