6 days free swimming and parents ignoring

[Kaza]

Yesterday my pair decided to start breeding again, even tho their babies are only 5 days FS anyway I took the male out and the cone to see if the mother would then be interested in the babies again. Unfortuantely she allows them on her for very short periods of time and then shakes them off. They are not eating BBS yet. I will make up a batch today, they do seem to be eating the algue on the tank. Any thing else I should do?

[Trebs]

How many fry are there?

[Merrilyn]

Get them onto baby brine shrimp as soon as possible. A lot of the commercial breeders remove the fry at around a week or so, to encourage the parents to spawn again.

They've had a good start. Try to keep them together a bit longer, but if she looks like she is getting really upset with the fry, you will have to remove her immediately.

It's all up to you then, frequent small meals, and frequent water changes. Good luck.

[Kaza]

There are only about 20 - 30 fry. She is kind of looking after them and at this stage they are all still alive.

Can you believe it I put the father in another tank and he is already shimmy up to another female, so much for love.

I have started a BS hatchery. But I used decapulated eggs and the instructions say to make sure they are always moving around, I have an airstone in with them but they seem to still be sitting on the bottom will they still hatch? and once they hatch do I turn the airstone off, they would all get blown around if I left it going.

[Merrilyn]

So long as the water in the bottle is moving around, the shrimp should hatch. They hatch more quickly if you keep them warm, around 28 degrees, and put them near a strong light. After about 36 hours, most of the shrimp will have hatched, remove the airstone and pour some of the water thru a paper coffee filter, or a piece of kitchen towel. You will see the white paper slowly turn orange. That is the brine shrimp. Rinse the paper into a glass of fresh water, and pour the shrimp and fresh water into the tank. Top up the bottle with more salt water, and add a few more shrimp eggs. Replace the airstone to keep the water moving.

I usually set up two bottles, so I always have hatched shrimp ready to feed. Any unhatched eggs will be eaten as well, because with de-capsulated brine shrimp, there aren't any egg shells to worry about. (Egg shells can cause a blockage in the intestine.)

It works best if you can suck the shrimp up with a turkey baster or a large syringe from the chemist (without the needle). Then you can gently squirt them over the sides of the parent fish, and the fry should attack the tiny wriggling shrimp. As the fry eat, their bellies turn orange.

It can take a couple of days before the fry see the shrimp as food, so try feeding a small amount several times a day.