Lambchop Rasbora fry help?

[dbpooper]

First, if this is the wrong place to post I'm sorry and please let me know.

So about a week and a half ago my boyfriend purchased 6 rasboras to get his new 20 gal tank to cycle. The fish were so happy they started making sweet, sweet love all over the place.

After much research we figured it out he had inadvertently made a nearly perfect breeding space for these beautiful fish.

We did some research and tried to isolate a few of the eggs in a jar with some Java fern leaves and kept the tank at a warm 82 degrees Fahrenheit just to see what would happen , but that didn't pan out. We figured we tried and that was that but the man came in and woke me up this morning saying we have a baby fry in the tank!!! My guess is that he or she is about 4-5 days old. It is free-swimming and staying close to the gravel. I have a couple of questions.

1- I don't think it's likely, but is there a chance the adults will eat the fry? I've only read that they eat the eggs.

2- Do we have to isolate the little guy? We're kinda scared to move him and he seems so happy!

3- We're planning on going to the store and grabbing a package of "first bites". Can we just feed him that with a syringe by releasing it really really close to him?

Thanks in advance for your help, I'll try to get an imgur account and upload pics while I wait for your responses as I keep getting a notice that the files are too big.

ETA an imgur link with a super clear view of the little fry guy:
https://m.imgur.com/gallery/rRkPMv4

 

[dbpooper]

http://imgur.com/SXNIG7x
http://imgur.com/NAINIqy
http://imgur.com/1LtmxBs

Here are two pics of the fry and a general pic of the tank fromfa week ago when we had the jar of 2-4 eggs.

 

[Byron]

1- I don't think it's likely, but is there a chance the adults will eat the fry? I've only read that they eat the eggs.

The fry may get eaten, depending on this and that. The eggs are usually targets of any fish in the tank, the species itself or other species. But if some of the eggs do escape predation, and hatch, the fry then need good cover. The best is a very thick mass of moss attached to wood; the fry will find live microscopic food in the moss and around the wood, and may find hiding places. Some species are more determined than others when it comes to eating fry of their own or another species.

2- Do we have to isolate the little guy? We're kinda scared to move him and he seems so happy!

The fry is best left where it is, and it may survive if it can avoid predation and find food as noted above. One easy way to provide food is with dried leaves of trees like oak, maple, beech; or you can buy dried almond leaves in some fish stores. Dried leaves (they must be completely dead and dry, being collected from the ground not off a tree, and in a safe place away from any toxic substances) will begin to decompose and produce copious amounts of infusoria, the first food of fry. Depending how large it is, moving the fry to its own small tank is another option, using the same water and providing the leaves, wood, plants, etc.

3- We're planning on going to the store and grabbing a package of "first bites". Can we just feed him that with a syringe by releasing it really really close to him?

I've never used these, so I don't know how effective they might be. But the dried leaves/infusoria is still your first essential food. Fry always grow faster with dried leaves in their tank. There are other ways to produce infusoria, but this is the safest, cleanest and most effective.

 

[dbpooper]

The fry may get eaten, depending on this and that. The eggs are usually targets of any fish in the tank, the species itself or other species. But if some of the eggs do escape predation, and hatch, the fry then need good cover. The best is a very thick mass of moss attached to wood; the fry will find live microscopic food in the moss and around the wood, and may find hiding places. Some species are more determined than others when it comes to eating fry of their own or another species.



The fry is best left where it is, and it may survive if it can avoid predation and find food as noted above. One easy way to provide food is with dried leaves of trees like oak, maple, beech; or you can buy dried almond leaves in some fish stores. Dried leaves (they must be completely dead and dry, being collected from the ground not off a tree, and in a safe place away from any toxic substances) will begin to decompose and produce copious amounts of infusoria, the first food of fry. Depending how large it is, moving the fry to its own small tank is another option, using the same water and providing the leaves, wood, plants, etc.



