My first potential spawn

[Apistoguy52]

Do you guys turn off the filter when feeding especially with small stuff like banana worms live/frozen BBS daphnia?

I do not (sponge filters turned down pretty low)

 

[ue222]

and this may be a silly question but should I be rinsing the BBS or if a tiny bit of the saltwater gets into the tank is that normal?

 

[MacZ]

Rinse. Just as a good practice. You have to use a fine mesh sieve anyway, so the step is not hurting unless to plan to set a record for most Artemia fed within a minute directly from the hatchery.

 

[ue222]

Rinse. Just as a good practice. You have to use a fine mesh sieve anyway, so the step is not hurting unless to plan to set a record for most Artemia fed within a minute directly from the hatchery.

Haha thank you yeah the dish comes with a tiny sieve, some hatched by now about 26 hours at 20 C not much but good to see what the end result is. Fed a tiny bit the pair and pencils loved them. So what do I store the extra in? Just a jar with fresh saltwater at the same ppm they hatch at, fridge to last longer?

 

[MacZ]

Artemia nauplii live 4 to 8 hours in freshwater and 2 days in the fridge in saltwater. You don't have to hit exactly the same salt content. Just mix in parts as with the hatchery.

You will see, you will start to collect small vessels. Tupperware, takeaway sauce containers, jars from in-vitro plants...

 

[Mike Wise]

I wouldn't heat your hatcher directly. Instead put it in a bucket or other container, fill with enough water and heat the water. It also works for developing photo film (remember that stuff?)

 

[anewbie]

When it is too cold i just use a small (40 watt) incandesent light bulb in a lamp directly above it. Also the light helps attrack the babies into the tingy that strains them.

 

[xSparkleZ]

Do you guys turn off the filter when feeding especially with small stuff like banana worms live/frozen BBS daphnia?

I think this boils down to current and how fast they eat the portion of food you are offering.

For what its worth, I turn my sponge filter off and the lights making it completely dark in the fish room.

I take small flashlights and turn it on over the tanks beside the feeding hole where I place my pipette.

It helps the BBS to stay concentrated in one area and the fry all swim towards the concentrated light.

I find that works best instead of target feeding a larger area to ensure everyone has access to the food and risking some of the food escaping to areas for fry to hide.

It also saves time as I can just feed one tank and move down the assembly line.

Once all have been fed, I go back to the first tank I fed and turn the filter and lights back on.

Over time, you will notice your fry swarm to the feeding area when the filter turns off.

 

[xSparkleZ]

I wouldn't heat your hatcher directly. Instead put it in a bucket or other container, fill with enough water and heat the water. It also works for developing photo film (remember that stuff?)

This is what I do as well.
I place my Hatchery over my buckets where I store my aged water for water changes.

 

[ue222]

Wow, such great information from everyone thank you!

She is still guarding the cave and bright yellow/black, I see her going inside the cave and still protecting the area from the pencils and makes sure the male keeps a little distance. Basically the exact same behavior since Jan 22. Maybe going inside the cave a tad less and staying outside a little more. Just don’t see wigglers yet.

I’m expecting the first couple spawns to probably not work out as new parents but would she be guarding and colored up like this if the eggs didn’t hatch? I assume eggs were laid Jan 22 5pm ET, and I thought they hatch in about 48 hours.

 

[Apistoguy52]

My money is on free swimming fry tomorrow. The eggs hatched on the 24th, the wigglers should be swimming by the 7/8th day

 

[ue222]

My money is on free swimming fry tomorrow. The eggs hatched on the 24th, the wigglers should be swimming by the 7/8th day

Wow ok I have my leftover first hatch of BBS in the fridge since about 6 hours ago and will start another batch right now. I tried to shine a flashlight in the cave while she was not in it but cannot see much because of the angle of the opening to the light. But stopped trying to see and check to not startle anything. The 24th was my birthday so maybe I got some first time beginners/birthday luck.

 

[xSparkleZ]

If the eggs are viable, I would agree with Apistoguy52.

I have a tracker that I document for each of my pairs and it covers parameters and behaviors of the parents for every Spawn.

