My first potential spawn

[ue222]

Hello all, my pair of a. hongsloi that I posted for sexing seem to have spawned, my female has been guarding her cave and keeping the pencil fish from getting close for the past 2 days. After I saw the male enter the cave for a period of time he has been keeping his distance for the most part. She will come out of the cave and it seems like tries to get his attention or warn him to keep distance not really sure.

I have just gotten some bulk reef supply BBS eggs and 2 brine shrimp direct hatchery dishes since I had to order some other stuff from BRS and they had them on sale. Are these suitable? Or will I not be able to hatch enough supply with 2 dishes. Should I just get 1 of those Ziss hatcheries that aquarium coop sells or would I need 2 of those still. Any extra BBS I can feed to my clownfish pairs or other marine or freshwater fish I understand, so I’d rather be overdoing it than under doing it I guess.

Let me know what you think. I read a bunch of fry care threads before posting but didn’t really see much info specifically on how many hatcheries to have a constant supply for fry. I know the first couple spawns may not work out but I would like to be prepared with the fry food and care just in case. Thank you!

 

[ue222]

Oh I also fed them some live daphnia today, but I don’t have a culture of that. My LFS has some

 

[Apistoguy52]

The dishes should be fine, but the big blender looking containers are pretty handy if you’re headed down the Apistogramma rabbit hole and will be hatching BBS twice a day for the foreseeable future.

 

[Mike Wise]

I've been using the same 2L soda bottles for the past 30 years (I'm cheap)!

 

[ue222]

Ok after first use of the dish I hate it and will probably setup some 2L bottles then. How many do I need to ensure a consistent supply?

 

[MacZ]

Stick to the dishes for the time being. You don't need more than two. If one uses bottles or the separatory funnel ones, one batch is good for up to 3 days, with dishes it's 48 hours after hatching, roughly.

Simply put: It takes round about 24 hours for the nauplii to hatch and once the dish or bottle starts smelling brackish and develops biofilms, toss it and restart. By starting batches delayed you should be able to prevent being out of artemia nauplii for longer than some hours. I also recommend starting batches in the morning or the evening.

The yield is very different, though. A dish yields enough for 2-3 days for one batch of fry. A bottle or funnel yields amounts that last you a week. You can freeze them, too. Rinse, put in freshwater, pour into an ice cube tray. Done.

 

[ue222]

Can the fry be fed frozen BBS or just live? Also what do you mean by lasting 2-3 days or a week for the funnel type? I thought I should be feeding them shortly after hatching.

 

[Apistoguy52]

Ok after first use of the dish I hate it and will probably setup some 2L bottles then. How many do I need to ensure a consistent supply?

I like to always have two. I’ll start one in the AM, that will be used to feed early and mid day the next day, and one in the PM for an evening feeding the next day. (My fish room usually runs 80-86* which allows hatching that’s reasonable in 18-24 hours, if your hatching containers are cooler, you may need an extra (3rd) to accommodate extra time to hatch)

 

[ue222]

I like to always have two. I’ll start one in the AM, that will be used to feed early and mid day the next day, and one in the PM for an evening feeding the next day. (My fish room usually runs 80-86* which allows hatching that’s reasonable in 18-24 hours, if your hatching containers are cooler, you may need an extra (3rd) to accommodate extra time to hatch)

Currently at 68-72F just because I haven’t set a permanent spot yet. I may setup 2 bottles along with the 1 or 2 dishes while I get the hang of hatching daily and figure out what works best for me. Or might just get the Ziss one from aquarium coop since it fits a nano heater

 

[anewbie]

Hello all, my pair of a. hongsloi that I posted for sexing seem to have spawned, my female has been guarding her cave and keeping the pencil fish from getting close for the past 2 days. After I saw the male enter the cave for a period of time he has been keeping his distance for the most part. She will come out of the cave and it seems like tries to get his attention or warn him to keep distance not really sure.

I have just gotten some bulk reef supply BBS eggs and 2 brine shrimp direct hatchery dishes since I had to order some other stuff from BRS and they had them on sale. Are these suitable? Or will I not be able to hatch enough supply with 2 dishes. Should I just get 1 of those Ziss hatcheries that aquarium coop sells or would I need 2 of those still. Any extra BBS I can feed to my clownfish pairs or other marine or freshwater fish I understand, so I’d rather be overdoing it than under doing it I guess.

Let me know what you think. I read a bunch of fry care threads before posting but didn’t really see much info specifically on how many hatcheries to have a constant supply for fry. I know the first couple spawns may not work out but I would like to be prepared with the fry food and care just in case. Thank you!

