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Any Festae Fry growth tips?

Discussion in 'Cichlids' started by Anonymous, Sep 19, 2008.

  1. Anonymous

    Anonymous Thread Starter Guest

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    Hey guys, I wanted to tap into the knowledge base again and see if anyone would give me some tips on how to expedite fry growth. I am growing out festae (notoriously slow growing) and have very limited knowledge on growing out fry. I have heard frequent water changes help, but thats about all I know. Information on how often and how much water to change is very welcome, as well as anything else you can think of!
     
    Anonymous, Sep 19, 2008
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  2. Anthony

    Anthony Active Member

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    Re: Fry growth tips

    Yep, water changes are supposed to help. I'd do about 50% twice a week. You can also feed a growth formula fish food.
     
    Anthony, Sep 19, 2008
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  3. Anonymous

    Anonymous Thread Starter Guest

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    Re: Fry growth tips

    yeah, I just ordered someNew Life Spectrum Growth formula for fry, should be here monday or tuesday. Also, if Im changing the water twice a week should I be vacuuming the gravel both times, or will this remove too much beneficial bacteria?
     
    Anonymous, Sep 19, 2008
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  4. Anthony

    Anthony Active Member

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    Re: Fry growth tips

    The bacteria is attached to rock and filter media. Vacuuming doesn't remove it. With the extra food you'll probably be feeding I'd vacuum each time.
     
    Anthony, Sep 19, 2008
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  5. noshow discus

    noshow discus New Member

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    Re: Fry growth tips

    not sure on your fish but with discus and angels you have to feed 3-4 times a day and alot do 90% water changes everyday.
    I have used a 30 gallon bare bottom grow out and changed the water every other day and had a good growth rate well within the norm for the discus and angels and i was feeding first bite and was hatching out baby Brine Shrimp till the were about 2-3 months old then started em on FBW and various flake and other frozen foods.
     
    noshow discus, Sep 20, 2008
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  6. Anonymous

    Anonymous Thread Starter Guest

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    Re: Fry growth tips

    what size are your fry first off? With the Festae as you know they are slow growing there is not much you can do about this. However depending on the size of the fry here are some tips. One the water change thing is helpful but don't be doing the 50% thing if they are still small (meaning under 0.5'') as you could easily shock and kill them. If you have good filtration in the tank than you should be able to be fine not changing the water until they are big enough to handle it. Just top the water off that evaporates out of the tank during this time frame. Once the fry are free swimming start them out on baby brine shrimp. This will make most cichlids and other fry grow very quickly! Once you are able to get them to a large enough size to handle, than switch to normal brine shrimp. After that brine shrimp and bloodworms will work nicely. Feed the fry at least twice a day three if you can get it done. Enjoy rasiing fry is one of the most rewarding aspects of fish keeping!
     
    Anonymous, Nov 16, 2008
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  7. Anonymous

    Anonymous Thread Starter Guest

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    Re: Fry growth tips

    1.5-2", feeding schedule is 4 times a day with NLS growth formula
     
    Anonymous, Nov 16, 2008
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  8. ira

    ira Member

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    Re: Fry growth tips

    I do not know how many fish you have but give as much space as you can to each fish. lots of water changes and feed high protein,fats .
     
    ira, Nov 18, 2008
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  9. SyncereOne

    SyncereOne New Member

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    Re: Fry growth tips

    Beefheart, beefheart, beefheart. When I had discus, I got them to grpw pretty fast feeding them beefheart. With convicts, they grew pretty quick on beefheart also.
     
    SyncereOne, Nov 18, 2008
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  10. LemonDiscus

    LemonDiscus Active Member

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    Re: Fry growth tips

    I agree with this.... Anthony and Nelson wont.... Wait till Anthony sees this post!

    Short of beefheart, Hikari Frozen Bloodworms have the highest crude protein. Ummm the other good thing is the Hikari Bloodworms have Carotene in them to make the colors more vibrant.
     
    LemonDiscus, Nov 18, 2008
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  11. Anthony

    Anthony Active Member

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    Re: Fry growth tips

    :eek: Another beefheart post. Maybe I need a beefheart sticky post. :) I can't find my beef heart post I made before. I thought I explained why it shouldn't be used somewhere on here. Anyway, it's a very poor quality food. Also, I can't remember if all off the top of my head but the way fish metabolize food feeding beef heart will shorten their lives because this type of fat ends up being stored in the liver and is never used. Basically, don't feed a fish meat from a warm blooded animal. I'll go more in depth after I find my info on it.
     
    Anthony, Nov 18, 2008
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  12. LemonDiscus

    LemonDiscus Active Member

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    Re: Fry growth tips

    I knew it was coming :confused: I hate to say it.... no I dont.... Told You So :)
     
    LemonDiscus, Nov 18, 2008
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  13. LemonDiscus

    LemonDiscus Active Member

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    Re: Fry growth tips

    The one issue Anthony about the bloodworms, EVERY discus breeder I have ever met feeds the young (when they can eat it) beefheart. This goes all the way through the large scale ones (Discus Hans) down to small time breeders.

    That is where feeding young beefheart comes from. Almost every discus breeder does it.

    Im not saying it is right or wrong, just stating that is what they do.
     
    LemonDiscus, Nov 18, 2008
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  14. Anthony

    Anthony Active Member

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    Re: Fry growth tips

    I know. :D
     
    Anthony, Nov 18, 2008
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  15. SyncereOne

    SyncereOne New Member

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    Re: Fry growth tips


    Yeah...raising discus is where I got it from. I had some discus hans discus from azelea here in Richmond for a while, and I raised them on beefheart, and it worked well.
     
    SyncereOne, Nov 18, 2008
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  16. Anthony

    Anthony Active Member

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    Re: Fry growth tips

    I still can't find my beef heart information. The only thing I could come across stated that it lacks many critical nutrients and contains saturated fat which is unnatural in fish's diets.
     
    Anthony, Nov 18, 2008
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  17. ira

    ira Member

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    Re: Fry growth tips

    I would use night crawlers . small fish I grind them up in a blender after running them under hot water to stop them being so slimy
     
    ira, Nov 18, 2008
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  18. Anonymous

    Anonymous Thread Starter Guest

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    Re: Fry growth tips

    that my friend sounds disgusting, I could not imagine putting nightcrawlers into a blender that also held my miami vices! :)
     
    Anonymous, Nov 18, 2008
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  19. ira

    ira Member

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    Re: Fry growth tips

    it's better than beef heart
     
    ira, Nov 19, 2008
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