Frozen cyclops for Betta Fry ?

[Xfactor_Jay]

Just wondering if Frozen Cyclops from Dutch Fozen foods would be ok to feed my Siames Fighter Fry as I'm still not up to speed with growing th brine shrimp, eggs are not hatching for some reason
Cheers
Jay

 

[shrks1fan]

I've never heard of them, so have no opinion. But why don't you say what you're doing to hatch the BBS and maybe we can figure out what's wrong there. If you're doing it right then it's possible you have a bad batch of eggs (too old).

Linda
http/www.pet-emporium.com
http/www.cooking-fanatics.com

 

[Xfactor_Jay]

Hi I ave an old Cola bottle with a non return valve placed in the lid and an air pump feeding it.
I then add 1.2 litres of water with 3 spoons of Aquarium salt.
I then add the eggs and they are left by a window.
I can see the odd one swimming but most are still eggs after a couple of days

 

[wuvmybetta]

Are you dechlorinating the water?

I'd avoid the triops, I'm assuming those are what you're talking about. They're more of a novelty and I don't know their nutritional value.

 

[Xfactor_Jay]

Maybe I'm not dechlorinating the water properly, how do you usually do it ?

 

[wuvmybetta]

Just as you would to treat fish water, the chlorine will kill off your BBS so maybe they're hatching then dying

Click on the betta breeding link at the top of this forum and scroll down to the last post, that will tell you how to decapsulate your eggs, you get a higher yeild in less time if you do it that way.

 

[treefrog]

oops wuv must have added that as I was composing...I forgot that was in there. Oh well, for what it's worth...


I use 2 litre soda bottle also... First I decapsulate the eggs. This eliminates the shells on the eggs which have been said to cause swim bladder, also kills bacteria and increases hatch rates.

#1) 1/2 tsp eggs in a small cup(old petsmart betta cup) with two inches water, I let that soak for a min of 1 hour, or usually overnight to rehydrate the eggs.

#2) add 1 inch more of bleach and let sit for approx. 4 min until eggs are reddish color of newly hatched shrimp. too long and you scramble the eggs.

#3) strain eggs using coffee filter and rinse with clean h2o.

#4) fill cup 3/4 of the way full with water and add eggs back. then add enough dechlor for 1-5 gallons of water to cup ( a little extra never hurts). agitate gently with spoon for a few min.


My hatchery looks like this

I have 2 or 3 set up almost always so i have a continuos fresh supply. The bags on top act as cheap splash guards and I keep my tubes clothespinned up to prevented unwanted flows when I unplug from my valve.

and I have them on a valve like this

In my hatchery I use

4 cups water
1/8 tsp baking soda (for buffering)
4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp decapsulated eggs

I provide plenty of aeration and light. They get full sun light all day and a dim light at night. Hope this helps some, I will happily answer any questions.

 

[jacblades]

ive alwyas heard that about soaking the eggs in bleach but have never tried it-it seems like it would be bad-but i guess not. what is your hatch rate?

 

[treefrog]

I would estimate at least 70% hatched. Which is alot better than non decap. Also the decapsulated eggs are safe to eat and most of the fish seem to eat them. I have read that you can actually feed just decap eggs to your fry, but I have never tried. I was leary of the whole bleach thing too but now I would not go back.

 

[Xfactor_Jay]

Hi I have de-shelled eggs that come in a liquid formulae.
Whats the baking soda do, you say buffering sorry not sure what you mean.
Still new to all this as you can tell
Thanks for all the info so far though its been very useful indeed.
Cheers
Jay

 

[treefrog]

I also gut load (feed extra nutrients)my shrimp for maximum nutrition. Usually I alternate cooked egg yolk, spirulinia powder, and paprika. They are indiscriminate filter feeders so I add it to the water (just a little it is easy to muck up a small amount of water).

 

[treefrog]

To be honest I don't fully understand the whole buffering thing , the site that sold me my eggs suggested it. Maybe someone else can explain it, I just know I have good hatches.

 

[Xfactor_Jay]

Oh right, anyone got info on this buffering ?
I think I'll give it a go as it seems to work well for you.
I only need the BBS for my Siamese fry just frustrating I've been doing it wrong.
Fortunatley there seem to be a lot of tiny white organisms in the water which I'm guessing they can feed off, not sure what they are but I used my community tank water to set the tank up so I guess they've come from that.

 

[jacblades]

i belive bufffering refers to the ph. i have never heard ofusing paprika before! do you have any other info about that-like websites or articles you could link me to. i was just going to buy some azoo artificial rotifera from foster and smith-but i have lots of paprika. where do you get yuor spirulina powder from? the only place i have seen it is health food stores and it is super expensive.

 

[treefrog]

The paprika contains cartenoids,natural color enhancers for red coloring. There is a great article on natural color enhancement on Cichlid forumslibrary page (sorry I also raise them) in the library under feeding that explains things in depth. They do not reference paprika there but JR Baker does on his site: Baker's Best Bettas in reference to gut loading daphnia. I have also had additional word of mouth suggestions of this by numerous people.

As far as the spirulinia I got mine at a health food store. I paid $9.00 for 90g which will probably last me forever or until it goes bad. I store it and my eggs in the fridge for maximum shelf life.