The nests are laid on a rock so I can't remove them entirely and get all the larvae. I use Chad Vossen larvae traps. Generally a few hundred make it into the trap. I usually only raise one clutch at a time.
My Black Ocellaris pair are spawning!!!
- Thread starter rkelman
- Start date
The nests are laid on a rock so I can't remove them entirely and get all the larvae. I use Chad Vossen larvae traps. Generally a few hundred make it into the trap. I usually only raise one clutch at a time.
Sprockett
New member
I'm going to have to do something, I simply don't have room for another tank of fry where they are at right now. I have 2 survivors left, they are eating and growing and I checked with a flash light last night and they have orange little bellies!! :beer: I have a 5 and a 2.5 not being used right now, so I'm going to have to figure something out and soon before the next batch show up.
Darkening the water helped with hovering on the glass, I watched both swim across the tank this morning and stop to eat. Wish I had known that a few days ago, might have saved more :hmm4:...
You mention you start water changes on about day 7, how long does it take you to get clear water going from the green water? I'm trying to gauge how fast to change out the water.
And how are you getting such great pictures? :bounce1: I'll have to play with my camera today and see if I can get some shots, I'm building out the next fry tank today to get everything ready. Rotifers are on a growing schedule and I should be ready to go for Tuesday night.
We didn't even think we would get this far, I just hope they make it past the morph stage...
Thanks
-Paul-
rkelman
New member
I'm not sure how long it takes for the water to clear using Phyto. Its been so long since I used it.. Dont worry too much about it. If it really bothers you overload the tank with Rots at lights out and they should decimate the phyto before the morning. I drip in the top half of the tank over 1 day if that helps. I wouldn't call my pictures great but I turn the iso up to 800 and put it in aperture priority mode and set the aperture as large as possible.
Sprockett
New member
Meet George:
He is the sole survivor out of about 30 siblings, he seems happy, he sure eats a lot. We moved him into his own 5 gallon where we had more control over everything. He's at 8 days and counting, I've started feeding him Hikari first bites because it was available (the other stuff is on the way), is meant for fry and he likes it. I'm not sure if you can see it in the picture but he's surrounded by bbs, I can grow them like nobody's business
George has about 300 new siblings coming Tuesday night, I'm setting up the fry tank right now, Extra Rots are on order and I'm just about ready to roll. I just hope they next batch does better. I had an old heater go out and had to change it right after they hatched :furious: so they never stood a chance. Then I had rotifer issues, but I've got all that worked out. So here's hoping Tuesday night is a success :beer:
Thanks for all the help...
Fugly Brown Babies
Fugly Brown Babies
Duncaholic, here are my fugly brown babies...I think they're beautiful!!! They vary in color, but overall their color is very rich. These guys are well fed and I do include cyclopeeze in their diet, but the ones I have at school rarely get frozen treats yet still have nice color.
Rkelman, if it wasn't for your thread, these babies might never have been around! I learned a lot from your thread last year, and it helped me successfully raise these! I'm no longer raising black x orange ocellaris, though. I took that orange female and put her with a snowflake male (and put the b/w male with a female snowflake), and now I'm raising their babies!
Fugly Brown Babies
Duncaholic, here are my fugly brown babies...I think they're beautiful!!! They vary in color, but overall their color is very rich. These guys are well fed and I do include cyclopeeze in their diet, but the ones I have at school rarely get frozen treats yet still have nice color.
Rkelman, if it wasn't for your thread, these babies might never have been around! I learned a lot from your thread last year, and it helped me successfully raise these! I'm no longer raising black x orange ocellaris, though. I took that orange female and put her with a snowflake male (and put the b/w male with a female snowflake), and now I'm raising their babies!
Attachments
Sprockett
New member
That gives me hope, George didn't make it. We found him dead today, I ran out of Rots, nothing I could do.
But there is a batch of eyes waiting for the lights to go out, here is the fry catcher setup on the tank:
And here is the fry tank:
it's a 5 gallon all setup and ready to go. I have not greened the water yet, I'm still waiting for my shipment of rot's to get here. If they don't soon I'm going to be in trouble :furious:, and I'll be mad since I paid for next day shipping...
-Paul-
But there is a batch of eyes waiting for the lights to go out, here is the fry catcher setup on the tank:
And here is the fry tank:
it's a 5 gallon all setup and ready to go. I have not greened the water yet, I'm still waiting for my shipment of rot's to get here. If they don't soon I'm going to be in trouble :furious:, and I'll be mad since I paid for next day shipping...
-Paul-
edandsandy
Active member
oops!
edandsandy
Active member
That gives me hope, George didn't make it. We found him dead today, I ran out of Rots, nothing I could do.
But there is a batch of eyes waiting for the lights to go out, here is the fry catcher setup on the tank:
And here is the fry tank:
it's a 5 gallon all setup and ready to go. I have not greened the water yet, I'm still waiting for my shipment of rot's to get here. If they don't soon I'm going to be in trouble :furious:, and I'll be mad since I paid for next day shipping...
