Can/should i do a water change with fry? (My first time!)

[canuckgame]

Hey all!

I have FRY!!

i now have between 30-100 cacatuoides fry, i know thats a huge difference in numbers but its hard to determain at this point. this is only day 3 of them being free swimming, im still learning as i go and REALLY dont want to fail. the mother and father are SUPER protective its really cool to watch.

i have a question though, my water is looking nasty, i have fish poop everywhere, the PH in my tank is 5-5.5 and the water from my tap that i use to change the water is 7 usually i just throw it in anyway (20-30%) and seems to be fine, but im worried about it killing my fry is i mess with anything, its been 2 weeks since my last waterchange as i was busy with easter long weekend at work. i usualy do 2 WC per week.


also with regards to feeding, i JUST hatched some baby brine how often should i feed? is there an easier way then baby brine? i heard each hatching is only good for 24 hours.. does anyone have any suggestions for me here?

 

[regani]

I would do small regular water changes with the fry, if the water gets polluted too much it will affect health of the fry.
I feed my apisto fry BBS twice a day, in the morning and evening as I work during the day. Seems to work fine.
Remember to rinse the BBS with tank water before adding to you tank to avoid raising conductivity of the water.
Good luck with he fry

 

[lurch1000]

Are the fry in their own tank with the parents or in a community tank?

I've not bred cichlids admittedly, but I've bred Corydoras, and keep MTS in the fry tank to keep on top of any waste as well as daily water changes.

 

[canuckgame]

they are in the community tank,

i have 2 apistos (male/female) and 5 neon tetras (there were 7 before the fry came... the other 2 disappeared the male probably got them) i used to have a male German Blue Ram in there, but i bought a female today, and moved them into a 10 gal. and 2 ottos.

thats all in the tank now, the 2 apistos, 5 neons, 2 ottos. its a 45 gal tank.

the fry seem to be doing well, i did a 10% WC yesterday, and plan on doing another 10% tmr my tank definitly has alot of waste in it now, i would love to do a 25% WC but dont want to risk hurting the fry. i have no clue what im doing haha, im feeding the fry twice a day BBS, and in a couple of weeks when they get bigger i plan on moving them into the 10 gal, and moving the rams back into the 45 gal.

ANY tips, or advice anyone has is definitly appreciated.

 

[lurch1000]

Little and often gets my vote. I change a lot of water in my Cory fry tank, but it's just them and a small body of water, had they been in a community tank (and survived the Tetras) I'd nit be so concerned as it would have been a larger body of water and a stable system.