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German Blue Ram Fry - What Should I Feed Them?

mark4785

Member
Joined
4 Jan 2011
Messages
451
Location
Derbyshire, UK.
I have removed another batch of 30 GBR eggs (attached to a pebble) from my main aquarium into a small fry aquarium, seeded with filter media from my pond. Over night, most of the fertilised eggs have moved from the pebble to the base of the tank and there appears to be waving fins poking out of many of the egg shells. Some of the fry appear to have no egg shell on their body and appear to be free swimming. They are no more than 1mm in length. When should I put some liquifry food in? I don't want them to die! Is liquifry food the best at this stage of their growth??

Day 1 video:


Day 2 video:


Day 3 video:


Day 4 video:


Day 6 video:


Any feeding advice would be greatly appreciated. Also, would anybody be interested in swapping plants or other items for my GBR fry once (or if) they grow into adults?
 
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It will be too late for this batch, but you want to set a few cultures of micro, banana, and walter worms up.

Vinegar eels too, although I've never done these myself. Same sort sort of thing though as far as I know. They're all nematodes :D

It doesn't cost much to buy a starter culture and they're very easy to look after. You can keep them going for as long as you want, forever even :woot:

You'll have a constant supply of live fry food anyway :thumbup:
 
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They are so cute. They look like they still have their sacs attached.
I haven't raised or kept GBRs so not of much help but with tiny fry for me powdered food like tetra baby min works to start them off. I mixed it with a bit of water and squirt it with a syringe so it sinks into the water, otherwise it floats at the surface.
Or you can use normal fish food, just make it into fine powder first.
Then if you can get something fancier to alternate like live food it would be great.
And of course, careful with the water quality as it can go downhill fast due to the amount of feedings one normally should do.

Good luck with them.
 
It will be too late for this batch, but you want to set a few cultures of micro, banana, and walter worms up.

Vinegar eels too, although I've never done these myself. Same sort sort of thing though as far as I know. They're all nematodes :D

It doesn't cost much to buy a starter culture and they're very easy to look after. You can keep them going for as long as you want, forever even :woot:

You'll have a constant supply of live fry food anyway :thumbup:

Hi NC10,

A bag walter worm culture arrived today and some frozen vinegar eels arrived in the post too.

Do you know procedurally what I need to go about doing to grow the walter worms? The seller hasn't provided any clear instructions sadly.

Its the same situation with the frozen vinegar eels; not too sure what to do with them![DOUBLEPOST=1404327655][/DOUBLEPOST]
They are so cute. They look like they still have their sacs attached.
I haven't raised or kept GBRs so not of much help but with tiny fry for me powdered food like tetra baby min works to start them off. I mixed it with a bit of water and squirt it with a syringe so it sinks into the water, otherwise it floats at the surface.
Or you can use normal fish food, just make it into fine powder first.
Then if you can get something fancier to alternate like live food it would be great.
And of course, careful with the water quality as it can go downhill fast due to the amount of feedings one normally should do.

Good luck with them.

Thank you. My hope is that the water quality will hold fine as the bit of filter media that I took from the pond filter had been in there for over 5 years. I feed my koi 5-6 times a day and often give them treats so there should be some powerful filter bacteria on the filter media cutting that was transferred to the fry aquarium.

At the moment I'm using Hikari First Bites and Liquifry. I've got some Sera baby fish food pellets but they are too large.
 
Sure mate, I'm being lazy so I'll just quote something else I wrote a while back. If you still need help just shout up. I can't help on the vinegar eels though, sorry.

Banana, Walter and Micro worms are easy to keep and catch. Just use a food container with some holes in the lid, mix some oats/porridge up with a pinch of dried yeast and mix with tepid water to a gloopy consistency. It wants to be a couple of CM's deep. I used 500ml containers, the regular takeaway type thing. You don't need to weigh the oats out or anything, just put them in the container dry to get the right level before mixing.

All you need then is a small culture to start them off. If no one on here can send you some to get you started, you can buy a starter culture on eBay for a couple of quid. I bought all 3 for £5 inc postage from a website. (PM if you want the link)

When they get going they just crawl up the sides of the container (& lid) so it's just a case of wiping a cotton bud along the sides to pick them up and transferring them into the tank. You could just use your finger, but they tend to smell a bit so wouldn't recommend it :D

You can keep the supply going forever by just starting a new container and adding a teaspoon of the culture you already have going. I've had them going for months though just letting them get on with it.
 
Sure mate, I'm being lazy so I'll just quote something else I wrote a while back. If you still need help just shout up. I can't help on the vinegar eels though, sorry.

Ok thanks for that! So basically, I get a container (with holes in the lid), mix the oats, dried yeast in with tepid water and then its just a case of adding a small amount of culture? Would you say 1 teaspoon of this 'walter worm gloop' would be enough or are we talking about adding a lot more?

Thanks again!
 
No problem. Yes correct, that's it.

Just put the culture on the top and let them get on with it. A teaspoon full will be fine, how much did they send you? Just put it all on, unless you're starting a few tubs off, but you should be fine with just one going.

In a few weeks, just take a spoonful of the culture you have going and add it to another fresh tub.
 
No problem. Yes correct, that's it.

Just put the culture on the top and let them get on with it. A teaspoon full will be fine, how much did they send you? Just put it all on, unless you're starting a few tubs off, but you should be fine with just one going.

In a few weeks, just take a spoonful of the culture you have going and add it to another fresh tub.

I was sent about 200 grams of what looks like, well, sick in a bag! I will get all the ingredients I need tomorrow and concoct it all. Thanks for your help.