-Paul-
Could you please go into some details on your fry catcher, I keep looking at the picture and can not figure it out :mad2:
Sprockett
New member
Sure, I'll attempt to use words to describe it
I bought a clear plastic storage container at Lowes, it's about 12 inches long and probably 6" wide. This is the base for the fry catcher.
Next I take a metal coffee filter from Bed Bath and Beyond, and used the round part of a 2 liter coke bottle (cut off the top and bottom) and using silicone, glued that to the top of the basket. This makes sure that the ONLY water going into the basket comes through the metal filter. This is the most critical step, don't skimp here. I've seen people use 4" PVC which I might switch too.
I place the filter into the basket and into that put a small quite one pump, it's round and meant for small water displays. To that I hook a 3/4" hose. I bend that over into the tank.
I clamp this to the side of the tank, and support it underneath because it will fill with water. In the picture I'm using an empty tank and some shelves to hold it up.
Then I take a U-Tube (you could just use any piece of tubing actually), fill it with water and start a siphon from the tank to the fry catcher. The fry catcher will fill up the level of the tank, then I turn on the pump and it creates a constant suction.
Finally once that's working (I set it up the minute I get home to let everyone in the tank get used to it), I place a small LED light on the glass.
Last night I turned off the tank, put in a battery powered air stone and let the fry catcher run in the dark for about 45 minutes. When I checked the tank with a flash light I could see fry bobbing around. So I turn on the light right next to the intake tube and go back to bed.
The fry being phototropic (SP?) will swim over to the light, when they get close enough they get gently pulled into the fry catcher.
A couple of things I've learned:
I was able to catch about 40 fry last night, took about 2 hours total. I turned everything off in the tank room and checked twice, once I saw fry it took another 45 to catch them all. I only had to tinker with the last couple of stragglers, a dim flashlight moving slowly will capture their attention and they will follow to the tube.
Let me know if you have other questions, I'm actually putting a tile down on their spot when I get home tonight so hopefully I can just pull the tile.
Cheers
-Paul-
I bought a clear plastic storage container at Lowes, it's about 12 inches long and probably 6" wide. This is the base for the fry catcher.
Next I take a metal coffee filter from Bed Bath and Beyond, and used the round part of a 2 liter coke bottle (cut off the top and bottom) and using silicone, glued that to the top of the basket. This makes sure that the ONLY water going into the basket comes through the metal filter. This is the most critical step, don't skimp here. I've seen people use 4" PVC which I might switch too.
I place the filter into the basket and into that put a small quite one pump, it's round and meant for small water displays. To that I hook a 3/4" hose. I bend that over into the tank.
I clamp this to the side of the tank, and support it underneath because it will fill with water. In the picture I'm using an empty tank and some shelves to hold it up.
Then I take a U-Tube (you could just use any piece of tubing actually), fill it with water and start a siphon from the tank to the fry catcher. The fry catcher will fill up the level of the tank, then I turn on the pump and it creates a constant suction.
Finally once that's working (I set it up the minute I get home to let everyone in the tank get used to it), I place a small LED light on the glass.
Last night I turned off the tank, put in a battery powered air stone and let the fry catcher run in the dark for about 45 minutes. When I checked the tank with a flash light I could see fry bobbing around. So I turn on the light right next to the intake tube and go back to bed.
The fry being phototropic (SP?) will swim over to the light, when they get close enough they get gently pulled into the fry catcher.
A couple of things I've learned:
- A bigger intake or u-tube is slower and better on delicate fry.
- I seal the bottom of the coffee filter to the bottom of the container, if I don't then fry will hide under there and possibly get crushed.
- You don't need or want a lot of flow, on the U-Tube they don't even realize they are moving until they are in the other tank.
- I like to run the fry catcher for a bit to catch any large shrimp that always come to investigate. If I leave it running from the time I get home then I can pull those out before I start catching fry.
I was able to catch about 40 fry last night, took about 2 hours total. I turned everything off in the tank room and checked twice, once I saw fry it took another 45 to catch them all. I only had to tinker with the last couple of stragglers, a dim flashlight moving slowly will capture their attention and they will follow to the tube.
Let me know if you have other questions, I'm actually putting a tile down on their spot when I get home tonight so hopefully I can just pull the tile.
Cheers
-Paul-
Last edited:
edandsandy
Active member
You description was PERFECT!
I could not tell if the fry were being pulled in by the u-tube or the other tube....
Thank you so much for your time! We have a pair laying eggs all the time.
I think I want to "try" rearing the fry this time.
Good luck tonight!
I could not tell if the fry were being pulled in by the u-tube or the other tube....
Thank you so much for your time! We have a pair laying eggs all the time.
I think I want to "try" rearing the fry this time.
Good luck tonight!
In case anyone wants a pre-made fry catcher, I use 2 of these. They are great. In about an hour I catch a few hundred larvae while sitting on the couch. Chad is local to me. He's a good guy and these are great, affordable traps.
http://chadvossen.blogspot.com/2010/05/larval-fish-traps.html
http://chadvossen.blogspot.com/2010/05/larval-fish-traps.html
Sprockett
New member
Everything worked as planned last night, we ended up with about 40-50 fry last night, I lost 5 this evening when I got home. Vacuumed them out when I cleaned the tank, the rest seem to be OK.
