Newbie looking for tips.

[happy]

Hi all.I have been reading all the post on this site for the past 3 days.
I upgraded to a 55g and added a pair of Gold Rams to my other 5 fish.After 3 days they spawned many eggs and immediately began a major war with the Thick -lipped gourami who would not leave their space.So i put the other fish back in the 25g leaving the 2 rams.Two days later the male lost his breeding colors and the female was chasing him around so i removed him.Today day three the eggs floated up to the top and hatched into wigglers.They wiggled down to the gravel and i think the female gather them up along with some that got stuck to the nylon stocking on the intake.That`s where i stand now looks like about 200 of them.Do i need to feed them now or wait 2-3days.There is lots of plants and rocks with tidbits of stuff on them.I will have bbs to feed them and do 2 -15% water changes a week with a 1/2 hose.Any advice would be gladly appreciated.

 

[Cathy G]

You will need to feed them when they start free swimming - you'll know when you see it. Until then they are feeding off their yolk sacks. Bbs is good to start out with, but you may lose a bunch 'cause some fry are too tiny to eat it. They will find infusoria from the plants in the tank so perhaps you won't loose that many. If you have any microworms or vinegar eels you should try those at first too. Good luck, keep nitrates low at this point, no major water changes... your 15% is fine.
Cathy

 

[nightowl1350]

Exactly as Cathy said.....once they start to swim you will see a small cloud of them (led by Mom) and that is when you feed them. It should be about 7 days from the day the eggs were layed.

I raise blue rams and the free swimmers are too small for baby brine shrimp, so I use microworms for about a week, then add one feeding a day of bbs to see if they are eating them to.

Good luck with them.