Help....Blue Acara Fry Care

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
I take my eggs out and sometimes wigglers to my 10 gallon tank. What might have happened was it was not cycled properly or they died from water temp shock. with fry BUMP THE TEMP SLOWLY to 84 degrees speeds up metabolism so you can feed them 4-5 times a day and daily water changes. Since its a small tank like mine the water paramaters can change fast so I do 10-20 percent daily and feed them twice a day because I am not home. On the weekends I feed sometimes 5-6 times a day with water changes.

Its common practice to leave with parents but I breed and many batches so I take them out. You have a higher survival rate without parents because overnight they can eat them all or a few to get ready to spawn again.
 
Ihsnshaik said:
I take my eggs out and sometimes wigglers to my 10 gallon tank. What might have happened was it was not cycled properly or they died from water temp shock. with fry BUMP THE TEMP SLOWLY to 84 degrees speeds up metabolism so you can feed them 4-5 times a day and daily water changes. Since its a small tank like mine the water paramaters can change fast so I do 10-20 percent daily and feed them twice a day because I am not home. On the weekends I feed sometimes 5-6 times a day with water changes.

Its common practice to leave with parents but I breed and many batches so I take them out. You have a higher survival rate without parents because overnight they can eat them all or a few to get ready to spawn again.
Click to expand...
So I just realized that there are fry swimming around in the tank again and I'm back to being nervous. The father is guarding them with his life while the mother is fighting off the other fish. I'm very nervous about taking them out so I think I'll leave them in the tank because I'm not sure that I know what I'm doing when I take them out and I ɖօռ't want to Lil them. One suggestion on this thread was to leave them in the tank until they're about an inch in length....honestly what are your thoughts since you're an experienced breeder?
 
Pomatomus said:
Use a filter with slow flow and a sponge on the intake. Also, give them a couple of days before removing them if possible (but sometimes it's not). Although some may be eaten, the others will be hardier after a couple of days. I like to remove fry with a slow, wide siphon instead of a net which can damage them. Finally, I just fed my blue acara fry powdered flakes.
Click to expand...
Guess who has fry again as of today??? I'm leaving them in the tank as you suggested. How do I get the crushed flakes to them because I have a 65 gallon tank with other fish in there and the father is pretty much covering them.
 
Jmcnpryncess said:
Guess who has fry again as of today??? I'm leaving them in the tank as you suggested. How do I get the crushed flakes to them because I have a 65 gallon tank with other fish in there and the father is pretty much covering them.
Click to expand...

Pulverizing it into small pieces (or even powder if they're super small) and either mixing it with water or releasing it beneath the surface (above the fry) should get it to them. Feed regular-size flakes on the other side of the tank at the same time for the rest of the fish.

Stirring the gravel can kick up some particles for a quick snack as well.
 
Pomatomus said:
Pulverizing it into small pieces (or even powder if they're super small) and either mixing it with water or releasing it beneath the surface (above the fry) should get it to them. Feed regular-size flakes on the other side of the tank at the same time for the rest of the fish.

Stirring the gravel can kick up some particles for a quick snack as well.
Click to expand...
So....I went to have breakfast and now there are no babies in the tank....I give up....am I supposed to leave them in the tank with the parents for a couple of days? Maybe I need to create a safe corner or something in the tank for the babies where they can be away from my huge air stone in the tank? I'm confused and sad, any guidance would be helpful.
 
Jmcnpryncess said:
So....I went to have breakfast and now there are no babies in the tank....I give up....am I supposed to leave them in the tank with the parents for a couple of days? Maybe I need to create a safe corner or something in the tank for the babies where they can be away from my huge air stone in the tank? I'm confused and sad, any guidance would be helpful.
Click to expand...

Hmm do you think it was the other fish or the parents? If the parents were successfully defending them before then they probably ate the brood. It's very common for cichlids new to parenting. My female acara ate her first brood. If keeping them in the tank doesn't work then it will just take extra effort to raise them in another tank. Have it running in advance so that there is BB and some detritus for them to pick at. Then you are looking at feeding multiple times a day. I still think that you would have more success if you waited for the fry to at least absorb their yolk sacs and start feeding. Moving sac-fry can damage them. if you must then use a large, slow siphon (with little height difference in water).
 
Pomatomus said:
Hmm do you think it was the other fish or the parents? If the parents were successfully defending them before then they probably ate the brood. It's very common for cichlids new to parenting. My female acara ate her first brood. If keeping them in the tank doesn't work then it will just take extra effort to raise them in another tank. Have it running in advance so that there is BB and some detritus for them to pick at. Then you are looking at feeding multiple times a day. I still think that you would have more success if you waited for the fry to at least absorb their yolk sacs and start feeding. Moving sac-fry can damage them. if you must then use a large, slow siphon (with little height difference in water).
Click to expand...
The problem is that I work Monday-Friday so I can't feed them multiple times a day....I have a huge rock with an airstone in my tank and I saw a couple get thrown to the top of the tank and then the other fish ate them so I may need to reposition my rock with the airstone so that the parents can't go behind it to hide the fry. I'm just confused.
 
Give them a pot to spawn in, maybe also disable the airstone while fry are around.

The parents will get better at looking after fry and protecting them, it isnt perfect first time :)

Also for feeding you can crush flakes, mix it with water then it then feed via syringe.


Welcome to MFK and good luck
 
Maybe a divider would work? Egg crate is cheap.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom