Frozen BBS

[sf108]

Will ProAqua frozen baby brine shrimp suffice as a fry food?

It seems like a good alternative to hatching or buying newly hatched BBS.

Any thoughts?

[Hollowman]

I have not come across this food in the UK, but it might be ok. What I would hesitate at is that fry seem to like the jumpy movements of live BBS if this new food just falls past them, they might not eat it so readily.

Steve

[dean_alicia]

when do you start feeding the fry BBS?

[Hollowman]

I generally start at 5 to 6 days free swimming. They seem to like them at this age and once they get the taste they murder them. I start by squirting them over the backs of the parent fish so they stick in the mucus which the fry feed off. Once they see them as a food source, thats it.

[dean_alicia]

mine have been free swimming for just over a week now and they dont seem to be too interested with the BBS. any suggestions? can you feed the fry anything else?

[mistakes r crucial]

ProAqua is an excellent Australian brand and fry will take it but for mine there is no substitute for live food in the first few weeks. It can be a bit of a pain depending on how you have it set up but growing your own brine shrimp and feeding them on spirulina and Astaxanthin you know your fry are getting what they need. If you're cost conscious you needn't waste any of the BB either, we just threw them in a 2ft tank next to the BB set up with plenty of air and food and let them go for a week or three, they make excellent food for your older fish.
Cheers
MAC

[Hollowman]

If you're cost conscious you needn't waste any of the BB either, we just threw them in a 2ft tank next to the BB set up with plenty of air and food and let them go for a week or three, they make excellent food for your older fish.
Cheers
MAC

Now there is something I would like to do well but have never had the time to play with. Maybe a new thread on how people do this would be good. Methods, foods, water changes etc etc :wink:

[mistakes r crucial]

There was nothing real scientific about it Steve so I don't know that I'd make such a good thread starter on this lol. Maybe that's why it worked for us but we just kept the water at about 8.4, changed water (30%) about 3 times a week and threw a handful of rock salt in there after a water change to keep the hydrometer bobbing about at the top of the green line, I can't even remember what the numbers were. We fed them spirulina powder laced with Astaxanthin every couple of days when we remembered and were walking past the tank and they grew like h*ll. They make a great live food and especially if you keep good tucker up to them, they pass most of it on. Oh, plenty of light apart from when you want to catch the little suckers.
Cheers
MAC

[mistakes r crucial]

Loads of air too.

[mistakes r crucial]

I better clarify something that I've just re read. The excellent brand I was referring to is PosAqua and not ProAqua, don't know what I was thinking.
Cheers
MAC

[dean_alicia]

iv lost at least half my fry in one afternoon.. is this right.... they still dont seem interested in the BBS and are still hastling there parents.. do i keep putting in the BBS in the tank? will the salt water coming out of the seringe be effecting the fry?

[mistakes r crucial]

How long have you been hatching BBS and how do you check to make sure they're ready? You're supposed to swill the BBS off in to fresh water before feeding but I doubt the salt water killed them. To be honest I used to cut a few corners too when I had a lot of batches of fry going at the same time and the salt content doesn't hurt them providing they're in enough water.

How old are the fry? It could be a host of reasons, gill fluke at a very young age will see them drop like flies as do a few other things. More info needed really, water params, all of 'em and anything else you feel relevant.
Cheers
MAC

[dean_alicia]

fry have been free swimming for just over a week. they are about 1cm in length..
ph is 6.3, ammonia,nitrate and nitrite are all close to zero. the only thing i have done is add the BBS.
BBS have been going for about 40hours now. i can see them moving around in the seringe.
tank is a 2 1/2 foot wide 1 1/2 foot high..
parents are happy and are still alowing fry to feed off them..

[mistakes r crucial]

What does close to zero mean and especially for the nitrite? At a Ph of 6.3 if there's am Ammonia reading it would be Ammonium anyway so not too much of a biggy but Nitrite will turn them over.

At 40 hours they are no longer BBS IMO, with brand new fry I would hatch BBS within 12-14 hours and discard them (throw 'em in a grow out tank) after 24. If you're either not hatching them out properly or feeding them too large for your fry you will turn them over.
Cheers
MAC

[dean_alicia]

ok i have retested the water nitrite is between .25 + .5 is that to much for the fry???

[Mr Wild]

Any nitrite is too much it must be zero. Change some water. HTH

[mistakes r crucial]

Nitrite is the evil of all evils with fry IME. You'll knock fry around with Ammonia but Nitrite will kill them at .5. You have to work out why you have Nitrite, you're either over feeeding, not changing enough water or your filtration system is not working adequately or is not big enough to do the job.
Cheers
MAC

[DiscusDave]

You'll knock fry around with Ammonia but Nitrite will kill them at .5.

I'm guessing that's because ammonia toxicity reduces as PH is lowered by Nitrite toxcitiy increases? I'm of the opinion that ammonia is blamed for many fish deaths when in fact nitrite was the actual culprit more often than not. Esp because people see an ammonia spike, then the fish die a little later so ammonia is blamed even though the ammonia spike is often going to be followed by a nitrite spike.

[mistakes r crucial]

Exactly my thoughts Dave and yes, Ammonia is far less toxic below a Ph of 7.
Cheers
MAC

[dean_alicia]

iv got my nitrite down to 0.25. all fry are gone aprt from 2, dads body has gone dark but mum looks ok.. will do another water change 2night.

[dean_alicia]

will it be ok if i put the parents back into my community discus tank they came from? just a little worried about them thats all...

[Hollowman]

What is the situation for the move? if they came from the community, then they will go back fine. If these have been 'cleaned' for breeding purposes then it is still not a problem, but I would clean them again before breeding again. I hope that makes sence.

[dean_alicia]

yes the fish originally came from the community tank. still struggling with the nitrite its back up to .25/.5.. the male is now really dark and sitting at the top of the tank on a slight angle. female is fine swims around the tank then sits beside the male for a bit.
im fighting the nitrite with nitrovic.

[Hollowman]

I would cut back on feeding for a few days. How much water are you changing ? To show nitrite you must a poorly filter, it is probably not mature, what have you done to it recently, what have you changed?

Is your community tank matured? if so, put them back in right away.
If not, you need to keep on top of water quality and changes.

Nitrite in any amount is bad for fish.

keep us informed ok

[dean_alicia]

tank has a sponge filter that has been running for 2 months... it seemed to spike when i started feeding BBS to the fry.. community tank is matured so i will put them back in there for a bit.. they have gone though enough.. i change about 25% every second day in the breeding tank.

[Hollowman]

yes, put them back for now. Can I ask how you matured the sponge, this seems to be the reason for the problem.

[dean_alicia]

fish are back and looking better already..
sponge has been going for about 2months.

[Hollowman]

sponge has been going for about 2months.

But how did you mature it?

[dean_alicia]

in my community tank.