When Do I Start Feeding My Fish Fry Food
Wait….Wait…I know that is a very general question. I know it depends on the type of fry, and I know you have to take into consideration the size of your fry tank or space!
I realize you also have to consider the amount of filtration that is going on in your tank.
And I know you have to mix into the equation the amount of filtration you are adding to the space where the fry will be living, like a breeder box.
And how often are you going to do water changes? There are quite a few more things to consider so I hope you will look at the big picture before stressing on one or two issues.
OKAY…you see there are a lot of factors that will go into the question of How often do I feed my fry?…Just like most other questions we have in our hobby!
I will answer some or all of those questions, but spoiler alert…some answers you will have to find out on your own!
In today's world we are so used to thinking about a question and the very next thought is..oh Nevermind I will just ask Google, or Siri, or Alexa…you get my point.
There is not a lot of ambition to try things on your own.
That is why I love the aquarium hobby! I have always loved trying new things and exploring new avenues. Never hurting our keep, but always searching safely for new and better ways to do things!
Now let's get to some of those things I mentioned up at the top.
We will start with a given! Fry have very small stomachs, and a very high metabolism. They are growing exponentially, and with some types, will almost double their size in one week. With all this growth, they will need a lot of nutrition.
When I say a lot of nutrition, I mean for their size. The best practice, if at all possible, is to feed your fry at least 2 times a day! This is easy to say in a blog but what about the real world? When you are working 8 plus hours a day and have to drive a total of 30 mins or 1 hour for a commute. Then you get home and the kids are yelling and wanting dinner as soon as you walk in the door!
Can you guess I have kids? You do the best you can do. I will give you an example. With my A. calvus spawning, I lost three spawns before I figured out how to adjust the schedule to get them more food in a day.
I was coming home from work and feeding them once. Then on the weekend they would get extra feedings per day. This didn't work as I experienced them dropping off during the later part of the week. Just wasting away!
On the fourth spawn spawn I changed to feed them all evening long, like every hour or two, and then do daily water changes with their original tank water. It has worked awesome! The key is to keep their water clean.
For other not so fragile spawns like African Peacock's or Hap's or Mbuna for example it can look a little different.
Once a day feeding will be fine, but I always make sure to keep a lot of algae growing in the grow out container. They will nibble on it and get some nutrition, but better yet, there are small organisms that live in the algae and the fry will hunt them down!
So for calvus I feed the fry four times a day, but all in the evening and night, and I do daily water changes.
For other fry like South American, or other African cichlids I have gotten away with once a day, but always have had a lot of algae to nibble on in the tank.
I hope that clears it up for you all, and don't over think things. As always experiment and try new things. Do your research and you will not be dissapointed.
For feeding the fry, very small and finicky fry will accept baby brine shrimp. Other less finicky and less small fry will accept crushed up flake food and also baby brine shrimp.
I wish all success in your breeding and may you not lose a single fry! Remember the key things! Keep the water clean, and that might mean using original tank water to do water changes in the small fry container! Keep them fed well. Allow them the opportunity to feed themselves or up the feeding if you feel you are seeing them wasting away!
Remember the algae tip!
According To Steve,
Source: https://www.fishaccordingtosteve.com/2020/06/01/how-often-should-i-feed-my-fry/
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