I find a dish with just a tiny pinch of eggs hatch more than i can use before the shrimps go bad - 2-4 days. The first time i used it i did 1/2 a scoup and it was way too much. The biggest problem is life time of the newly hatch bbs is only a few days unless you stick em in the fridge. The bad thing about the dishes is you have to constantly hatch new set of bbs for about 2 weeks - after 2 weeks i find i can get my frys to eat other stuff.

 

[ue222]

I didnt realize bbs are good for longer than a few hours. I could always refrigerate them or store in the garage this time of year too. Gusss the dish is good enough for now. Just have to wait for some fry to show up now. Are regular baby brine eggs fine or should I get the brine shrimp direct EZ eggs.

 

[MacZ]

Can the fry be fed frozen BBS or just live?

Live is always better, especially because the movement gets the fish to jump the shrimp. But freshly frozen is just as good.

Also what do you mean by lasting 2-3 days or a week for the funnel type?

The amounts of nauplii you can hatch in a dish is enough to feed one batch of fry for a week, but it usually only lasts 2-3 days alive in the hatchery. The surplus has to be frozen to prevent waste.

Currently at 68-72F just because I haven’t set a permanent spot yet.

So about 20°C... too low for a reasonable yield. Sweet spot is 24-25°C.

 

[ue222]

Live is always better, especially because the movement gets the fish to jump the shrimp. But freshly frozen is just as good.

The amounts of nauplii you can hatch in a dish is enough to feed one batch of fry for a week, but it usually only lasts 2-3 days alive in the hatchery. The surplus has to be frozen to prevent waste.

So about 20°C... too low for a reasonable yield. Sweet spot is 24-25°C.

Ok honestly sounds like either a DIY or the Ziss blender style hatchery is my best bet then so I can add a mini heater and increase my yield and decrease hatch time.

 

[MacZ]

You don't have any warmer spots in your home? Because with a heater in it is all but practical (and all but a sustainable solution). After all, it could be the heater touches the container and melts it. Also you have to keep the water with the eggs and nauplii moving if not using a dish, anything in the container may cause spots where eggs get trapped and mould.

 

[ue222]

You don't have any warmer spots in your home? Because with a heater in it is all but practical (and all but a sustainable solution). After all, it could be the heater touches the container and melts it. Also you have to keep the water with the eggs and nauplii moving if not using a dish, anything in the container may cause spots where eggs get trapped and mould.

I think it comes with an air stone for movement but good point on melting the container. I could increase the temp of a room, it’s just winter so that’s where the house runs at around this time.

My banana worm, Walter worm, and vinegar eel cultures also arrived today also but I’m sure bbs is far better for the apisto fry. But I will be starting the cultures so I have that too.

 

[MacZ]

I think it comes with an air stone for movement but good point on melting the container. I could increase the temp of a room, it’s just winter so that’s where the house runs at around this time.

Indeed. Right now my appartment is at 23°C, because I live under the roof. I have to heat a bit higher than if I wasn't living up here..

My banana worm, Walter worm, and vinegar eel cultures also arrived today also but I’m sure bbs is far better for the apisto fry. But I will be starting the cultures so I have that too.

There is no better or worse in my opinion. Diversity is key.

 

[ue222]

Sounds great thanks everyone for all the wonderful help so far.

Next up, grow out setup… in case the fry hatch and survive. Got to figure that out before the petco 50% off Aqueon sale ends next week.

Should I make a new thread for that or can anyone give a quick recommendation for fry grow out size tank. Assuming it comes down to 20, 20 long, 29 or 40 breeder.

 

[MacZ]

Should I make a new thread for that or can anyone give a quick recommendation for fry grow out size tank. Assuming it comes down to 20, 20 long, 29 or 40 breeder.

Spare the new thread:
The bigger the growout, the better. Simply because you can get away with less waterchanges. Let's assume you have 20-30 fry you can move to the growout after the mother stops caring. In an 80 liter tank that would be at least 2, maybe 3, 50% waterchanges a week. In a 160 liter tank 1-2 50% a week will be sufficient.

 

[ue222]

Spare the new thread:
The bigger the growout, the better. Simply because you can get away with less waterchanges. Let's assume you have 20-30 fry you can move to the growout after the mother stops caring. In an 80 liter tank that would be at least 2, maybe 3, 50% waterchanges a week. In a 160 liter tank 1-2 50% a week will be sufficient.

Ok thank you will probably pick up a 40 gallon since it’s only 6 inches longer than a 20 gallon long. Have extra 20 gallon long if I need it too.

 

[ue222]

Do you guys turn off the filter when feeding especially with small stuff like banana worms live/frozen BBS daphnia?