Best way to raise fry discussion

[ambushman2j]

I finally found my own niche of how I intend to grow fry quickly, but I am interested to know what everyone else thinks is the most contributing factor in raising fry quickly

I have heard, larger the tank quicker they grow, higher protein foods like brine shrimp the quicker they grow, frequent water changes, and personally what I have concluded from my own observations of a few setups the frequency and quantity of any type of food given to the fry is the key

I will explain why I beleive this is the best, in past I have grown fry simply by feeding once a day, occasionally brine shrimp but mostly fine flake with a every 2 week 30-40% water change in 10 gallon tanks.   I had reasonable success, low losses in most tanks, quality fish once grown, but they grew rather slow, taking about 9 months to get to about 1"

I gave my nephew about 13 african cichlid fry, a 10 gallon tank and a bottle of expired algae tablets and basically let them give it a whirl, since this is their first aquarium they feed multiple times a day as each member of their family wants to feed at some point, they feed crushed algae tablets (crushed into a powder), they feed to the point where the frys stomachs are rather round, when I first saw this I cautioned them not to feed that much..but it continued and as the weeks went by I noticed my half of the batch were barely growing and theirs were growing exceedingly fast and not losing any! .. now their fish are about 1" after only 3 1/2 months and mine are maybe 1/2" and they only started to really grow after I adapted their style of feeding, mutliple times a day until their stomachs are quite full

[Eirikre]

With all fry the best way to grow them happy and healthy and quickly is to keep their bellies full with a variety of high quality foods all the time.  The challenge is keeping them full and keeping the tank clean.  Hence the value of frequent water changes and larger tank space.  

 Of course there are individual differences but most fry will grow quicker with a high protein diet, preferably live food.  It seems that almost everything grows faster when the heat is higher too.

[Anubias]

Four feedings per day of varied live food gave me healthy angels. I agree with you.

Rerds,

[artw]

I agree with all said above especially water changes.  but as with all fish you should pay attention to the specific dietary needs of the fry.   there are some african cichlid fry especially F1 herbivores I would -never- feed frozen brineshrimp to.

[ambushman2j]

How often would you consider a adequite frequency of water changes for a fry tank?  personally with working 2 jobs now I really don't have time to do many..they are lucky if they get one every 2 weeks

higher heat could attribute that they are more active and eat quicker leaving less on the ground to rot or end up in the filter

[Shannon]

Hi Drew,  Those tiny yellow lab fry you  gave me at the auction a month ago are now about 3 times the size.  I just got some more fry from Art that are as small as the fry you gave me and I hope they grow as fast.  The salousi you gave me were bigger than the yellow labs and they too are three times the size. These babies went through a rough week and a half with high nitrite levels, but are all still here and very healthy looking. My nitrite is zero now so everyone in the tank is happy and much healthier looking now. I also got rid of the ICK by adding salt to the water.

[artw]

I do 50% a week but lately I've been doing more like 75-80%  just to combat green water.

I'd say at least 50% weekly.   the discus guys sometimes to 100% daily.

[ambushman2j]

Glad to hear they are doing well now!.. many others have also had the same type of success with my fry so I must be doing something right

if they are indeed 3 times the size they might start breeding soon for you too!

Hi Drew,  Those tiny yellow lab fry you  gave me at the auction a month ago are now about 3 times the size.  I just got some more fry from Art that are as small as the fry you gave me and I hope they grow as fast.  The salousi you gave me were bigger than the yellow labs and they too are three times the size. These babies went through a rough week and a half with high nitrite levels, but are all still here and very healthy looking. My nitrite is zero now so everyone in the tank is happy and much healthier looking now. I also got rid of the ICK by adding salt to the water.

[ambushman2j]

is that to provide breeding conditions for the discus? I mean I have heard people talk about discus the last couple years and they make it sound like it's almost impossible to keep them, but the store has had them for a little while now and we don't do anything different then any other tanks and they were doing great!