When should I introduce food to the fry?

[jrp]

My dorsigera (please correct the plural if that's wrong!) bred recently, and the fry have been wrigglers for a few days. Tonight they have started to swim, but just briefly and with no sense of direction. I have a big clump of Java moss which I imagine would have infusoria, and bought some frozen BBS. The parents are taking very good care of them in the main tank, to which I have added dividers from the other fish, and I am prepared to move them to a separate 20g tank anytime.

To rehash my thread title, when is it appropriate to actively feed the fry?

Thanks,
Jamison

PS - I have been able to get some nice photos of the brood care, and can post them if anyone would be interested.

 

[Neil]

jrp,

PS - I have been able to get some nice photos of the brood care, and can post them if anyone would be interested.

By all means - post some pics!

I think that you should start feeding small amounts right now. It sounds like they are very close to free-swimming and will benefit from immediate suppliment to whatever might be in the tank for them to pick from. Unfortunately, your frozen baby brine might be too large for a first food for these guys. Some of the largest fry can probably deal with it, but I suspect that you will suffer heavy losses unless you get something else to the majority of the fry. Check your LFS to see if the have Tetramin powder for egg-layers or Liquifry. Mix a little and squirt it into the "cloud" of fry (By the time you get it, they will be a cloud). If not you can mush up some egg yolk or FINELY powder some flake food for the same effect.
Feed once or twice a day with these foods for a few (3-5) days and then switch over to the baby brine. You can try a little baby brine with the other powdered feedings to offer a variety to those fry that can handle it and more and more will eventually start eating the BBS as their mouths allow. But don't overdo it! It is better to have slow growth rates than polluted water.
Dorsigera is a very cool fish with huge spawns. Are they in the tank by themselves? If not, expect losses. They are good parents, but can't defend so many fry for long.
Good luck and definitely post pics. Neil

 

[jrp]

Thanks, Neil.

They are good parents, but can't defend so many fry for long.

I found that out the hard way - I had to remove them not two hours after I posted. The dividers I mentioned are actually two plexiglass panels (couldn't get the right size) arranged to have an opening from one side of the tank at the front of the tank, and another at the back with a passageway in between. It was working very well until I returned home to find that the parents decided to move the fry to the 'wrong' side. They're intelligent, but must have their lapses! The rummynose were licking their chops, for sure.

I'll get the pics up tonight or tomorrow.

Thanks again,
Jamison

 

[jrp]

The pictures are up for those who'd like to see. You'll need to click on the photos to get the full-size view & see the fry. The fry are now in a bare 20 gallon tank - I found some liquid fry food and have also offered them crushed flake & BBS. It's hard to tell if they are eating any one of them since they're so small, but I assume things are going well since only a handful have died so far.

http://home.earthlink.net/~japrien/_wsn/page3.html

 

[aspen]

hey jamison, very nice pics, thanks for sharing! that is a nice species, and yours seem to be in quitee nice finnage. you caught the fry and moved them? how did you do that? did the parents take a piece outta you when you were doing that? nice job. i hope it works out for you. heed niel's advice about not overfeeding. keeping the tank clean will yield the best results, ime.

rick

 

[jrp]

aspen - I siphoned the fry with airline tubing & used a medicine dropper for the last few stragglers. Mom & Dad nipped ferociously at my fingers & the tube, but it just tickled. I am completely enamored with the adult fish - saw them in the store and splurged on the new tank the next day. They have more personality and even good looks than the blue rams I started with.

It's been a few days since I moved the fry and I still don't have a feel for how much food to offer at one time. They seem to not understand that it's dinner unless they are in the middle of a cloud of food. Are they pretty adept at getting food off the bottom later on? I haven't been able to tell. As for keeping the water clean, I've been changing 25% of the water daily using water from the main tank & things are still going well.

 

[Neil]

jrp,
Congratulations! . You maint. proceedures sound good, but when you are doing very regular water changes, don't gravel vac as often. Feed small amounts more regularly and have enough "stuff" on the bottom of the tank to create foraging prospects for the fry without too much of a pollution issue. kind of a tricky concept, but really not that difficult in application. If your water is changed regularly, the biolode with be moderated. If you do not see fungusing food on the bottom, then you are probably not putting too much. But err on the side of caution with fry. Give them barely enough to eat several times a day and you should be OK, because they will have other resources in a mature tank.
Neil