Finally, I Have Fry! ...and They're So Cute!

[Eines]

I've been trying for three months to get my swordtails to have fry, but it never worked. The last female that was pregnant gave birth in the community tank the day before I wanted to move her to my breeding tank!!! That was so frustrating. Anyway, two days ago I put my pregnant gold bar swordtail into the breeding tank and yesterday when I got home from school, she had obviously given birth. When I couldn't see any fry, I was sure I'd failed yet again, but suddenly I notice one lone fry stuck between a floating leaf and the wall of the aquarium, so I quickly moved the mother out. Then half an hour later there were two fry, then three, and now I've counted seven, possibly eight!!! The daddy is a koi sword, so I'm hoping some of them might look like him, although right now they all seem to be looking like the mother (not that you can really tell right now...) Anyway, I have some questions:

1: when I put the "micro flakes" in there, how do I know they're eating them? The tank is ten gallons, so it's impossible to see all the fry. Sure they swim about and seem to be looking for food, but I've never actually seen them consume any! It worries me a little. As for liquifry, it doesn't seem to exist in Germany.

2: about how old will they be when they can start eating newly hatched brime shrimp? and how long does it take for them to hatch so I know when to buy them.

3: will those tiny tiny tiny TINY little fish really keep my ten gallon cycled? I've put a pair of otos in there...is that necessary though?

thanks for reading and answering any questions!

 

[Piltdownpaul]

What are micro flakes? With my young i use standard fish food but crumble it really fine between my fingers so its like a dust. The fry start eating normally a day or two after birth. They will graze and peck at algae thats knocking about too. Ive never used brine shrimp with my fry and i have a LOT of fry.If you have births every 28 days or so(normal with a livebearer) you will run out of room soon.

 

[Eines]

micro flakes are flakes for babies (basically finely ground flakes which are sold for a high price)

I don't plan on keeping most of them! I hope that with the right food they'll be ready for the petstore in a month or two at the most. I know a really good place where I know they'll be taken care of. so hopefully, room won't be too much of a problem. (although, since I have three females, I probably won't be able to save all the fry they produce)

 

[Piltdownpaul]

Ok on the microflakes-sounds like a money making game!!! I only use ground up normal flake or occasionally liquifry no.2,maybe you could get it off ebay? It builds the fry up much quicker as its full of protein.

 

[Eines]

oh yeah, I didn't think about ebay. I'll see what I can find!

 

[AngelOfDeath]

all you need to do is place a pinch of flakes on a plate, then grind them in a circular motion with a flat based glass
thn feed that to the fry, works great

 

[Eines]

thanks for the tip. Yeah, I doubt I'll be buying microflakes again.

 

[5teady_2012]

Just the fry in the tank is fine.

Why not just feed them, crushed flake, crushed protien food, crushed pellets? you can blend them up in a blender, or just put them in a bag and crush them up with ya hand.

BBS )baby brine shrimp) take anywhere from 16-36 hours to hatch, i found mine seem to always hatch after 24.

 

[Eines]

well, the fry are now five days old and huge in comparison to how big they were before (no probs with feeding, lol) I've counted 10 now and there could be more, fwee!

 

[fishyfreak]

Congrats to you and the new mother! I used to put some flakes in a zip-lock bag and grind them into a powder with my fingers. You may not see them eat but they do.

 

[kevinthecow]

You dont need to feed them fo rthe first day. They have a yolk sac or something, that they feed off.

 

[Eines]

thanks for the tips. they're eating fine now.