# I have fry!



## Skylarbelle1977 (Oct 2, 2006)

I have a pair of angels who have been laying eggs for a year. My sucker fish kept eating them. I have finally put up a divider in the tank and they once again laid eggs. But for the first time I HAVE FRY!! They are still in the tank with the parents. I have read that I shouldn't feed them BBS until day 5. Should I move them to their own tank at day 5 and feed them then? What do I do now?


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

Depends on your seriousness of breeding. Most remove the parents. You can remove the fry instead but that adds stress. Feeding bbs on day 5 is fine. The parents May or may not eat them.


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## Skylarbelle1977 (Oct 2, 2006)

if I remove the parents when should I do that?

mama is tending to them nicely now. scooping them up in her mouth and placing them back on the leaf if they wiggle off.


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

Normally, after 3-5 days when the eggsacs are used up and most of the fry are freeswimming. Then they can fend for themselves.


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## Skylarbelle1977 (Oct 2, 2006)

any other tips or hints? I really want these babies to make it!


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## craftyflalady (Jan 25, 2006)

_As long as the parents are careing for them. Let them remain with the parents. They may end up being very good parents.Try leaving them a night light at night, it helps alot. 

If your still afraid of the parents eatting them or have other fish in the tank with the parents, Remove the fry right before they go freeswimming. You will begin to see one or two of the fry starting to swim and then head back to wiggling. I use a piece of airline and just suck them into a smaller tank along with tank water from the parents tank. Then it's all on you to raise them. So think hard before you do that. 

Do you have the time it takes to tend fry? { Mine get fed 6 times a day } Do you have a plan to keep them and let them grow out? Angels need large grow out tanks to veil out properly. at the very least a bare bottom 29 gal...55 gal would be alot better. Then you have to find homes for all the fry. 

Just a few things to consider. Hope that helped some. 

Good luck,
Kathy _


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## Skylarbelle1977 (Oct 2, 2006)

If I leave them with the parents, is there a chance they will survive? or are the parents sure to eat them? 

I have a 29 gallon that I plan to put them in. The pet store told me that they would pay me $5 per fish (a $5 store credit if they didn't really need them) I would be happy if a few lived, I would keep them myself.


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## darkfalz (May 7, 2006)

Get microworms or a BBS hatchery going. S


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## doggydad38 (Jan 18, 2005)

Deciding on whether to let the parents raise the fry is a crap shoot. Sounds to me like the parents are doing what they are supposed to do. If it were my decision, I'd leave them where they are. Fry that are raised by their parents tend to raise their own fry as adults. I had a pair years ago that went in stages. First, they ate the eggs. Then they ate the fry when they hatched. Next, they ate them when they became free swimming. It wasn't until their 4th batch of fry that they raised them. They were super parents from that point on and the fry did extremely well. Always give your Angel pairs the opportunity to be parents. You will know soon enough if you will need to raise the fry artificially. Just my opinion and experience with Angels.
Tony


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## Skylarbelle1977 (Oct 2, 2006)

they are 5 days old today. not free swimming but very close. they are all in a clump on a leaf. They wiggle free a bit but then go back to the group. I think tomorrow they will be swimming. Mama has done wonderfully so far. she fanned and fanned theose eggs, then tended to them perfectly. now if one wiggles too far away she scoops it up with her mouth and puts it back. Dad has been off in the corner "guarding". Today I saw him being a more active parent. he was scooping the wigglers up and spitting them back on the leaf. my bbs haven't hatched yet. Hoping I get some soon!


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## doggydad38 (Jan 18, 2005)

Sounds like you got a good pair of Angels. Best of luck.
Tony


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## darkfalz (May 7, 2006)

BBS hatching can be very frustrating, if the conditions aren't right they just don't hatch, and even if you hatch some it's impossible to separate from the unhatched to get any kind of harvest. Microworms are a million times easier.


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## Skylarbelle1977 (Oct 2, 2006)

I bought the little black box bbs kit at the pet store for $7.99. they hatched within 12 hours and there were TONS. yes I am hatching them again now since they need to be fed so often 

they are all swimming abuot now with mom and dad. they are in a 29 gallon with their parents only


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## Skylarbelle1977 (Oct 2, 2006)

they are so fun to watch


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## darkfalz (May 7, 2006)

That's great. I never had such luck with BBS, even in summer.


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

Me neither. Even when I did get the to hatch, seperating them from the eggshells was a crapshoot for me. I went with vinegar eels and microworms. Vinegar eels swim which is nice but harder to harvest than microworms.


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## flamingo (Nov 5, 2005)

That's my problem too, I can hatch the brine in most cases..but can't seperate them. But..that's why they have decapsulated .

But..microworms, etc. are easier like said..and also..they have most of their nutrition even after 4 hours of hatching .