I've never used these, so I don't know how effective they might be. But the dried leaves/infusoria is still your first essential food. Fry always grow faster with dried leaves in their tank. There are other ways to produce infusoria, but this is the safest, cleanest and most effective.

Thank you so much, Byron! We will definitely call our local store and see if they have these things available! We have no other species in the tank at this time and will wait to add more.

The adults have seen our little friend and they just check him out then swim away, so I think you're 100% on point that he/she is fine in the tank. We're also keeping them well fed so hopefully he will make it and grow fast with the leaves we provide. Thanks again!

 

[Colin_T]

You need to put a round/ cylindrical sponge over the intake strainer of your filter to stop the fry being sucked into the filter. Most pet shops sell round/ cylindrical sponges for some brands of internal power filter. these sponges have a hole through the centre and the sponge fits over the intake strainer and stops small things being sucked into the external filter.

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You won't get infusoria to grow in time to feed the baby fish. It takes a month or more for this to happen. The link below tells you all you need to know about culturing live foods for baby fish.
http://www.fishforums.net/threads/back-to-basics-when-breeding-fish.448304/

The local pet shop should sell fry food for egg layers. You get dry powder foods and liquid fry foods.

If you can't get to the pet shop then you can make your own. Hard boil an egg. Remove the shell and the white part and discard those bits. Push the yellow yolk through a handkerchief into a small container of dechlorinated tap water. Put a lid on the container of water and egg yolk and shake it up. Use an eye dropper to suck out some of the egg yolk solution and squirt it into the tank near the baby fish. They will eat the smallest particles and you should see their belly go yellow when they eat it.

If you add a lot of plants to the tank they will provide hiding places and add a bit more food for the fry.

 

[dbpooper]

You need to put a round/ cylindrical sponge over the intake strainer of your filter to stop the fry being sucked into the filter. Most pet shops sell round/ cylindrical sponges for some brands of internal power filter. these sponges have a hole through the centre and the sponge fits over the intake strainer and stops small things being sucked into the external filter.

-------------------------
You won't get infusoria to grow in time to feed the baby fish. It takes a month or more for this to happen. The link below tells you all you need to know about culturing live foods for baby fish.
http://www.fishforums.net/threads/back-to-basics-when-breeding-fish.448304/

The local pet shop should sell fry food for egg layers. You get dry powder foods and liquid fry foods.

If you can't get to the pet shop then you can make your own. Hard boil an egg. Remove the shell and the white part and discard those bits. Push the yellow yolk through a handkerchief into a small container of dechlorinated tap water. Put a lid on the container of water and egg yolk and shake it up. Use an eye dropper to suck out some of the egg yolk solution and squirt it into the tank near the baby fish. They will eat the smallest particles and you should see their belly go yellow when they eat it.

If you add a lot of plants to the tank they will provide hiding places and add a bit more food for the fry.

Thanks so much for your reply, Colin! Will definitely be getting a sponge tomorrow as we lost sight of little Waldo for several hours today and we were so sad! But luckily, he was hiding in our plentiful Java fern roots. Whew.

We did go looking for the leaves Byron mentioned, but no luck! So we got the dry fry food, mixed with a bit of tank water, and fed Waldo while we distracted the adults with bloodworms. He ate so much and seems very happy.

He is so smart and fast (we swear he teleports), I know with all of this lovely advice he's going to make it! Thanks again!

 

[dbpooper]

UPDATE:

For anyone in the future who needs this info, Waldo is doing very well! We purchased a sponge cover for the filter and though it's not pretty, it's providing much peace of mind. He's really good at hiding in the java fern roots and he is eating and growing steadily. We feed him once a day with first bites mixed with a little tank water. We use a little eye dropper and distract the adult fish with their usual food or bloodworms on the opposite end of the tank. Here are some pics of him now at 8 days hatched:

http://imgur.com/42wqfCC
http://imgur.com/BIbcLaw
http://imgur.com/4GDXpQ9