Help with raising angel fry...

[Snowflake311]

Well all but 4 eggs hatched I have maybe 200 fry. I lost some to the filter then I fixed that. The mom is still with the fry they are free swimming and about 8 days old. Mom does a great job keeping them safe and puts them to sleep its so cute.

I'm feeding twice a day Frozen Brine shrimp babies. I have seen some eat the specks. I do daily 40% wc. My filter is a Aqua clear 30 with a Sponge on the intake and on low flow. I have seen the fry swim away from the sponge so I know it is not too strong. Only problem with this set up was a few got stuck between the glass and the sponge. So I lost some to that and then I have been loseing about 4 a day....

Any ways I'm down to I think 80 fry I can't count they are too fast and small.

Questions.

1 Should I take mom out now that it has been a week?
2 Should I feed something better?
3 How may fry do you lose on average in the first week?
4 any good tips I should know?

 

[SCGeordie]

Sounds to me like you're doing a pretty good job (but I have no experience of Angelfish fry).
From what I've read here and on other forums as long as the parent(s) seems to be doing ok and not eating the fry then you should be ok leaving her in there, but someone with more experience could probably answer that better.
You could maybe start using some Hikari 'First Bites' alongside the frozen BBS (just mix it in a little tank water with the BBS). For the next time I would suggest maybe getting a shrimp hatchery (Drs Foster and Smith sell a kit that uses a soda bottle). I use freshly hatched BBS for my Endler fry and by keeping the temp of the hatchery water around 80F I get a new hatch in under 24 hours so there's always plenty to go around (and fish in my other tanks appreciate the 'snacks' they get when I'm finishing the previous days batch before filtering out the new ones!).

 

[Tropicalfishking]

Well all but 4 eggs hatched I have maybe 200 fry. I lost some to the filter then I fixed that. The mom is still with the fry they are free swimming and about 8 days old. Mom does a great job keeping them safe and puts them to sleep its so cute.

I'm feeding twice a day Frozen Brine shrimp babies (Where did you find frozen babie brine shrimp? I've looked and can't find any anywhere!) I have seen some eat the specks. I do daily 40% wc. My filter is a Aqua clear 30 with a Sponge on the intake and on low flow. I have seen the fry swim away from the sponge so I know it is not too strong. Only problem with this set up was a few got stuck between the glass and the sponge. So I lost some to that and then I have been loseing about 4 a day....

Any ways I'm down to I think 80 fry I can't count they are too fast and small.

Questions.

1 Should I take mom out now that it has been a week?
It is up to you, I have found that babies grown up with the parents grow faster... but then you risk mom getting hungry and eating all of your hard work...
2 Should I feed something better?
Feeding babie brine shrimp still with the yolk sac is the best thing to feed, I've heard. After about 2-4 weeks you could start to feed crushed flake foods.
3 How may fry do you lose on average in the first week?
Per week I don't know. but with a spawn of about 200 babies I usually get around 30-40 raised up to a quarter size, then I sell them off to new homes.
4 any good tips I should know?
The more water changes the better, baby fish are really sensitive to water quality, with 40% daily water changes that is GREAT! If you can you should add some live plants to the tank, gives the fry cover, and the fry can eat the little organisms that live on the plants. (Duckweed, java moss, water wisteria). You can tell if the babies are eating well because there bellies will turn pink/red from the brine shrimp.

http://www.youtube.com/user/Jazzy78910

Watch the first and second parts, they will teach you a lot!

 

[Snowflake311]

Thanks that was very helpful.

I took mom out because I think she was starting to eat some. Like if I stressed her out she would eat some. Because I would check my sponge on the filter and did not see any fry stuck to it. I would not find many bodies on the ground as there were missing. So mom is out and its just babies. I had so much java moss but its all gone now. That would be perfect oh well.

With mom out the water will be a bit cleaner. I will see if I lose less fry because I'm down to 50 I think.

Oh and I got lucky and found the Frozen babie brine shrimp at my LFS in fact it could have been PetCo. I'm not sure but they do sell them just ask your LFS to order some for you.

Here is a fun photo of one going for some shrimp.

 

[Tropicalfishking]

Nice photo! Make sure your feeding many time per day, there bellies should always be full.

 

[MKD]

very coool and great info. I read somewhere they feed egg yolk.
Great shot and good luck.




ps: I have a pair in 30 g tank and yesterday i saw them pecking and cleaning some surfaces, i am expecting eggs sometime this week or next week. Hopefully i 'll have some wigglers.

 

[Tropicalfishking]

very coool and great info. I read somewhere they feed egg yolk.
Great shot and good luck.




ps: I have a pair in 30 g tank and yesterday i saw them pecking and cleaning some surfaces, i am expecting eggs sometime this week or next week. Hopefully i 'll have some wigglers.

I've heard that too about feeding egg yolks. I haven't tried it yet... humm.. maybe I should experiment with all of the types of foods out there and see which is best... that could be cool. Good luck with your pair!

 

[Tropicalfishking]

How are the fry doing?