Juvie/fry Neolamprologus Multifasciatus Mortality?

[pumh]

Hello there! I have a cycled 10 gallon tank that will have some in it. i have found a local breeder or owner that has babies, and he said he has 3-5 juvies taht he'll sell for $5 each, and a LOT of fry of various sizes that he will give me for $1 a piece. so my question is that if i buy a group of like 4 fry will it be most likely that some will die? what do you think is a better buy, 6 fry or 3-4 juvies? also i've read that usually the fry are able to eat the "left overs" of their parents, but since there will be no parents what should i feed them? i currently have flakes and pellets on hand.

thank you for any and all help.

 

[ashemely]

With proper care, there shouldn't be a problem with deaths of the fry or juvies, assuming that the fry/juvies are around the same size. If you had a large juvie and a small juvie the small one may get picked on. I would go for a group of juvies, just because the growth rate for Multies seem to be quite slow, but I am guessing that also depends on how much you feed them. I use crushed flake food for my fry, by rubbing the flake in between my fingers. You can also buy powdered flake food specifically for fry if you do opt for the tiny fellas.

 

[pumh]

Okay so you said their growth rate is rather slow, but I'm just curious about how long would it take for a fry to get to adult size, also how long for a juvie to adult? The person I am buying from saysthat the juvies are about half the size of his females. Would there be a good chance of getting at least a male and a female if I get 3? Wouldi be okay if I had 2 males and a female and still leave all three together in the 10 gallon tank? Sort for so many questions just wanna get it right.

 

[ashemely]

I'm not positive on how long it takes for a fry to become full grown. I have eight month old fry/juvies in my tank and they still have a long way to go until adult size, but I am guessing that the more you feed the juvies/fry the quicker they will grow. I only have a 12 gallon tank so I don't like overfeeding them because that means more water changes for me. I definitely do not think it would be ok to have more than one male in a 10 gallon tank. Just in case this happens you could ask the seller if he would be alright swapping out a male for a female if you did turn out to get two males.

Don't worry about asking so many questions, it's what the forums are for.

 

[pumh]

okay so what do you think a good start number is(I'll be buying them as juvies)?