I Have Fry In A Breeding Net

[chishnfips]

Hi folks,

Well I finally have fry from my female estherae! . I have a breeding net in the main tank with the mother in it and 1 fry that she has released (she is still holding some). The fry that was released no longer has an egg sack. I set the breeding net up at the side of the tank near the out flow so it has fresh water pumped through it (nothing heavy just a wee flow). I also put a load of sand in the net to weigh down the bottom and put a piece of slate in as well resting on the supports, which makes a small cave for her and the fry away from the other fish.

But what do I do now, I was considering picking her up and stripping the fry from her but I am not sure how to do this, and releasing her back in with the other fish, or the other option is to let her spit them herself, what do you think is best?

I will nip into the lfs too to get some liquifry or something for the wee ones. Can a feed them finely ground cichlids flakes as well? Once I am paid (in a weeks time) I might try and buy a small tank and heater to put the fry in to grow out.

Any suggestions and help would be much appreciated.

cheers chish

 

[dthoffsett]

Congrats on the new fry! I'd consider stripping her because she'll be stressed by being in a small enclosed place. Here's a great article on stripping.
[URL="http/www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/stripping.php"]http/www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/stripping.php[/URL] It sounds more complicated and scarier than it is. I know I was terrified of hurting my fish the first time I did it, and I think I was more traumatized than she was.

If you can, you'll want to set up a small fry tank soon because the adults can actually suck the fry out right though the net, I've actually seen them do it. If you can't afford much, you can even use a 5gal or more plastic container (like rubbermaid), a heater, and a sponge filter.

As for feeding, I've always just crushed what ever food I have on hand and fed that. I've just never been a fan of the fry foods on the market. Here's a good article on feeding fry.
[URL="http/www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/fry_food.php"]http/www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/fry_food.php[/URL]

And here's another good article on raising fry.
[URL="http/www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/raising_fry.php"]http/www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/raising_fry.php[/URL]

 

[chishnfips]

Quality links there dthoffsett thanks. Well I stripped her this morning before work after reading your threads. And got 11 fry from her!! She is only small just over 2 inches or so and its her second brood (the first one she lost), so I wanted to get them into the net as soon as poss.

They are so cool just swimming about, I tried to make as much cover as possible for them in the breeding net so the other fish wont attack them. I know what you mean about the other fish sucking the fry through the holes but the mesh is extremely fine and the fry are at least 5-6mm long, so I cant see how they would even fit through the gaps. Hopefully they will be ok till I can get a small set up for them.

So this is my first lot of fry ever, well chuffed, and thank you very much for the links, most helpful. I will keep you posted.

cheers chish

 

[chishnfips]

Another quick question, what is the growth rate of mbuna fry? The fry I have dont have egg sacks so they must be about 3 weeks old or there abouts.

I also have a spare 2ft tank lined up for them to grow out in, and a little fluval 1 filter that I can use, so will hopefully have that set up in a day or two, I can use some filter sponge from my fluval 4 so wont have to cycle the wee filter.

 

[dthoffsett]

Growth rate really depends on the species, food, and number of water changes. If you do two or three water changes a week and feed them small amounts 3-4 times a day, they'll grow very quickly. I can't really give you an amount per week since they only fry I raised were yellow labs, and they are notoriously slow growers. I think it took them a little over a month to reach an inch if I remember right.