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breeding flagfish


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#1 Guest_don212_*

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Posted 10 January 2013 - 10:17 PM

looks like i might be a papa, i just discovered 3 eggs in my flagfish floating mop, at least i think so. they are tiny and white and stuck to the yarn, do i let them continue a few more days,( i,m leaving tomorrow evening for the weekend) or remove the eggs into a small container, when do they hatch, what do i feed them

#2 Guest_don212_*

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Posted 13 January 2013 - 06:50 PM

just got home have more eggs in mop, the book i have says they should hatch in about a week, it's been about 5 days, so i guess i have 2 days to find food, and decide how to keep them

#3 Guest_don212_*

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Posted 15 January 2013 - 11:12 PM

no babies yet, put mop in plastic shirtbox, with airstone heater and antifungal, trying to hatch a batch of brine shrimp, and some green water, separated parents mom was kind of ragged

#4 Guest_Auban_*

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Posted 16 January 2013 - 03:19 AM

if you have nothing else for food, you can go to the nearest place where you can find a whole lot of slimy algae and long stringy hair algae. take home a couple gallons of the algae mixed with water. whenever you need to feed the fry, stir up the grimy water and pour it through a fine mesh. after that, pour the water through a coffee filter and then rinse the coffee filter in the tank with the fish. i have done this several times in a pinch, works great for the first few days. just make sure you pour the net through a fine enough mesh to remove any dragonfly or damselfly larvae first.

the mesh should be just large enough for a baby brine shrimp to pass through.

#5 littlen

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Posted 16 January 2013 - 08:07 AM

Don--what sort of breeding behaviors led up to the point where you discovered eggs?

I have 1.2 in a 55 gallon, half of which is heavily planted with Elodea canadensis. The male spends all of his time on this side and chases the females back to the other side of the tank if they happen to swim over. All 3 fish are in great condition, feeding off a lot of the algae that grows along with the Elodea. I supplement that with various other live & prepared foods. All of the Elodea is long enough that once it hit the surface it curls over and has made a nice mat on the surface. I am assuming this is a suitable place for them to deposite any eggs. I have yet to see any real courtship behavior.
Nick L.

#6 Guest_don212_*

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Posted 16 January 2013 - 08:24 AM

i had a pair set up on 1/2 of a 10 gal with some java fern and elodea, a small filter in the corner, a little salt mostly for the mollies next door, and a floating mop,fed 4 or more times a day with flakes , the pair hid on the bottom side by side behind the filter, the male stayed very close for several days, they sqirmed around in the mop occasionally , laying 1 egg at a time, after 5 days i separated them, her fins were looking a little ragged she needed a break i think, my eggs have still not begun to hatch, fingers crossed

#7 Guest_don212_*

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Posted 16 January 2013 - 08:30 AM

just got home have more eggs in mop, the book i have says they should hatch in about a week, it's been about 5 days, so i guess i have 2 days to find food, and decide how to keep them

thanks, i'll try that but so far no one has hatched, this mesh is toole, like a tutu or a butterfly net, or do i need to get something smaller?

#8 Guest_EricaWieser_*

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Posted 16 January 2013 - 06:26 PM

The above advice was very good.

Microworms are also an easy food for baby and juvenile fish. You can buy a starter for $3 on aquabid.com and they're harvestable within a week. They're cheaper than baby brine shrimp because they breed in culture and sustain themselves. Brine shrimp cysts you have to buy new every time. For long term sustained baby fish feeding, microworms are cheaper and less fuss. For single unexpected batches of babies, brine shrimp cysts store well dormant and hatch within two days. Both/either work.

Edited by EricaWieser, 16 January 2013 - 06:35 PM.


#9 Guest_don212_*

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Posted 16 January 2013 - 08:35 PM

came home to six or so miniscule critters i assume are fry, they are really tiny, much smaller than i expected, swimming on the bottom, fed some brine shrimp and some hikari first bites, gotta work tomorrow, really nervous about their chances,

#10 Guest_EricaWieser_*

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Posted 16 January 2013 - 09:05 PM

Lots of water changes. Twice a day is a good frequency. It can be with tank water if you're worried about chlorine and temperature. The main goal is to keep ammonia at 0 ppm even with all this rotting fry food. Floating plants can be a huge help for removing ammonia from the water.

Edited by EricaWieser, 16 January 2013 - 09:06 PM.


#11 Guest_don212_*

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Posted 17 January 2013 - 06:18 PM

thanks, worked today carefully removed the mop and did a water change this evening, kind of a problem with all of those tiny fry around, many more than i thought, i'll do another in am and right now i will put some plants in, go look for some algae tomorrow

#12 Guest_don212_*

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Posted 20 January 2013 - 09:20 PM

day 4 theyre alive, quite active, moving to surface and down, still pretty incredibly small

#13 Guest_don212_*

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Posted 25 January 2013 - 08:47 PM

9 days they're now in about 6 inches of water with a sponge filter, some elodea, starting to look fish like and actively swimming throughout column, feeding frozen baby brine shrimp and hikari first bites, also discovered some golden topminnow eggs today, put them in the fry tank, gotta order some microworm culture.

#14 Guest_don212_*

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Posted 02 February 2013 - 05:57 PM

got my microworm and whiteworm cultures on wed. came from ny where it was -10, so the whiteworms were definetely dead, maybe the microworms are only mostly dead. seems like i've enterred a new phase i have to learn a lot more about these things, anyway my flagfish fry seem to be doing fine, using hikari first bites, frozen baby brine shrimp, and a bunch of wild and dirty elodea,and hornwort, still i guess to do killies i will need to master some kind of cultures, iunderstand they are smaller than my flagfish fry.



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