heatherw Posted December 9, 2014 Report Share Posted December 9, 2014 Hi again, It's been awhile since I was on the board but really very puzzled right now I've had 5 zebra plecos for several years and now they are spawning Pretty exciting at first for sure but now I'm extremely puzzled First batch they had three fry and about five to seven days after they used their yolk sack up they Died one by one I then dewormer the tank with half dose of prazipro due to having lots of discus here that I breed The next batch of three fry pretty much died the same amount of time Also the last batch I pulled 4 dead ones out still one alive for now Readings on my tank are nitrate 5, nitrite and ammonia 0 Temperature is 83 to 84 in a 30 gallon with black sand Two marineland hob 360 c sponge filter Feeding them pleco pellets, beefheart,frozen brine shrimp, flakes and crushed tetra bits If someone can pick my brain what's going on would be appreciated Thanks Heather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
syno321 Posted December 9, 2014 Report Share Posted December 9, 2014 Are you feeding the beef heart to the fry? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heatherw Posted December 9, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2014 Not often but I do once in awhile Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heatherw Posted December 9, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2014 It's a beef heart mix I make that I feed the discus Has shrimp vitamins tetra bits spiralina flake ground up, egg ect Too rich for the fry possibly? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayba Posted December 9, 2014 Report Share Posted December 9, 2014 I found that Hypansistrus die if not given food that is easy to find/attain and plentiful. They will literally hide and starve to death. Beef heart may be a little much for them to eat being given their size and the tough fiberous nature of beef heart. A bare bottom and dark tank may make it a tad easier for them to get going. Just some stuff that greatly increased my fry life expectancy. Or possibly just coincidence.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
syno321 Posted December 9, 2014 Report Share Posted December 9, 2014 (edited) What Jayba said. The beef heart is a protein source totally foreign to the intestinal flora of fish, and therefore most don't really have the necessary intestinal flora and enzymes to properly digest not only the protein but also the fats. This is accentuated with young fry whose intestinal tracts take time to develop the intestinal flora that they will have as adults. If you don't want to use a tank, I'm betting that one of those Marina holding/breeding containers will work really well with the initial raising of the fry. Why are you not feeding them live baby brine shrimp? I know that they'll eat that. Edited December 9, 2014 by syno321 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heatherw Posted December 9, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2014 I'm finding them looking thin when they die so that maybe one answer thanks I've been over feeding to my knowledge so that wouldn't happen I do see them come out at night for food also once in awhile but like you mentioned they hide for most of the part The tank lights always off and get some light from my other tanks during the day But maybe I will cut out the beef heart for now to see how that goes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heatherw Posted December 9, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2014 Lots of filters running for current and I leave them with the parents so wasn't sure brine shrimp Would get to them but I do have brine shrimp running all times due to feeding discus fry here constantly Guess it wouldn't hurt to try that, my luck is pretty bad right now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
syno321 Posted December 9, 2014 Report Share Posted December 9, 2014 A friend who was quite successful (>1000) breeding the Zebras used to take the hatchlings away from the parents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heatherw Posted December 10, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2014 I tend to agree with you there Did that once with three fry and they died within days so thinking it was the beefheart I'm breaking down the main breeding tank and go bare bottom and making a pretty simple tank with just Breeding cones and setup a tank for the next set of fry and feed them brine shrimp Think that should solve my problem Thanks to all the responses Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catmandu Posted December 11, 2014 Report Share Posted December 11, 2014 (edited) like syno says,maybe try a marina holding tank and you might also try micro worms,they live a long time and wont foul the tank. Ingo Siedel says that he only has good results when the fry are bumping into the food with their noses, they starve to death if the food isnt always right there Edited December 11, 2014 by Catmandu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heatherw Posted December 11, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2014 Wasn't sure what the marina holding breeding box was but just looked it up That's a very good suggestion, will definitely get one thanks Also looked up microworms and found a culture to start Awesome advice thanks again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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