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Re: [Killietalk] A. Bitaeniatum hatching; first foods (newbie questions)


"Joel Saunders" <fishguy5000 at hotmail_com> wrote:

Thank you to everyone who answered my questions a couple of weeks ago
about setting up a pair of Aphyosemion Bitaeniatum "Majitam" for
breeding (my first killies). After a couple of days of heavy feeding
of bbs and frozen bloodworms, egg production picked up, and I
collected about 35 eggs over a five day period. These eggs have been
water incubating for about 2 weeks, and I have lost about 5 or 6 eggs
to fungus. Tonight I had my first fry hatch, and I'm concerned. It is
extremely tiny (alomost looks like an egg with a skinny little tail),
and has not left the bottom. I'm afraid that I may have a
belly-slider on my hands. How long does it normally take the swim
bladder to inflate?

Almost no time, normally. He may have had a struggle hatching and is just worn out. See below.

I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions to help me through the
next few days, as the fry begin to hatch. The 30 eggs are in a
plastic shoebox with about 1/2 an inch of water, and a gentle air
stone for water circulation. My water has a pH of 8.2 and is very
hard.

That's pretty hard for a rainforest *Chromaphyosemion*. In the future you may want to do a couple of 50% water changes with RO or distilled water to get the general hardness down where the egg chorion isn't made too tough for hatching. [The high pH isn't any problem unless you get an ammonium buildup, which could be tough on new babies as some of it converts to ammonia.]

Your water is better suited to Nothos or Fp.


Immediately after I spotted the hatched fry, I added a tiny bit
of APR to the water, as well as a small number of vinegar eels. Can
BIT fry take vinegar eels right away?

Yes, and usually bbs, but only if they are up and swimming.

For micro-foods, I like a drop of Liquifry No 1 on a sprig of Java moss. APR only worked well for me for surface-feeding babies, like some lampeyes and rainbow/blue-eyes. The infusoria eat free-floating bacteria and do a wonderful job of clearing the water while keeping food right in the face of the babies.

I don't want them to perish
from lack of food, but I'm also concerned with fouling the water. How
soon should I offer bbs? I'm also considering adding a small snail to
eat leftover food. I have done this before with Rainbow fry, but
never with eggs. Will a snail eat the unhatched eggs? Should I wait
until all the fry hatch before adding a snail?

My experience is that small ramshorns don't eat mature eggs, so one or two probably is a good idea. Their poop is also great infusoria fodder! If they eat an egg, it probably had already died and you just hadn't seen any fungus growing on it, yet. [Don't trust Malaysian Trumpet Snails (the ones that look like a little cornucopia or ice-cream cone) as they *will* eat any egg they can get to, IME.] 

Also, for future spawnings, should I use acriflavine to prevent
fungus? I bought some this time, but didn't use it because I vaguely
remembered reading something about it being harmful to the fry. Thank
you in advance for al of your help. It is greatly appreciated.

The acriflavin is to prevent bacterial attack. Fungus only grows on dead tissue, and the primary things damaging eggs are water that is too hard and bacterial attack. Frequent changes with gradually softer water can be a help.

Unfortunately, most dyes like acriflavin are "tanning" agents and hard on gills and external tissue, too. [That's how they kill bacteria.]

Babies that die mysteriously may have gotten Velvet (that you can't see without a microscope). One tsp. per gallon of ordinary table salt (the kind without silicates for free-running) is the normal treatment for that. Just don't use that much in really soft water (GH<2) or you could upset cell metabolism.

In general, those hobbyists not wishing to become chemists, seem happiest with fish that *like* their local tap water. Chromaphyos like softer water for the most part, so savannah fishes, like *gardneri* or Nothos from E. Africa may be happier in yours.

Good luck, Joel.

Keep us posted on how it goes.

--
Wright Huntley - Rt. 001 Box K36, Bishop CA 93514 - whuntley at verizon_net
                    760 872-3995

Eschew obfuscation and bloviation!



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