Fry Status

[OldMan47]

Leave the powder if it is still floating. A commercial breeder who spoke to us at the ALA convention talked about using floating type pellets as fish food and just letting the fry nibble on it constantly. That way they could snack constantly. You would not believe how nice the mollies are that I brought home from his breedings. The sailfin male is over 3 inches long plus the tail and has a sail fin that stands up along his full length and is about 3/4 inch tall. I am going to try that approach and see how far I can get.

 

[FishBlast]

Leave the powder if it is still floating. A commercial breeder who spoke to us at the ALA convention talked about using floating type pellets as fish food and just letting the fry nibble on it constantly. That way they could snack constantly. You would not believe how nice the mollies are that I brought home from his breedings. The sailfin male is over 3 inches long plus the tail and has a sail fin that stands up along his full length and is about 3/4 inch tall. I am going to try that approach and see how far I can get.

Hmm, if i'd leave the powder then that would make feeding easier. They'd nibble all day at 1 single flake = less pollution.
One of my fry currently looks kind of plump, seems he/she ate a lot... and is still eating away at what it finds on the net.
The one I suspect to be a male constantly shows off his tail at that one, also likes to graze every now and then.

I find it hard to introduce salad in their diet though, I just can't chop the pieces small enough. And I tried feeding my teenage swordies salad... not even the female wants it anymore. I guess it remains my hoplo's favorite dish though, he goes crazy when he sees me carrying his plate with salad.

 

[OldMan47]

If you want to get them some greenery, why not a slice of courgette or even some Brussels sprout leaf. When I have some sprouts for supper, I always peel off the outer leaves and feed them to all tanks with vegetable lovers. Have you ever watched a bristle nosed pleco wrestle with a rainbow cichlid over a whole leaf of a sprout? Both of them just go crazy for the leaves.
As a side note, I also use things like spirulina flake at times.

 

[FishBlast]

If you want to get them some greenery, why not a slice of courgette or even some Brussels sprout leaf. When I have some sprouts for supper, I always peel off the outer leaves and feed them to all tanks with vegetable lovers. Have you ever watched a bristle nosed pleco wrestle with a rainbow cichlid over a whole leaf of a sprout? Both of them just go crazy for the leaves.
As a side note, I also use things like spirulina flake at times.

My mom once tried to get courgette but she had to argue with dad and then she decided not to get it... could have been my chance to try it .
Brussels sprouts - I rarely get that, and when I do, it's frozen and must be defrosted. Not sure if I can sneak some of it whenever there is some available.
As for salad, I have a haystack load of it. And only one fish to eat it. The snails refuse to touch it and go for the older ceratopteris leaves.

 

[OldMan47]

I don't try to take mine from the freezer, I just take the outer leaves off the cooked ones on my dinner plate before adding salt or sauces to them.

 

[FishBlast]

I don't try to take mine from the freezer, I just take the outer leaves off the cooked ones on my dinner plate before adding salt or sauces to them.

Ow, we add the salt during the cooking, that's why I don't take it cooked, same with the peas (which none of my fish have touched).
I wonder if my snails would eat peas though, but too scared that the hoplo might think of eating a whole pea at once and choke on it...

 

[OldMan47]

A microwave might work fine to cook a single sprout for you. I just don't end up doing it. My own home has old folks, like an old man for instance, so we watch the salt in our diets and do not salt vegetables for cooking. You might be surprised how much nicer some veggies are when you get the full flavor with no salt added.

 

[Cazgar]

A microwave might work fine to cook a single sprout for you. I just don't end up doing it. My own home has old folks, like an old man for instance, so we watch the salt in our diets and do not salt vegetables for cooking. You might be surprised how much nicer some veggies are when you get the full flavor with no salt added.

I never add salt while cooking, so my fishes can have what I have veggie wise, they love broccoli & cauliflower
I tend to add salt at the table if needed

 

[FishBlast]

A microwave might work fine to cook a single sprout for you. I just don't end up doing it. My own home has old folks, like an old man for instance, so we watch the salt in our diets and do not salt vegetables for cooking. You might be surprised how much nicer some veggies are when you get the full flavor with no salt added.

Well, I don't like salt in my food either, but my mother insists whenever I cook or she cooks that the food should have salt in it while cooking. -.-
I never was a fan of salt in food (even though I do like to eat a pinch of raw salt whenever I get the chance).

 

[FishBlast]

Holy fins! I woke up with all my weeds floating at the surface of the water, only to find 3 calico fry and my female swordtail slim again... Seems the catfish wanted to see what were those things in the plants but he can't even eat them lol. They swam around his snout and all he did was make bubbles.

But I can't raise them till I know how many females I have, so can't save them. They're on their own. So I now only see 1 calico, who was smart enough to hide in the floating plants. Other two got eaten by their mother / father. -.-

Oh well, at least I got the chance of comparing them to my 1 month old fry. I'd say the older ones tripled in size. And I already have a calico.

Poor little fry, he wants to go into the breeder net... But can't keep it, if it ends up male, I'd need 2 more females, I'd be at a limit with 5 swordtails, 6 is already over...

I tried to get a pic of my hoplo hiding one red fry that was near the rocks, but then the fry hid under a rock and the hoplo moved. Was so funny but I missed the chance.

 

[FishBlast]

When I came home, I found out that my mom couldn't resist putting a surviving fry in my fry cage -.- His older brothers will probably kill the little guy... And if it ends up male, I'll have to trade or give him away to get a female.

 

[FishBlast]

Fry are over a month old (and about a week old for the 3rd fry). From left to right: Ninja, Pinky and the unnamed fry (still waiting to figure out what gender it is or how it behaves once it grows older to name it). Can also see their mommy, Bee, on the left.

Also, vid of them and their parents:

 

[FishBlast]

Pinky seems to resemble a hi-fin swordtail. She has a shark dorsal fin that's quite big for her body. How odd... Neither her mother or her father have that. So either the father is a different red swordtail (but my female fell pregnant barely somewhere in February and gave birth in April, and I've had her since the 16th of January or so) or both my female and male swordie had this gene in them and it expressed in the fry.

According to some info found on the internet though, the hi-fin gene is dominant so it would have expressed in the adults. So maybe Pinky has a hi-fin father. But why are her eyes black when the mother was held with all-red-eyed swordtails?

 

[FishBlast]

Looks like their mother has had it with being a mother and appears to be growing a sword tail. She hasn't been pregnant this month after the last drop and the male doesn't seem as interested in her... what do I do now?

 

[FishBlast]

Fry over 2 months old now.
Ninja and Pinky (Tzuppy in background)

Pinky with her 1 month old sibling Sushi.

Pinky staring at the camera.

Pinky, Eris the new female swordtail (under cage) and Ninja.

And it's time to clean the poop out of there once again. Pinky poos as much as her mother does. X_X