In the mean time I've been feeding the fry Interpet Liquifry. It comes out of the container as a white gel substance, however, the fry tank as a brown sandy substance all over the base. Could this be uneaten liquifry? Perhaps there is somebody out there that can verify whether liquifry turns into a brown particulate like substance when in water over time? You can see the substance at the front of the tank on the base in video 3.

The fry don't appear to eat the liquifry so I'm a bit nervous.
 
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lol it not only looks like sick, it smells pretty rank too :lol:

200g seems a decent portion, you won't need all that anyway.

How do you feed the liquifry? Are you just dropping it in or pre mixing? You have the live food underway now anyway, so find the nearest bin and add the liquifry ASAP :D
 
lol it not only looks like sick, it smells pretty rank too :lol:

200g seems a decent portion, you won't need all that anyway.

How do you feed the liquifry? Are you just dropping it in or pre mixing? You have the live food underway now anyway, so find the nearest bin and add the liquifry ASAP :D

I haven't opened up the bag yet but thanks for the pre-warning about the smell haha.

I just squeeze the liquifry bottle while the tip is in the water and I watch it float to the bottom. I snipped the end of the bottle with the scissors as I was squeezing it so hard, to no avail, and getting cramp in my hand.

I might pre-mix the liquifry, say, in a plastic beaker of tank water while I prepare the culture.
 
Yep you've got it, don't just drip it into the water. It just sinks to the bottom as what can only be described as a blob.

Just put a small amount of tank water in a little beaker, drip however many drops you're adding to the tank into the beaker and either swish it around or stir it until it's dissolved. When you add it to the tank it should be cloudy rather than just a blob.
 
When I used Liquifry in the past, it was a liquid (as you might expect) and dispersed through the water. I got some a few days ago and it 's as you describe, although I squeeze with the bottle above the water; it comes out as a liquid, but congeals as soon as it hits the water and sinks to the bottom in a blob. That was so unexpected that I bought another bottle from elsewhere, but that one is the same, so I assume that's how it is supposed to be. I'm using it for Corydoras fry, so it actually works OK, as they stay near the bottom and feed off the blobs. I've also got those brown particles on the bottom of the breeding trap, so I think it must be from the uneaten Liquifry.
My fry (from an unexpected spawning) did OK on Liquifry for a few days until I got my microworms sorted, now they are getting both.
 
the fry tank as a brown sandy substance all over the base. Could this be uneaten liquifry?
This is how uneaten rotten food looks like. I'd make sure it's promptly removed, several times a day as it gives rise to bad water quality and bacteria. It's very easy compromise the water in a fry tank because most food gets uneaten but if one feeds too little half the fry don't eat.
If you have dwarf shrimp like cherry shrimp they help clean the bottom and don't bother fry. I kept my baby corys with them.
 
When I used Liquifry in the past, it was a liquid (as you might expect) and dispersed through the water. I got some a few days ago and it 's as you describe, although I squeeze with the bottle above the water; it comes out as a liquid, but congeals as soon as it hits the water and sinks to the bottom in a blob. That was so unexpected that I bought another bottle from elsewhere, but that one is the same, so I assume that's how it is supposed to be. I'm using it for Corydoras fry, so it actually works OK, as they stay near the bottom and feed off the blobs. I've also got those brown particles on the bottom of the breeding trap, so I think it must be from the uneaten Liquifry.
My fry (from an unexpected spawning) did OK on Liquifry for a few days until I got my microworms sorted, now they are getting both.

I guess, in my case, liquifry isn't a brilliant option as GBR's / GBR fry are bottom, mid and top dwellers. At the moment around 40 or so of them are congregating at the surface. I've mixed some liquifry in a beaker of tank water and added it. As the fry are so small and the liquifry as dispersed beyond recognition, it is hard to tell if anything is being eaten or not. I've sank some Hikari First Bites in the water too, again, I don't know if they are eating it.

I'm going to get the ingredients required to get my walter worms growing as the fry might eat food that they think is moving around.
 
Liquifry and hikari first bites are very harsh on the water quality. Sorry to repeat myself but just be careful with the food you add.
I don't know if it's normal for GBR fry to congregate at the surface but make sure the tank is very well oxygenated and there's no ammonia spikes.
I would add the food in blotches where the fry gather, not in the water column as all it does is pollute the water and clog the filter.

Edit: Otherwise uneaten food is easy to spot as you've noticed. It looks like brown fluffs, just siphon it out.(some fry could get siphoned so I do it in a clear glass container and siphon the little ones back in)
 
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Thanks for all the tips, advice and information all.

I've syphoned some of the uneaten liquifry out. They don't appear to like eating it so I might discontinue using it. I'm using Hikari First Bites which seems to send them into a frenzy. I'll continue feeding Hikari until the walter worms are ready.

The fry appear to be near the surface because if one congregates there, they will all follow. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the oxygen level and ammonia level is not the reason that they are at the surface. They appear healthy so I doubt the latter is happening.
 
I could send you some banana worms, enough to feed fry and start a culture. You'd just need to pay postage. I have a huge colony I'm just about to bin.
 
I could send you some banana worms, enough to feed fry and start a culture. You'd just need to pay postage. I have a huge colony I'm just about to bin.

My walter worms don't seem to be growing so I ideally need something that I can buy and feed to the fry straight away. Can you bag those worms up and put some pure oxygen in the bag and send them to me via Royal Mail Special Delivery? I'd pay the postage fee.

Most appear to be getting by on the Hikari First Bites but some are moving less as though they are weak. I still cannot work out if they are actually eating the Hikari food so I'm just presuming that they are as I'm sure they would be dead by now if they had not eat any of it.
 
I can, but I don't think oxygen is needed. I'll stick them in a wee tub and post tomorrow.
 
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