But I still don't have Rot's, there was a mix up with the order, someone got sick and even though we got a receipt and everything, they actually didn't ship anything at all. So I have a bag coming tomorrow, in the meantime I emptied out what I had into the tank but I found a problem this evening. Somehow BBS made it into the water, so now I have 2 day old fry and BBS in the same tank. I have a filter just for BBS and can siphon out the water and remove them, should I do that or just leave it as is and add the new rots when they show up tomorrow?
I'm very mad over this whole situation, Rots are supposed to be easy but I can't seem to get them under control and keep a dense population. Very very frustrating, it makes me wonder if I can actually pull this off or not. I'm going to start trying them on Hikari and see if they will eat that.
Help!!!!
-Paul-
But I still don't have Rot's, there was a mix up with the order, someone got sick and even though we got a receipt and everything, they actually didn't ship anything at all. So I have a bag coming tomorrow, in the meantime I emptied out what I had into the tank but I found a problem this evening. Somehow BBS made it into the water, so now I have 2 day old fry and BBS in the same tank. I have a filter just for BBS and can siphon out the water and remove them, should I do that or just leave it as is and add the new rots when they show up tomorrow?
I'm very mad over this whole situation, Rots are supposed to be easy but I can't seem to get them under control and keep a dense population. Very very frustrating, it makes me wonder if I can actually pull this off or not. I'm going to start trying them on Hikari and see if they will eat that.
Help!!!!
-Paul-
rkelman
New member
I like George he's beautiful
Hi Eileen Good job they look very healthy. Lets see some pics of the snowflake X babies!
You might find they will be ok tomorrow when your Rots arrive. Really you need to get your cultures going though. You probably should let this batch go. I wouldnt worry too much about the BBS they will likely be too big for the fry anyways right?
Hi Eileen Good job they look very healthy. Lets see some pics of the snowflake X babies!
You might find they will be ok tomorrow when your Rots arrive. Really you need to get your cultures going though. You probably should let this batch go. I wouldnt worry too much about the BBS they will likely be too big for the fry anyways right?
edandsandy
Active member
Where do you buy live Rots?
Sprockett
New member
You can get Rots at Reed Mariculture (google them), they got us a bag today and every one is now eating
They have been the only reliable vendor so far (haven't tried them all, just speaking of the ones I've dealt with), two have promised orders and then not shipped them. But Cathy at Reed answered questions and shipped what she promised and we are now rollin in rots
They have been the only reliable vendor so far (haven't tried them all, just speaking of the ones I've dealt with), two have promised orders and then not shipped them. But Cathy at Reed answered questions and shipped what she promised and we are now rollin in rots
Sprockett
New member
Bad news...
Our mortality rate is really high, like around %60...:sad2:
I have plenty of rots in the water and some BBS in there as well.
The water params are:
Temp: 80.7
Nitrate: About 30ppm
Nitrite: < .5
Alk: 300
Ph: Around 8
Salinity: 1.018
I can see the rots moving, we are on day 3 now and I just pulled another 3 from the bottom. Not sure what we are doing wrong, the water runs through an RODI unit, I never use tap. I darkened the water and that stopped the hovering on the glass, I'm just not sure what else to do.
I've started small amounts of Hikari to see if they will eat that (looks like a couple are), we can see some of them hunting. My wife watched them today and said some would swim in a straight line with an open mouth, but that others are striking.
For the parents, they are prepping for another batch. Is there special food I can give them to get stronger fry? I feed twice a day, once in the morning and there I do frozen one day, and flake the next and then flake at night.
Not sure what I'm missing...
-Paul-
Our mortality rate is really high, like around %60...:sad2:
I have plenty of rots in the water and some BBS in there as well.
The water params are:
Temp: 80.7
Nitrate: About 30ppm
Nitrite: < .5
Alk: 300
Ph: Around 8
Salinity: 1.018
I can see the rots moving, we are on day 3 now and I just pulled another 3 from the bottom. Not sure what we are doing wrong, the water runs through an RODI unit, I never use tap. I darkened the water and that stopped the hovering on the glass, I'm just not sure what else to do.
I've started small amounts of Hikari to see if they will eat that (looks like a couple are), we can see some of them hunting. My wife watched them today and said some would swim in a straight line with an open mouth, but that others are striking.
For the parents, they are prepping for another batch. Is there special food I can give them to get stronger fry? I feed twice a day, once in the morning and there I do frozen one day, and flake the next and then flake at night.
Not sure what I'm missing...
-Paul-
In addition to the phyto thing, I put eggcrate over the top of my larvae tank and white computer paper on top of that. It dispurses the light. They don't need much light but any severe light seems to drive them into the walls. Some of them will still continue to swim into the walls even with the eggcrate. :hmm3:
