55 Gallon Stocking

[Davidiator]

Ok thanks
Ya I decided against the betta

Will do the rest of the stock I listed just now

Anyone know if I can raise any food for fry in my 1 gallon container?

I don't need anything special just food for the fry when they are still tiny.
Or can they eat if the sponge filter?
Thanks

 

[Gourami Swami]

It will be hard to raise fry in the same tank as all those other fish, if you want the fry to survive I would separate pretty shortly after they are free swimming. At which point they should be large enough to eat specialty fry food pellets.

 

[Davidiator]

So I don't have to provide any special food? Just let the mom help them eat the stuff on the sponge filter or something? And then move them and sell them when they are small but large enough to be on there own?


Man thanks for all the advice gourami.
I will nominate you for a reward some time this week

 

[Davidiator]

Nominated you Gourami

 

[FreshyFresh]

David, if you've got a seeded sponge filter to drop in the new thank, you can and should stock right away. I would go lightly at first and monitor your water params every day or so and be ready to do a WC quickly if you need to. Keep a dechlor like Seachem Prime or Safe on hand to temporarily detox ammonia or nitrite if need be.

 

[Davidiator]

I don't have any sponge filters currently.
But I want them and I might be able to get one that is seeded from my cousin. But I still need to be sure it is cycled before I buy fish. I don't want to lose any fish due to going to fast or something. And I will be doing a WC every other day like I do in my other tank.

 

[Gourami Swami]

So I don't have to provide any special food? Just let the mom help them eat the stuff on the sponge filter or something? And then move them and sell them when they are small but large enough to be on there own?


Man thanks for all the advice gourami.
I will nominate you for a reward some time this week

Thanks, that was nice of you.
The best food if you want most fry to survive is baby brine shrimp. They can go a few days after hatching without any special foods, and then will probably be big enough to eat prepared fry food. So the BBS is not 100% necessary. But supposedly BBS is the best way to get most of your fry to survive, since the movement draws them all to eat.
Here is a good article on hatching brine shrimp. You can do it in a 1 gallon tank or in a water bottle like this article suggests.
www.oceannutrition.com/uploads/pdf/How-to-Hatch-Brine-Shrimp.pdf

 

[Davidiator]

Awesome thank you again!

 

[Gourami Swami]

No problem at all.
Another thing, you should probably set up a 5-10 gallon on the side to raise the fry in. The other fish in your 55 will eat the fry, and even if the parents are able to defend them, they will eat them themselves after a few weeks to clear room for a new spawn. In the wild, if fry stick around too long, they think something is wrong with them, or they are not self sufficient, so they eat them. I would separate them into their own little tank about 2 weeks after they hatch, and raise them there until about 1", then you can sell them. Nobody will buy them much smaller than that. Should take a few months to get that size.
This is a good thread on the subject: https://apistogramma.com//forum/threads/breeding-apistogramma-cacatuoides.12567/
And the forums on that website have a lot of good info on apistos

 

[Davidiator]

Could I divide a small part of the aquarium instead of setting up another tank? Like get a betta divider or something and just divide about a half a foot or a foot for the fry?