most influencial factor in fast fry development?

[Matt181]

as the title says what do people think it is?

water changes?
feeding?
tank size?
ect....

so what do you expert guys reckon the fastest way to grow fry on is?

Thanks
Matt

 

[BRUNER247]

Fastest fry development? Well when you say fry I think of yoke sacks dryn up n their 1st bites.I think its a combination of things! Food=fresh baby brine! Good clean water, plenty of water movement, n up higher in your fishes temperature zone. Tank size helps after 4week or so.

 

[fisher12889]

The fry I leave with the parents always seem to grow much faster than the fry I separate. The breeding tank and fry tank both have identical water parameters and temperature. I don't specifically feed the fry left with the parents, they eat what my other fish waste (Hikari gold and Tetra jumbo sticks). The fry I separate get fed flakes, rotifers, daphnia, and baby brine shrimp. The breeding tank is a 125, and the fry tank is a 55.

 

[davezxtc]

baby brine shrimp. Or if you are lazy like me, golden pearls. If its good enough for the industry its good enough for me =)

 

[BRUNER247]

Leaving fry in parents tank n sucking them out really depends on what kind of fry he has or wanting. IMO a 55gal is too big for fry.harder for them to find their food n way more foods wasted. But again probably depends on fry. My red belly piranha fry get sucked out into 21/2gal tank for 1st week, 2 week into 5gal tank, n 3rd n 4th week into 15gal tanks 5th week their ready for Lfs

 

[Sab_Fan]

The fry I leave with the parents always seem to grow much faster than the fry I separate. The breeding tank and fry tank both have identical water parameters and temperature. I don't specifically feed the fry left with the parents, they eat what my other fish waste (Hikari gold and Tetra jumbo sticks). The fry I separate get fed flakes, rotifers, daphnia, and baby brine shrimp. The breeding tank is a 125, and the fry tank is a 55.

I'm not refuting this, just citing my own very different recent experience: I separated about 20 fry into a 5G tank, while the remainder stayed in the 90G tank with the parents. after about 8 weeks, the fry in the 5G tank are 2-3x larger than the ones in the 90G with the parents

they are fed the same food, but my theory - - just a theory - - is that the fish in the 5G tank have less competition, and therefore have easier access to the food and so they eat better overall

water parameters are the same, since I change the water in the 5G tank with water from the 90G (after I do a water-change on the 90G)

 

[fishy12]

I say Clean water helps survival rates
food helps growth
Tank size is also size


And all those together I say equal fast fry development

 

[fisher12889]

I'm not refuting this, just citing my own very different recent experience: I separated about 20 fry into a 5G tank, while the remainder stayed in the 90G tank with the parents. after about 8 weeks, the fry in the 5G tank are 2-3x larger than the ones in the 90G with the parents

they are fed the same food, but my theory - - just a theory - - is that the fish in the 5G tank have less competition, and therefore have easier access to the food and so they eat better overall

water parameters are the same, since I change the water in the 5G tank with water from the 90G (after I do a water-change on the 90G)

Your theory makes sense...I leave less fry with the parents, and they have more room and wouldn't have to compete as much for food. So maybe food is the most influential factor? Not necessarily what kind, but better access to it?

 

[vaypourus]

What kind of fish are you breeding?

I would say that clean water seems to be the biggest factor from my experience. If the Nitrates start to creep, I definitely see a decrease in growth. For this reason I keep my water pristine, especially on my fry tanks.

I haven't tried lower temps vs. higher temps, but it seems to be pretty accepted that temps higher in the range seems to accelerate growth. I always keep my fry tanks in the 78-80 range with good results.

I've tried live foods v. powdered flake v. prepared fry food and really never saw much of a difference. At this point all my fry get powdered flake & NLS and some frozen stuff, as brine shrimp are just a hassle.

Concerning leaving fry with the parents....I've had different experience with different fish. Most of the Tanganyikans I've bred need to be removed or they eventually become snacks. My breeding group of Cyprichromis for example need to be either stripped or the female separated prior to spitting. Otherwise, the fry last minutes to maybe hours before one of the males or other females chow down. I've even had the mothers devour their own fry a few days after spitting.

I've tried leaving many of the fry from mouth brooders with the mothers and let the mother spit the fry when ready. While this method produces smaller numbers than stripping, I find that the fish seem to mature faster. Stripping seems to slow growth, regardless of whether I strip them as eggs and tumble them or wait until they are free swimming.

Fry from the cave dwellers like the Julidochromis definitely grow faster with the parents as opposed to a separate grow out tank. The julies were excellent parents and even in a community tank did pretty well at raising the fry. I noticed the same with both pairs of bristlenose.

My convict feeder breeders and the the Leleupi however seem just the opposite; the fry separated seem to put on size faster than if left with the parents.

 

[davezxtc]

golden pearls are a great staple, and it only takes a sec to toss in some microworms, I keep a culture right under the fry tank.