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## Skylarbelle1977 (Oct 2, 2006)

they are not swimming in a cloud anymore. they are all over the 29 gallon. this is driving mom and dad crazy! they keep scooping them up and trying to keep them all in the corner. Will mom and dad ever give up?  there doesn't seem to be as many, but maybe that is because they are all over the tank. When should I move them to a new tank? When should I expect mom and dad to lay eggs again?


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## darkfalz (May 7, 2006)

I'm not sure about moving fry, they are very delicate at first. But feeding fry in a large planted tank with gravel is a difficiult task. So much will end up in the gravel.


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## Skylarbelle1977 (Oct 2, 2006)

There are only about 20 fry. they are swimming happily about. I assume the others died. Mom and dad are still tending to them nicely.


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## Skylarbelle1977 (Oct 2, 2006)

now I only see about 10. It is a graveled 29 gallon so they could be hiding. Very discouraging because there was over 100 at first. mom and dad are still scooping them up and moving them. I wish they would just give it up! I have seen the babies eat the bbs. so so cute! My goal is for 3 to make it. now that the numbers keep falling, I wonder if I will get any to survive. Maybe next time I will remove them from mom and dad after they hatch.


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## Lupin (Aug 1, 2006)

Your angels look quite nice.
I have a pair of gold angels which spawned for the first time last Sept. They ate the eggs an hour later. It's understandable that first time spawners will generally eat them.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

As long as the parents are tending them and not fighting each other they will do better with parents than without. Feed them 3 or 4 times a day heavily and keep an eye on water quality.


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## unclerick666 (Jan 27, 2006)

HI! many folks, including angel and betta breeders, have had great success with a food I sell on AquaBid and also sometimes here.
it's called "BETTER THAN BRINE".

It's 20 times more nutritious than the brine shrimp that are mostly water, and it swims!

So....if your sick of dealing with the mess and aggravation of live foods, or just want to have a safe source of food when a culture fails, you should give it a try.

check out My auctions, or send Me an email if You'd like a sample to try!

all the best.....UNCLE


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## flamingo (Nov 5, 2005)

Yay for free advertisement! lol


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## unclerick666 (Jan 27, 2006)

*It also will work with captive breed seahorses!
no one has tried it with wild caught, but, it should work for them as well, so.......... if You'd like a sample, just drop Me a line!*


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## doggydad38 (Jan 18, 2005)

I guess it all depends on what you get used to. I've had serious trouble keeping microworms alive. BBS, on the other hand, is so simple for me. Your equipment is the key. It would take too long for me to explain how I do everything, but none of my fry ever go hungry. I raise Guppies and they get nothing but BBS for the first week and then supplemental feedings twice a day after that.
Tony


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

lol, my microworms do great, but I have trouble with BBS (except frozen). Do you think its my water (very soft, slightly acid). Should I add buffer with the salt when I hatch BBS.


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## darkfalz (May 7, 2006)

I leave my microworms in the fridge for MONTHS and MONTHS without even giving them air, there's always enough alive to start a new culture.


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## Skylarbelle1977 (Oct 2, 2006)

I assume that they ate the fry because each day it was less and less (I suppose it is possible that they died) anyway there were none at about 4 days free swimming. Then 3 days later she laid eggs again and 2 days after that I have wrigglers. I am debating whether or not I want to remove them from the parents when they are free swimming. Last time once the eggs hatched she moved them all to a different leaf, this time she has kept them in the same spot.


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## judya (Jan 23, 2005)

One thing about feeding fry, is make sure you keep up with excellent water quality. Many people keep the fry in a bare bottom tank, so it is easy to siphon up any debris. And it might be easier to move the parents than the fry.


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## darkfalz (May 7, 2006)

I would absolutely recommend rearing fry in a bare bottomed tank. I've only now, at 4 months, put them all in gravel tanks - because only now do they pretty much finish 90% of the food before it sinks to the bottom. With small fry they spend a lot of time picking at the leftovers at the ground, and other things that are growing there that they eat.


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## Skylarbelle1977 (Oct 2, 2006)

I have prepared a bare bottom tank for them. should I wait until they are free swimming or move them now? (they are just wiggly on a leaf now)


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## darkfalz (May 7, 2006)

I popped the mother into the bare tank before she had the fry, so I never had to move them. What's important is the that new tank water be the same as the other tank, and that you move the fry carefully in water (including the leaf if you can?) because you cant net such young fry.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

You can siphon either wigglers or free swimming fry with a piece of tubing and pitcher. I would take some and leave some for the parents to practice with. They may eventually get it right. Fry can die from poor nutrition or from poor water quality. It is easy to overfeed and foul the water, and hard to change water in a fry tank without suckiing them up, but it is necessary to get them clean water. Catch the fry you sucked up with a medicine cup and put them back. The parents will often eat the spawn if they feel threatened or exposed so you could try a towel on the tank, cardboard between tanks, extra plastic plants, that sort of thing. When the fry stop obeying the parents fin twitches and go all over the tank, it is time to separate them from the parents. It is rare to get to this point with angels, but I'm trying. If I can get one pair that will do all of the fry-raising work, i'll get rid of all my others.


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