Hippoherder Posted November 23, 2011 Report Share Posted November 23, 2011 I have some Melanotaenia Maccullochi "skull Creek" fry going. They are about 3 weeks old. The way i hatch out the eggs (which may not be the best way) is to hand pick them and drop them in a fine mesh breeding net. I then drop in 100-200 micron golden pearl. What ends up happening is the excess GP clusters along the edge. Now, I have the parent fish in the tank the breeding net rests in and feed them a combo of blood worms, spirulina reinforced brine shrimp, and daphnia. What appears to be happening is daphnia eggs are hatching out and the adults make their way to the breeder net and cluster on/around the GP that hangs neatr the edge of the net. I'm not sure if the Daphnia can eat the GP but they sure like to be on or near it. Now, in my limited experience, the size GP I am using doesn't really work well for Pseudomugil, but has for the 2 other species I have tried to rear. If i am understanding correctly, baby daphnia should be 200 microns so the fry should take them. It might be my imagination but the fry seem to be growing a bit quicker with the Daphnia around. I'm not sure where the Daphnia hang out (surface or deeper down) but my fry seem to be going the full depth of the breeder net and not hanging out at the surface like other Bow fry I have tried. So I guess I am wondering if Daphnia will eat GP, and if the baby dapnia are able to be consumed by rainbow fry in the early stages. Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostface Posted November 23, 2011 Report Share Posted November 23, 2011 I dont see why they shouldn't be able to eat the daphnia, from what I've read, daphnia is recommended for the smallest fry that are unable to eat bbs. I raised my GBR fry on daphnia for the first week, then switched to bbs. I dont know how big the rainbow fry are, but the GBR fry were so tiny, I had to use a magnifying glass to be able to see them properly (or maybe I just need glasses) either case, they are very small. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hippoherder Posted November 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 24, 2011 (edited) 200 microns is too large for some rainbow fry I think. I think Gary Lange feeds 50-100 micron foods( baby rotifer size) , and I have had poor success with one type at 100-200 microns. I guess it will depend on the type, but the type. Just seeing if anyone has experience trying live daphnia with these type of fry. They seem to be doing beter than on GP alone and just wondering if it is coincidence. I dont see why they shouldn't be able to eat the daphnia, from what I've read, daphnia is recommended for the smallest fry that are unable to eat bbs. I raised my GBR fry on daphnia for the first week, then switched to bbs. I dont know how big the rainbow fry are, but the GBR fry were so tiny, I had to use a magnifying glass to be able to see them properly (or maybe I just need glasses) either case, they are very small. Edited November 24, 2011 by popcornshrimp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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