Cockatoo Babies

[Uppy]

Hello! I have just been able to save a few eggs from my pairs last batch, and they hatched! I only got 5 wigglers but they are in their own 5G with a sponge filter. They are growing and have regular movement. Their eyes have started to develope now. I am just wondering when I need to start feeding them with something other than their egg sack. There is very little of it left, but they are not free swimming yet. I am sure the chances are slim for them, but I would like to try! Please respond with any and all tips, tricks and comments you might have as I am a "Little Wiggler" to the hobby myself, 4-5 months now :wink: Thanks!!! Jason.

 

[Mike Wise]

Start feeding only when they can swim on their own. Best starter foods are live foods (baby brine shrimp or microworms). If you can't get these, try frozen baby brine, cyclops-eze, or rotifers. Least likely to succeed, but still possible, is finely powdered dry food. A little food goes a long ways. Make sure you clean up any left over foods or put in some Brazilian Rams Horn snails as cleaners. Good luck.

 

[aquaticclarity]

Live plants out of another aquarium, preferably your own to reduce the risk of bringing in unknown critters, is also a great way to provide microfoods for baby fish. I like to pull a little bit of Java Moss from an established "forest" and drop it in the dish/tank with most of my fry. This way there is a good steady supply of morsels for the fish to munch on for the first few days.

Often young fish start eating, or at leat picking at, a small amount of food before their egg yolks are completely comnsumed. I find that having some non water fouling foods present early on gets me a much higher success rate with small fry then just a few feedings with baby brine shrimp, microworms, or the like alone.

Jeff

 

[beleg]

Apple Snails also help. They eat up the excess food and they are said to provide a lot of protozoa for the fry when fed on green vegetables. I always have some in my breeding tanks.

 

[Apistomaster]

All good advice, especially where you have so few fry. It is easy to over feed just a few.