My First Batch Of Wrigglers!

[Netty]

Keep the pics coming Emelee, it's always great to see other people babies growing and yours are looking nice and healthy. The first week is always the most nerve wracking, making sure that they are all eating well and it's always great to see their fat little bellies lol You should be able to see their fins start to grow more now and then in a few more weeks the colour will start showing in their fins too. Well done for getting them to a week old

 

[emeleeliggett]

Well I'm pretty disappointed, I've been seeing more and more fry as the days went on then suddenly they've all disappeared!! I now see 4 at the most instead of in the 20's. I tried giving them some microworms but they didn't seem to know what to do with them. The ones that are left are all top-feeders and don't seem to go to the bottom of the tank to eat the worms.

I'm worried I'll lose the whole batch!! Is there any emergency fry food they'll eat!! I keep thinking they're going to starve to death and I only seem to have a few left.

Thanks for any help you guys.

 

[CraigBaines]

I wouldnt worrie too much unless your finding dead ones.

I know that when i actually moved my fry, i ended up with a lot mor ethan what i tought was in there lol!


Question for you guys - My fry are id say about 6/7 weeks old now, the colours are coming out nicly, and they are starting to get a little aggresive. Iv ordered two heater for the containers i have, but im waiting for them in the post.

At the moment there all together, and i found one dead yesterday, and one dead today! Iv not changed anything, and they all seem to be perfectly heatly. All i can think is that there fighting?

Any idea's, or is it exspected for a few to die off at about this age? =[

 

[emeleeliggett]

I don't see any dead ones but I do have snails that might be eating them. I also just saw a bigger fry try to bite a smaller one! There are some that are still tiny for some reason and a larger one will pick on it. I'm just worried. Are they going cannibalistic on each other?


CraigBaines- Sounds like yours might be fighting already. You could try and separate the most aggressive and see what happens.

 

[DreyOfAud]

Keep posting pics! I just love browsing these forums and watching the baby fishies. Very fascinating! Keep up the good work! I plan on breeding mine some time this summer.

 

[CraigBaines]

Yer, well iv managed to get trays about 4 ft by 3, iv filled them with water, then sat the containers that the fish will be going in, in that.

Im waiting for heaters iv just ordered to come in the post, ill put on in each to heat the lot... hopfully my plan will work, iv fitted 24 in one and 21 in the other.

Iv got a 10 gall tank which ill keep the remander in. Should be about 20... ill have to make sure that ijust females in there. Going to be tricky trying to work out which are male / female though lol. Im a first time breeder !

 

[emeleeliggett]

Thanks DreyOfAud, I'll hopefully post more pictures soon! I also enjoy reading the journals of fry-adult fish. It's so cool to see them grow!

CraigBaines-As long as you separate the aggressive ones, it doesn't matter if they are male or female. Smaller males who are gentle/nice to the others can stay longer in the group. Even some females are mean and need to be by themselves . If I were you I'd just watch the fry and whenever you see a mean one, net it and keep it by itself until you get only the nice ones in the 10 gallon.

 

[CraigBaines]

yer but knowig my luck, id leave a male in there come back and they'd bred all over again lmao

 

[emeleeliggett]

yer but knowig my luck, id leave a male in there come back and they'd bred all over again lmao

That would be fun!

 

[Netty]

How are your babies doing today Emelee?

The first month is usually the worst time for losing babies and after that you generally wont lose anymore if they are kept properly and eating well.

 

[emeleeliggett]

Hi all! Netty the babies are doing well. There are getting their dorsal fins and I have one I'm wanting to call Goliath because he's twice as big as the rest. And so dark! He's almost 2 cm and had his first taste of BBS today.


I have some more pictures but I will WARN everyone, there is gravel in the tank. I realize many people frown upon this for a fry tank but I think it makes the tank more realistic and the fry like to hide down in the pebbles. I know this is why I don't have 100 fry but I plan on keeping most/all of the fry so it is more realistic to have 10-15 fry left.

So, onto the pictures of my babies!

 

[Netty]

So cute.....but you may have far more than you think hidden down near the gravel

 

[mfcclc]

They are looking great emelee!! I had a count up yesterday after removing some that had died and i'm left with about 20, there are 7 in particular that stand out as they are a lot bigger than the rest. Have also just started them on bbs as well as the walter worms. Although i lost quite a few i noticed a lot of the dead ones spines were curved so it was best they didn't survive really, i'll be happy if i only get one or two survivors to be honest!! Still working on pics, the camera went flat that i borrowed so had to wait for the charger, aahhhh!!! Anyway i'm glad ur babies are doing so well x

 

[emeleeliggett]

I haven't seen many that have died, probably because of the gravel hiding them. It does make it pretty hard to count, especially since they blend right in!

I'm sure you'll have most of them survive now, mfcclc, yours are almost two weeks now right? I thought that was the hardest period. Congrats on 20 babies! I agree though, as long as 1 or 2 survive I'm pretty happy.

 

[emeleeliggett]

Whoo hoo! More pictures!! I turned my sponge filter off and all the babies decided that's their new hangout to search for food. I counted 13 just around the filter, nibbling on it and chasing each other around. They will be 2 weeks old tomorrow and I think they are doing great!

Grouping around the filter...

A cutie I found on a leaf, this is a lighter one but half seem to be a darker brown color while the others are light like this. Hmm...