[Killietalk] Was finding eggs in peat, now finding (catching) fry in peat

["Jim Rae" <jimrae at pe_net>]

Hi everyone on the list!  Question:

Heck with finding the eggs in peat, how do you remove the fry when they
hatch out?

I had hatched some F. fallax earlier this summer and found it somewhat
difficult to remove them. With a strong flashlight I could see them fine,
but it took me forever sucking them up with a baster and transfering them to
a growout container.  But that was nothing to what I have now.  I
experimented with some coco peat as substrate for some of my tanks - F.
gardneri Misaje and F. spoorenbergi - and removed it in late July.  A week
and a half ago I wet the peat and many hatched but I find it many times more
dificult to get these fry than fallax since they are much smaller, and they
dart into the peat when I approach them with the baster while the fallax fry
tended to remain still for longer allowing me to slowly suck them up in the
baster without getting all kinds of peat in the baster.  I've heard people
say just skim them up at the surface with a spoon or the like but they stay
down on the deck for the most part.

I am using shoe boxes for wetting the peat, filling them about to about an
inch below the top.  The peat is probably a half inch or so in depth.

Any suggestions for giving my back and neck a break?  i.e. are there more
effective ways?

Thanks

Jim Rae



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