I’ve got free swimmers now. The parents are doing a great job of taking care of them. It appears though that the majority have yet to break out of the grey mass of wrigglers. If most of them make it, I’m going to have a pile to choose from!
Jack Dempsey
- Thread starter jhook
- Start date
I prefer to separate them at wiggler stage, before they are free swimming.
I have also successfully raised them with parents. I have also siphoned them off at free swimming stage as well.
To prep to strip the fry, I like to give the parents a cave of some sort to move the fry into (you'll see in my photos, that I have caves and ceramic logs). In the evening, as they prepare for sleep, the parents will move the fry into the cave. Then you can take a net to keep the mom from going into the cave, then take out the cave and put into a different aquarium (or, as you see in my pics, I pour them into a clear dixie cup). I like to raise them in 10-20 gallon tanks.
I have also successfully raised them with parents. I have also siphoned them off at free swimming stage as well.
To prep to strip the fry, I like to give the parents a cave of some sort to move the fry into (you'll see in my photos, that I have caves and ceramic logs). In the evening, as they prepare for sleep, the parents will move the fry into the cave. Then you can take a net to keep the mom from going into the cave, then take out the cave and put into a different aquarium (or, as you see in my pics, I pour them into a clear dixie cup). I like to raise them in 10-20 gallon tanks.
Depending on your setup, you could also just raise them with the parents. As they get larger, you could just move the parents to another tank and let the fry stay in the big tank. I've found that the more room they have, the faster they'll grow.
Very important to watch the water quality with fry. The balance of keeping them well fed and keeping the water quality good is challenging.
Very important to watch the water quality with fry. The balance of keeping them well fed and keeping the water quality good is challenging.
Thanks! I think I’ll be moving them into a 10g today, with the intent to move them into a 40 breeder after a few weeks when I thin them out a little. I’ve got a few established 10g and 40b going, so I should be alright there.
This is exciting stuff.
This is exciting stuff.
Wait no longer here is a pretty blurry picture of them after I separated them from the parents. Looks like I have about 200 or so. I’ll keep posting frequent updates, if you have any other tips as I go along, please let me know!
Finally got some decent pictures of the fry. They have grown surprisingly strong and much bigger in the 1 day since I separated them.
Here they are.
Here they are.
Excellent! Keep em fat with BBS. At least twice a day, more if you can. They'll grow fast.
