Bolivian wigglers/time

[Cathy G]

Hi,
The eggs hatched on Saturday am and today - Monday pm, they are still whomping across the bottom of the tank and not free swimming. I thought they were supposed to swim at the 2 day mark. I am squirting some microworms and have a bunch of hornwort in the tank, but at this point I can't tell if they are eating anything.
I am right about them being freeswimmers after 2 days?
Cathy

 

[fishgeek]

they wont feed until free swimming
they seem to have hugh clutches

timing will be dependant on temperature
it wont be long before they are swimming, mine was abou 3-5 days if i remember rightly

do you have other fish in the tank

ndrew

 

[Cathy G]

Hi Andrew,
Nope, no other fish. I pulled the eggs as my bolivians have been eating them. They are in RO, barebottom 10g tank with seeded sponge filter and heater. Temp ranges 79-81, I can't keep them totally steady with the extremes in the house temps - spring time... they are in about 4-5 inches of water and I am doing small changes twice a day. I only tried feeding a bit 2 times, so the water isn't polluted, I'll stop that until they are free swimming.
Thanks for your answer.
Cathy

 

[nightowl1350]

If they follow my blue rams it will be about 4-5 days of wiggler stage. Don't feed them till they are swimming as it will foul the water. Microworms can live for a few days, but you may get them dying off before the rams start eating.

Good luck with them.