Feeding Fry

[sioband]

Hi all,
I need a little feeding advice please if you can help. ( see, gourami fry post last week!)
We have moved approx 100 fry into a new tank. Seeded air driven sponge filter fitted and running well. The fry are getting bigger by the day. We are feeding liquifry no 1 at the mo, but have bought some no3. We do not know when to start feeding the no3 though.
What are the stages of development they go through, is it nutrition based, if we don't feed right will they develop abnormalities?
As you can tell we weren't planning this event I have searched for info and this is the best place to ask, I want to give them the best possible start if i can.

 

[sylvia]

Not feeding them adequately shouldn't cause abnormalities but will hinder their development. You should be able to start feeding the new liquid food now. At this stage, they are capeable of taking baby brine shrimp, microworms etc - they'll be able to handle the no. 3 liquid food just fine. However, I suggest you don't immediately make a complete switch - feed them a mixture of both for a handful of days before changing the diet completely. As for stages of development, just how quickly they grow depends on many factors, including feeding, and, so can be unpredictable as far as a time scale goes. Having said that, you'll recognise the points when they start breathing air (if they aren't already), develop the adult shape and aqcuire their future coloration. Depending on the species, the last stage will be when you can tell the sexes apart.

 

[sioband]

I must have done something wrong along the line. I am down to approx 10 fry now, a couple are very distinctly fish shaped, with head, body and tail, the rest are still very immature.
I saw some fry positioned head down and spiralling tails up in the water, the next day loads were dead on the bottom of the tank. I have done fequent water changes, matching temp each time, gently introducing the water to prevent a roller coaster ride for the fry. Sponge filter running well. Temp 28/29, feeding with both no 1 liquifry and no 3 powder fry food, water depth approx 6-8 inches, light for about 6-8hours, daylight in room rest of time.
Hope we get a couple of survivors out of our first breeding, although we hadn't planned for this to happen, i haven't half become attached to the little things.
Does anyone know what may be wrong? Hoping to save what we can, all help gratefully received.

 

[Fizban]

when i breed mine most times i end up with approx 10 fry that will get to the full size but i think mine when they are about a munth old start eating the weaker ones i dont realy have a tank that would let 100 fry grew to full size some get the distinctly fish shaped, with head, body and tail, alot qicker then the rest mine do that as well as for why your ones are dieing like u say im not shore ........i spose it maby from too many water changers cuz the little ones tend to be very sensitive i dont no anuth about what makes gouramis die to realy tell i just thort i would say what i no cuz your sound abit like mine well other then the way yours are dieing im going to keep an eye on here to see what others think ....

 

[blyth093]

Hi all,
I need a little feeding advice please if you can help. ( see, gourami fry post last week!)
We have moved approx 100 fry into a new tank. Seeded air driven sponge filter fitted and running well. The fry are getting bigger by the day. We are feeding liquifry no 1 at the mo, but have bought some no3. We do not know when to start feeding the no3 though.
What are the stages of development they go through, is it nutrition based, if we don't feed right will they develop abnormalities?
As you can tell we weren't planning this event I have searched for info and this is the best place to ask, I want to give them the best possible start if i can.
[/quote
Hi Sioband, I have bred thousands of Dwarf Gouramis. On the subject of raising the fry I also used Liquifry No1. The3n when free swimming I used Newly Hatched Brine shrimps with the brine shrimp hatchery kit you can have an endless supply of them also the brine shrimp eggs are Decasulated which means they have no shell. The tiny fry need the shrimps for they are packed with high quality nutrients. Visit my website on
Dwarf grouami breeding made simple to tell you in depth. http/www.gourami-breeding.co.uk

 

[sylvia]

Test your water - what are the parameters? Any amount of ammonia or nitrite will kill dwarf gourami fry. Nitrates aren't as serious an issue but fluctuations of them are - feeding excessive amounts to quickly-growing fry can easily cause such nitrate spikes. Also, changes in pH and water temperature are a much more serious issue for fry than for adults (though adults are also very sensitive to pH changes). It's best to do very small but frequent water changes. Having said that, if your sponge filter had been running in the main tank for a while, the tank would have been able to regulate water parameters and make water changes less necessary. I appreciate you weren't prepaired this time - but it's good to know for next time (I'm sure there will be a next time... gouramies are addictive ). Incidentaly, have you fed your fry any brine shrimp? If so, the spiraling could actualy be from fry ingesting 'shells' left after the shrimp hatch. Swallowing these kills fry - which is why it's extremely important to make sure none of them end up in your tank. Another thing to consider is that they'll have been developing their labyrinth organ and this time in their development makes them particularly fragile. If something goes wrong, if theyc an't get to the water's surface or can't break through to the air or if their labyrinth sin't developing as it should for whatever reason 9genetic or otherwise), you're likely to get deaths. It helps to have a tight-fitting hood over the tank. It's often suggested that this is important to keep the air warm but it's probably far more useful for keeping the air moist. About lighting - to help the fry find food, it's often useful to have a longer daylight period and good lighting in the tank. This maximises growth, reducing the time it takes for the fry to grow and hence reducing the risk of something going wrong during that period. I like to actualy have 'proper' aquarium lighting in fry tanks instead of relying on external sources. This isn't crucial for the fry to survive but it does help, indirectly. You say you moved about 100 fry to the fry tank but it wasn't clear to me whether these were free-swimming yet. If not, without their father, it's not unusual for so many to have died. Mind you, it's not unusual to lose most of the fry the first few times you breed gouramies anyway. I always tell new breeders they're likely to get about 8 - with some luck - to survive to adulthood the first time they try it .

To be honest, there are a LOT of things that can go wrong when raising fry. I can't say what did go wrong but I've mentioned a few factors that are involved inf ry survival. The bright side is that you won't find you need to find homes for hundreds of unplanned babies... And, of course, you still have a chance to raise more fry next time round .

 

[sioband]

Thank you all for your advice. Leaving things alone for tonight. will post again at the weekend, can see we have been lucky to have raised the few we have, and will do our best following the advice given.

 

[sioband]

Just a quick update on the fry. We have a total of 17 (i think) baby golden gourami now. They have been having brine shrimp occasionally over the last couple of weeks. Now i am using a combination of liquifry no 3 powder and crushed flake.
There are a couple of larger fish and some still fairly small but all looking like fish now. water parameters all 0 pH 6.5, small frequent changes still being done with warmed tapsafe treated water.
I now realise that i must have transfered some fry that wasnt free swimming at the time, it was only 24 hrs or so after spotting them in the tank to moving them out.
We ended up getting a hatchery for the shrimp, now looking into growing them on for the bigger fish too.
So all in all i am happy with how things have gone this time, definately more prepared for next time now!!

And i thought having fish would be easier than a dog.

 

[Greg13]

uh uhhhh a dog is definatly easier! at least u can see whats wrong half the time with a dog, and u can just grab them and take a closer look eh!
Greg 8)