Keep losing fry Help

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Cichlidpirate

Cichlidpirate

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Oct 14, 2013
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New Jersey
I have been lucky enough to be able to breed a ton of fish and have always done well raising fry from mouth brooders and plecos, but I am not having great luck with egg laying cichlids (SA/CA) I get a ton of fry they are free swimming I move them to another tank by themselves and I have tried small tanks (10 gallon) to big tanks (55 gallon) and the in tank breeding nets/boxes in most cases I get 100 fry and I am luck to get 5-10 fish to 1/2 inch size once they are 1/2 inch no problem.

Any help advice would be great

BTW is this is in the wrong section or if there is a thread on this topic already please move or direct me to it
 
Are you using a sponge filter? That will stop them from being sucked in by the filter. What type of SA/CA are you trying to breed exactly? Also, I believe no decor or rocks/sand can make it easier to do water changes, and as a result improve water quality which is important for them. I would also use a larger tank then a 10gal. Breeding nets for chichlids are probably a no go just because of space.
 
Yes I am using sponge filters, I have a central air system with Hydro-Sponge #5 or swiss tropical cubefilter. I am breeding mostly Parachromis, cuteri, Geophagus brasiliensis, festae, and Cichlasoma dimerus. I am only getting 5-10% survival to 1/2 inch size.

What do you guys (girls too) feed your fry, any other tricks or tips would be appreciated
 
Cichlidpirate said:
Yes I am using sponge filters, I have a central air system with Hydro-Sponge #5 or swiss tropical cubefilter. I am breeding mostly Parachromis, cuteri, Geophagus brasiliensis, festae, and Cichlasoma dimerus. I am only getting 5-10% survival to 1/2 inch size.

What do you guys (girls too) feed your fry, any other tricks or tips would be appreciated
Click to expand...
A better question is what are you feeding your fry? Any live foods? How many times a day are you feeding the fry? How much and how often do you change water in the fry tanks? The reason I ask is that most fry die of starvation or from poor water quality.
 
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I would echo what Joe just said.
I have had all the cichlids you mention spawn in my tanks, and beside trying to feed multiple times per day with newly hatched artemia, and daphnia (in spring and summer), I let as much algae as possible grow in the fry tanks, and move any algae covered rocks in from other tanks, as the the fry graze it off. I find the constant grazing between live food offerings really helps. But I also cull many fry along the way if they look at all marginal, which I believe helps the health of the group that survive.
I realize breeding and raising fry is a totally different situation, but one thing to consider though, with the large numbers produced in substrate spawning cichlids, many would be expected to die, in nature only 1 or 2 out of a spawn of hundreds, would actually make it to adulthood.
In Ad Konings book Cichlids of Central America, his theory is that if only 1 in any spawn makes it, it is a success. And if more than one makes it, it could be an ecological disaster.
 
I do weekly water changes and I feed mostly crushed flake or powder foods, I have done baby brine the first few days after I pull the fry but I work 60 hrs a week so live food daily is tough and I am lucky to feed twice a day
 
If you are feeding once a day, that is definitely one huge issue. The fry just don't have stomachs that can hold enough food for 'once a day' feedings. At minimum, they need twice a day feeds.

60 hours a week, whew! Hard worker!
 
I always fed my fry just a basic flake. But I would feed them 3-6 times a day. Just enough to keep there stomachs full.
 
For both egg layers and mouth brooders, I start with spirulina powder, then golden pearls, then NLS fry pellets. I feed at least 5+ times a day, I like the see their bellies always full and the color of the food they're being fed. I also like to see poop coming out of those little guys :)
 
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