I keep my tanks at 26C and I usually have free swimming fry on day 7.
I also notice that the female moves the fry from the initial cave to another cave once they become wigglers.

 

[ue222]

If the eggs are viable, I would agree with Apistoguy52.

I have a tracker that I document for each of my pairs and it covers parameters and behaviors of the parents for every Spawn.

I keep my tanks at 26C and I usually have free swimming fry on day 7.
I also notice that the female moves the fry from the initial cave to another cave once they become wigglers.

Ok thank you, so would she only be still guarding the cave and color yellow if the eggs were viable or could she display this behavior after 6 days of spawning if they weren’t viable? I guess either way I’ll find out shortly.

She picked a terracotta that’s in the middle of the tank there’s a coconut half pushed into the sand on either end of the tank and some natural crevices as well so if she wants to move fry she can.

 

[ue222]

Also temp is between 25.5 and 26.0 C

 

[xSparkleZ]

Ok thank you, so would she only be still guarding the cave and color yellow if the eggs were viable or could she display this behavior after 6 days of spawning if they weren’t viable? I guess either way I’ll find out shortly.

She picked a terracotta that’s in the middle of the tank there’s a coconut half pushed into the sand on either end of the tank and some natural crevices as well so if she wants to move fry she can.

Ultimately, I think every pair is different, but I have had one time when my female exhibited the same behaviors of defending her phantom eggs and territory even after the male came in and ate the eggs when she was outside of the cave.
They were still young and both were first time parents.

The only difference I saw was that the female would show her belly after she tail slapped the male away from the cave.
I don't normally see this submissive behavior when she is actually defending her eggs.
Typically, it happens more often when she is showing the male that she is full of eggs and wants him to follow her back to her cave she has cleaned out.

Nevertheless, I think you're very close to finding out.
If she is spending the majority of her time in that cave, fanning the eggs by staying in front of the entrance, and you see her periodically make her rounds to the other caves to take a peek for predators while defending her territory, I think you should be fine.

 

[ue222]

Ultimately, I think every pair is different, but I have had one time when my female exhibited the same behaviors of defending her phantom eggs and territory even after the male came in and ate the eggs when she was outside of the cave.
They were still young and both were first time parents.

The only difference I saw was that the female would show her belly after she tail slapped the male away from the cave.
I don't normally see this submissive behavior when she is actually defending her eggs.
Typically, it happens more often when she is showing the male that she is full of eggs and wants him to follow her back to her cave she has cleaned out.

Nevertheless, I think you're very close to finding out.
If she is spending the majority of her time in that cave, fanning the eggs by staying in front of the entrance, and you see her periodically make her rounds to the other caves to take a peek for predators while defending her territory, I think you should be fine.

Very interesting. Just the tail slapping as far as I’ve seen. Making the rounds and protecting the area. Just not inside the cave as much as first 3 or so days where it was constant in and out. But I guess that would have been when she was fanning the eggs before they hatched into wigglers.

Now that I have the BBS going I feel good just in case I see some free swimmers next day or two. If I see fry safe to start feeding BBS? How many times a day. I have the banana and microworm starters but don’t think they will be ready to harvest yet they came in bad shape.

 

[ue222]

Spare the new thread:
The bigger the growout, the better. Simply because you can get away with less waterchanges. Let's assume you have 20-30 fry you can move to the growout after the mother stops caring. In an 80 liter tank that would be at least 2, maybe 3, 50% waterchanges a week. In a 160 liter tank 1-2 50% a week will be sufficient.

Would a 75Lx30Wx45H cm 110 liter (Aqueon 29 US gallon) tank be reasonable for grow out with 2 50% water changes per week?

 

[anewbie]

Would a 75Lx30Wx45H cm 110 liter (Aqueon 29 US gallon) tank be reasonable for grow out with 2 50% water changes per week?

Iniitally it would be fine but when they get larger - maybe 1/2 to 3/4 an inch then it would become more problematic.

 

[ue222]

Iniitally it would be fine but when they get larger - maybe 1/2 to 3/4 an inch then it would become more problematic.

Would it be ok in a 40 gallon breeder or will it still become problematic without something like a 55 or 60 breeder before they hit sexable/saleable age