FRY OVERLOAD

It's really been a crazy couple weeks in my little fish room. I have every tank in use and all four of my tumblers are running too. Looking at my furthest along in my tumbler I was able to move one brood into a playpen freeing up a tumbler this afternoon.

I like my fry babies to spend a couple days in a playpen so I can just observe their progress. When the are first out of the tumbler I l keep them in a smaller area then just loose in the tank so I can make sure they are finding the food and eating well. If I just released them it would be harder for those little ones to find food in the 10 gallons than it is in the playpen. After a couple days they are usually ready and I am satisfied, then I release them.



The brood I moved today are Dragon Blood fry. There are 25 healthy babies and they will be joining 27 Dragon Blood babies that are about 5 days older. I'm fine putting fry together but I do like to keep their age difference within 7 days.

I have a couple more moms holding in my Mbuna tank so I'm very happy to have a free tumbler. I don't have room to allow the moms to spit themselves so I must strip them. I like stripping free swimming fry best but having them in the tumbler gives me a little extra time to get things moved around. Love my babies..

AFRICAN BUMBLE BEE CICHLID

MY LITTLE FISH ROOM UPDATE

This morning it was time to do a little work in my little fish room. (MLFR) I had been watching some videos on breeding and raising goldfish/pond fry. I have about 10 tiny goldfish in one of my 10 gallon tanks along with 27 Dragon Blood fry that I just moved over from a tumbler they were in.

 I learned that the two should not be together only after I had already moved my cichlids into the tank with the pond fry. It's not good for them to be together because of the temperature difference. Hearing that, I thought it was going to be difficult to move the fry. As it turned out my cichlid fry are very quick and stick to the bottom of the tank. Whereas the goldfish are all throughout the tank much closer to the surface. This made the pond fry very easy to catch with a little net. I couldn't see them in the net but dipping it into the little tub I was using I quickly saw them swim off the netting.

In a few minutes I had the pond fry in their own tank and my cichlids in their own tank. I added some more pond lettuce to the goldfish fry tank so they would feel sheltered and at home. The cichlids much prefer the rocks to hide among. I counted the pond fry I moved and there were 10 so if any more show up they will have come in with the new lettuce.

I then cleaned out the Dragon Blood fry tank making it clean and fresh for them. I did quick water changes and vacuumed the remaining tanks and felt I was all caught up with my duties.

I stripped the Yellow Lab that was holding my my Mbuna tank. She was holding just over 7 days. Her brood was 25 wigglers with tails and heads already out. Another week in the tumbler and they will be joining the Dragon Blood fry in their 10 gl.

 Recapping MLFR

- 30 gl Red Top Zebra (4 mths) - 20 gl Auratus fry & Dragon Blood mystery fry (2 mths) - 10 gl Electric Blue fry, Red Empress fry & Elongatus fry (6 wks) - 10 gl Albino Red Zebras, Yellow Lab and Albino Red & more Electric Blue - 10 gl Dragon Blood fry - 10 gl Pond fry - Small Tumbler Yellow Lab wigglers.

MLFR is a very busy place and I have had a busy day....

BEAUTIFUL POND PLANTS

About a week ago I brought in some pond lettuce to put in each of my fry tanks. This plant floats but below the water is had a beautiful system of roots that resemble feathers. They look very pretty and my fry seemed to really love swimming through the fronds.

These lovely plants do need light or they won't survive. I had placed one floating lettuce plant in an empty tank. Because the tank was empty I kept the light off forgetting about the needs of this plant. After a couple days I notice the roots were breaking off and sinking. It was then that I realized my mistake and decided I better remove the plant and clean the tank.

After removing the plant I used a little net to scoop out all the little bits it left floating behind. I was satisfied and didn't do any more cleaning as I felt it was sufficient.

We were going away camping for the weekend so my neighbor agreed to take care of MLFR while we were away. I was not going to feed my show tanks as the larger cichlids are fine to go without food for a few days. In fact it's very healthy for them to fast even up to a couple weeks. This was only for 3 days but I didn't want to leave my fry without food for that long, as they are very young and need the nourishment. My neighbor came over so I could give her instructions for my fry care.

While she was here she asked what was in the empty tank. I told her there's nothing in there and that it's a hospital tank just in case I need it for isolating a sick fish. She pointed at the tank and said well then what is that? We both looked closely and found three very tiny fish in the tank. Not having a clue where they came from I began to think what they could be. It then dawned on me that I had pond lettuce plant in this tank for a good week before I removed it. The pond lettuce is straight from my pond that is home to my goldfish. I soon realized they must be baby goldfish. They are incredibly small and could easily be mistaken for bits of dirt that swim.

I instructed my neighbor on feeding and added that she should feed these interesting little guys as well. Just in case they needed the lettuce as protection or even a food source I went back out and picked more and added it back into the tank at least for the time we would be gone. I kept the light on this time.

When we returned I was very excited to see these little guys. I still can't believe how tiny they are. I
removed the lettuce and rinsed it off carefully making sure no babies were stuck in it. I ended up finding a whole bunch of them. Now in the tank there are 8-10 goldfish babies. To that tank I also added my youngest from their tumbler. I knew they would need to be moved when we got back. I put them in the same aquarium. The Dragon Blood fry are at least 5xs bigger. I hope they do okay together. I have watched them as I feed them and everyone seems to be eating. My DB fry stay on the bottom but the new little ones dart all over the tank.. up and down and everywhere.

I will be keeping a close eye on this tank. I'm excited to see if these new little ones will grown as quickly as my cichlid fry do. They have to grow fast as I empty the pond in October and bring the fish in for the winter.

WATER CHANGE DAY IN MLFR

DAILY OBSERVATIONS

First thing in the morning I go to my little fish room and check each tank. I turn the lights on and feed them watching the fish for any sign of trouble. I make sure they are all eating well, check the water temperature and generally look everything over making sure all systems are running as expected.

When I came down to check on my show tanks, I noticed I have a holding female in my juvenile tank. She's a young Red Empress and she's holding a good mouthful. When I do my water change on that tank tomorrow I will move her out. I'm not sure when I will strip her. I have had great success using my tumblers so I might just strip her tomorrow as well. She is young and doesn't need to go without food for three weeks. That would be hard on her little body.

Then checking my "all female" tank I notice I have a one holding in there as well. I knew I had missed a male and left him in that tank. Well now I reap the rewards. I have the room in my fishroom so I'll remove her tomorrow as well.

My 75 gallon all male community is doing fine. And no I didn't find a holding female in there!

LOOK AT THE ADORABLE WIGGLERS