baby halfbeaks!

[nmonks]

Hello,

Sort of a follow up to my thread a while ago on halfbeaks. This afternoon I found 12 baby halfbeaks nestled among the Ceratophyllum. They weren't there this morning.

I've scooped them into a breeding trap for the time being. Not sure what to feed them (any ideas?). I've started to make some baby brine shrimp but that'll be a couple of days before anything happens. In the meantime, I'm trying TetraMin baby, Liquifry, frozen lobster eggs, and frozen daphnia. I might give bloodworms a go, too.

They are quite large, around 10-12 mm long (that's a bit over half an inch).

Cheers,

Neale

A couple of pictures here:

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Congrats on your fry, very cute

 

[SnowyzMom]

Way to go on your great looking babies! Sorry I can't help on the fry food as little is available in this town, if any. Mine survive on the live plants and powdered food that reaches them in their current condo...a big batch of java moss. Hope your little guys turn out to be exactly what you want and very healthy!

 

[dwarfgourami]

Congratulations, they look wonderful!

 

[Annastasia]

Congrats on the babies! They are adorable!

I can't help you on the food, sorry, as I've never had Halfbeak fry and I don't want to mislead you! Have you tried searching the forum and Google?

 

[rarefish]

I've heard that live foods work best for baby halfbeaks. They are sooooo cute )! Congrats! I wish I had halfbeaks, I've only studied them from a distance.

rarefish

 

[nmonks]

Hello,

This seems to be the case. My neighbour's pond has some small beasties of various kinds, and mosquito / midge larvae at least seem to be readily eaten. There are lots of Daphnia too, but they don't seem at all keen on them. They snap at a few, but seem to spit them out more often that the eat them. But they're eating something, as I've seen quite a few of them 'pooping'!

(Gosh, I sound like those unbearable moms who go on about their kids nappies / daipers.)

Cheers,

Neale

I've heard that live foods work best for baby halfbeaks. They are sooooo cute )! Congrats! I wish I had halfbeaks, I've only studied them from a distance.

 

[rarefish]

Hmmm. Do you know of a place where you can get live brine shrimp? All of my fish eat it readily, even the picky eaters. If you can't, try frozen brine shrimp, some will go after it others will not. Some fish like night crawlers(regular backyard worms ), but there is a higher risk of parasites. Since your fry seem to be picky, try both frozen and freeze-dried(sorry, I should have posted that before, I was too hung up on the cute little 'beaks' )). Live is best for growing fry, but both frozen and freeze-dried make wonderful substitutes.

rarefish

 

[nmonks]

Hi rarefish,

Yep, I do know a place to get live brine shrimp. In fact that's where I've been this afternoon. Not a great plan as it turned out: I cycled (it's about 6.5 miles away from home) but after about 4 miles a pedal snapped off my bike! So I ended up pushing my bike across country paths for 8+ miles on one of the hottest days of the year...

Anyway, the baby 'beaks have been eating something because they're pooping. I think it's the midge larvae (like mosquitoes, but smaller). I put in some live brine shrimp, but not much interest. They are just too big. But I think I'll be able to keep them alive on midge larvae until the baby brines hatch, and in a couple of days some microworms (nematodes) should be getting here.

So far so good... all the fish seem happy and healthy, and very active. They alternate between swimming into the current and then moving into a corner to rest. Very cute.

Cheers,

Neale