Growing out A. baenshci

[JasonC]

Hi,

So I was fortunate enough to purchase 10 A. baenschi at ACA this year that are between 3/8" and 1" sizes. I have been feeding them a crushed brine shrimp flake along with newly hatched brine when I can as I learn how to get best results hatching them. They seem to be responding well, but I would like to vary their diet a bit more. Any reccomendations on where to go from here? I would assume more live foods? I have heard Micro Worms are popular.. how do I get them started?

Thanks!!

 

[briztoon]

I like live mossie larvae and Hikari micro wafers and micro pellets (I mix the two in a container - it's my stapple dry foods for dwarves). 40% water change twice a week.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
They are a bit big for microworm, they only need these when they are small fry. For day to day feeding in the summer I use Grindal worm, Daphnia and Mosquito larvae (both bloodworms and mosquito larvae) with some earthworms and astaxanthin rich pellet food. In the winter I still feed the Grindal worms and pellets, but add a mix of spirulina and earthworm flakes and Ad Konig's frozen shrimp mix. Bloodworms, Earthworms and Daphnia are available all year around in the milder bits of the UK, but cultures are less productive in the winter, and wild sources may be frozen.

cheers Darrel

 

[Mike Wise]

Frequent water changes will always help with growth, too.

 

[JasonC]

Hi all,
They are a bit big for microworm, they only need these when they are small fry. For day to day feeding in the summer I use Grindal worm, Daphnia and Mosquito larvae (both bloodworms and mosquito larvae) with some earthworms and astaxanthin rich pellet food. In the winter I still feed the Grindal worms and pellets, but add a mix of spirulina and earthworm flakes and Ad Konig's frozen shrimp mix. Bloodworms, Earthworms and Daphnia are available all year around in the milder bits of the UK, but cultures are less productive in the winter, and wild sources may be frozen.

cheers Darrel

Gotcha on the Grindal worm recommendation. Just ordered a culture to get me started with. So at this point are BBS not all that useful? Are they more meant for first foods only?

Frequent water changes will always help with growth, too.

Lets see if I have learned anything... is this due to the fact the more toxins, etc. that are in the water, the more stunted, or slowed the growth of the fry/juvies?

One other question. I am getting ready to go on vacation at the end of the week, for 7 days. Would these guys be fine on their own, or would putting a crushed flake (or any of the above mentioned dry foods) in an autofeeder such as this one( http://tinyurl.com/4y6bk83 ) be a more preferable feeding solution while I am away?

thanks again!!

 

[JasonC]

I like live mossie larvae and Hikari micro wafers and micro pellets (I mix the two in a container - it's my stapple dry foods for dwarves). 40% water change twice a week.

Thanks for the recommendation for these dry foods. Think I can find these locally, so I'll go pick some up to give them a try.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
A Grindal worm culture was the best investment I ever made.

So at this point are BBS not all that useful? Are they more meant for first foods only?

No you can always feed BBS to the fish, they never get tired of them and even full grown Apistogramma will eat them. A lot of people use them as their standard food.

If you are interested in "live food" Hellweg's book "Culturing Live Foods: A Step-by-Step Guide for Culturing One's Own Food for the Home Aquarium" is worth getting.

cheers Darrel

 

[Mike Wise]

Lets see if I have learned anything... is this due to the fact the more toxins, etc. that are in the water, the more stunted, or slowed the growth of the fry/juvies?

The more one feeds, the more pollutants/waste is released into the aquarium. The lower the water quality, which puts stress on the fish. Would you grow up healthier in a nice neighborhood or next to a waste dump?

One other question. I am getting ready to go on vacation at the end of the week, for 7 days. Would these guys be fine on their own, or would putting a crushed flake (or any of the above mentioned dry foods) in an autofeeder such as this one( http://tinyurl.com/4y6bk83 ) be a more preferable feeding solution while I am away?

Personally, neither option is good. I usually avoid possible pollution problems while out of town by doing nothing about food. I let the fry find food naturally growing in the aquarum. Sponge filters are a great source of micro-organisms.

 

[gerald]

Live blackworms chopped into 1/2 inch pieces will live indefinitely in your tanks (and grow into new worms if not eaten) so I often put those in when going away for a few days. I would not feed Apistos whole blackworms until the fish are 2" or so.

 

[JasonC]

Personally, neither option is good. I usually avoid possible pollution problems while out of town by doing nothing about food. I let the fry find food naturally growing in the aquarum. Sponge filters are a great source of micro-organisms.

There is a sponge filter in the tank that will have been up and running for about a month and a half. Is this enough time to build up enough microorganisms so that I shouldnt have to worry bout the juvies while I am away? If not, is there anything I can do to "prime" the filter with some growth before I go?

It sounds like it would be best to nix the idea of the autofeeder and see if I can convince someone to stop in at the house every couple of days to put in a pinch of flake?

Live blackworms chopped into 1/2 inch pieces will live indefinitely in your tanks (and grow into new worms if not eaten) so I often put those in when going away for a few days. I would not feed Apistos whole blackworms until the fish are 2" or so.

I've heard that blackworms are *really* touch & go as far as not being contaminated w/ parasites, etc unless you can find them from a trusted source? Is this true? My only local "trusted sources" (that I know of) are high quality LFS's... both which have closed in the past 2 years due to the economy

 

[Mike Wise]

Personally, I would never use any freshwater aquatic foods unless they were produced by me in tanks. Food from outdoor ponds can carry fish pathogens if they get water from sources with fish. Foods like aquatic worms also require a septic environment to reproduce.

 

[JasonC]

Got my Grindal worm culture in the mail today. Amazing that the lil buggers knew exactly what to do with those lil white worms as soon as they hit the water. Havent seen them eat that voraciously yet. Now need to figure out splitting the culture so I dont use it up too fast.

 

[gerald]

Yup, that certainly is a risk with live, frozen, even freeze-dried foods (anything uncooked) harvested from the wild, farms, or wastewater ponds. Agree with Mike that home-grown live foods are a safer bet. For newly acquired or sensitive fish I use mainly mosquitoes, bloodworms and moina from my rain barrels (no fish exposure) plus my indoor food cultures. But I also use blackworms for many fish. Since 2009 I've been getting my blackworms solely from CA Aquatic Foods, where they're grown using pelleted (cooked) feed in worm-only ponds (using groundwater and filtered stream water, according to the website). Seems like they oughta be safer than most other blackworm and bloodworm sources harvested from aquaculture waste ponds. So far I havent noticed any problems that I'd attribute to worm-transmitted diseases. However, if/when I try checkerboards or chocolate gouramis again I think I'll play it safe and stick with my home-grown foods.

>> Mike Wise wrote: Personally, I would never use any freshwater aquatic foods unless they were produced by me in tanks. Food from outdoor ponds can carry fish pathogens if they get water from sources with fish. Foods like aquatic worms also require a septic environment to reproduce.