I have successfully bred my 201,002 quite a few times now and each time when they have been out of the cave fora few days they start dropping like flys. I have tried putting them in a fry saver to make sure they are getting food and also leaving them in the main part of the tank both with the same result...lots of death. I use macro pore in the sump so the nitrate,nitrite and ammonia levels are practically zero. A week ago I rounded up some fresh 002 fry and they were all good for a few days and then the same thing. I had some cucumber and also a small amount of flake each arvo for them to eat. I use exactly the same method for my peps and very rarly loose any at all so I have no idea what I am doing wrong so any suggestions would be great.
Dead fry...why?
- Thread starter slantula
- Start date
For L201 crush their food as they only have tiny mouths. Go easy on meaty stuff first up and go something like veg flake and hikari algae wafer. Tiny little bellies too so go easy on the amount.
L002 make sure you have soft wood in the fry saver. Feed probably only veg flake for a start until their belly bacteria increases to cope with more substantial foods.
Make sure your heater is working at night. I just spotted one of mine wasnt turned up high enough to cope with cooler nights. I had turned it down during summer when it was so hot.
No wonder my L260's weren't getting into breeding mode.
L002 make sure you have soft wood in the fry saver. Feed probably only veg flake for a start until their belly bacteria increases to cope with more substantial foods.
Make sure your heater is working at night. I just spotted one of mine wasnt turned up high enough to cope with cooler nights. I had turned it down during summer when it was so hot.
No wonder my L260's weren't getting into breeding mode.
i disagree with the 201's bren... always fed them baby brine from day dot and never had any issues... agree with the hikari algae wafer for the others... break it in to quarters and one bit every 6 hours... clean frysaver before putting new bit in...
but your problem sounds more like a water issue - the fry are probably being damaged before they come outa the cave....
but your problem sounds more like a water issue - the fry are probably being damaged before they come outa the cave....
Last edited:
With the 002 my wife and I noticed 2 that looked a bit bloated and sure enough the next morning they were dead and they on had wood cucumber and a very small amount of crushed flake to feed on. What other pear meters should I b checking with the water?
I had gravel in both tanks but just recently made the 201 tank bare bottom to c if that helps . That was only a couple of weeks ago so they haven't spawned again since.
Ph is 7.2 that's as soft as I can make it with the macropore because our town water here is almost 8 barely even drinkable
ammonia ?
nitrite ?
nitrates ?
before we deduce any elaborate means of death.... over 80% of all fish deaths are attributed to ammonia... so my money is your ammonia level isnt constantly zero.... only small amount is needed to damage fry...
bloated belly can also be caused by ammonia damage to fishes internal organs...
nitrite ?
nitrates ?
before we deduce any elaborate means of death.... over 80% of all fish deaths are attributed to ammonia... so my money is your ammonia level isnt constantly zero.... only small amount is needed to damage fry...
bloated belly can also be caused by ammonia damage to fishes internal organs...
I wish it was that at least I would know how to fix the prob.i wonder if I have a faulty test kit because I tested everything when I noticed the fry and everything was cool. I might put some brand new macropore in there and then do some more tests and c if anything changes
testing today doesnt always show what happened yesterday with ammonia levels... unfortunately most ammonia spikes peak and then reside before most of us have had a chance to test for it... only in extreme conditions when bacteria has been wiped out by filter cleaning in tap water will the ammonia level continue to rise....
wish i had a dollar for every fish i killed related to ammonia poisoning :whistle:
wiped out 1000's of bristlenose fry last time i had a huge load of ammonia come in the tap water... was over 5ppm straight out of the tap :yes::cry:
wish i had a dollar for every fish i killed related to ammonia poisoning :whistle:
wiped out 1000's of bristlenose fry last time i had a huge load of ammonia come in the tap water... was over 5ppm straight out of the tap :yes::cry:
Wow. I never considered that it could be coming straight out of the tap. I'll have to check it causeourtap water is pretty **** here.i would use tank water but there is a big gum tree overmy roof and my rainwater is almost black with tanon and it destroys the macropore
tannins are natural antibiotics for most plecs so that shouldn't harm them as long as you strain/filter the water before you use it. If you're that worried about it cut it like 50/50 with your tap water that'll soften the tap water up and dilute the rain water for you.
Your other options are to go with an RO unit which will give you very soft water but you'll probably want to re-mineralise it before using it.
Or you can use capata/indian almond leaves or alder cones which will soften the water up too.
Having said that I loose a large % of the fry from my long fin albino bristlenose pair however in the same tank I also have a L411 pair and I never loose their babies. Never have tracked down the reason for the deaths I thought it was water at first so I setup electronic real time monitoring of water params and they're always perfect.
Your other options are to go with an RO unit which will give you very soft water but you'll probably want to re-mineralise it before using it.
Or you can use capata/indian almond leaves or alder cones which will soften the water up too.
Having said that I loose a large % of the fry from my long fin albino bristlenose pair however in the same tank I also have a L411 pair and I never loose their babies. Never have tracked down the reason for the deaths I thought it was water at first so I setup electronic real time monitoring of water params and they're always perfect.
I don't have much luck with long fins either. I reckon it could be weak genes or something because I have peps in the s ame tank and ever loose any fry. But I might mix the water a bit to
Even bare bottom tanks needs a scrub down once a week in order to get rid of the built up scum and bacteria, have you been doing that. Cheers jk :thumbup:
Prob not as much as I should but I don't have any fry in the bare bottom tanks yet when I do I'll b sure to keep on top of it
sorry in my opinion keeping b/n fry in bare bottom tanks is just asking for trouble....
yes albino l/f b/n are the weaker gened b/n and are usually the first to suffer when water conditions deteriorate...
when i hear i've tested the water and its all perfect alarms bells go off instantly... from previous experience this isnt true at all - what have you tested for ??? temp , ph , ammonia , nitrite , nitrates , phosphates , iron , gh/kh , calcium , magnesium and the list goes on... not to mention tds levels and chlorine or chloramine , floride levels etc etc... most tap water in australia has over a 100 different chemicals added to it to make it (apparently) safe for human consumption....
so enlighten me by telling me what you have tested for and the readings you got so i can perhaps come up with a possible cause and maybe a solution to your problem... you may also have pathogens in your tank that dont bother adults but they annihilate fry... plus any underlying disease or bacterial problem... fry dont just die for no reason :yes:
yes albino l/f b/n are the weaker gened b/n and are usually the first to suffer when water conditions deteriorate...
when i hear i've tested the water and its all perfect alarms bells go off instantly... from previous experience this isnt true at all - what have you tested for ??? temp , ph , ammonia , nitrite , nitrates , phosphates , iron , gh/kh , calcium , magnesium and the list goes on... not to mention tds levels and chlorine or chloramine , floride levels etc etc... most tap water in australia has over a 100 different chemicals added to it to make it (apparently) safe for human consumption....
so enlighten me by telling me what you have tested for and the readings you got so i can perhaps come up with a possible cause and maybe a solution to your problem... you may also have pathogens in your tank that dont bother adults but they annihilate fry... plus any underlying disease or bacterial problem... fry dont just die for no reason :yes: