Karly Posted January 3, 2007 Report Share Posted January 3, 2007 I have recently started trying to breed from my white cloud mountain minnow and am pleased to say I have been successful, however my fry have all (bar two) died!!!! I've had two lots hatch - about 42 the first time, then ten days later another 18 arrived. Have tried several different methods of housing and feeding the fry, but with not much success. Rather than go into all the various things I've tried, if anyone has any info they think could be of help to me, could you please let me know what you think works best with these little guys. Thanks : Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted January 3, 2007 Report Share Posted January 3, 2007 What sized tank and conditions are they in? These fish are normally OK to leave with the parents, especially if you have plenty of fine leaved plants for the fry to hide in, as they don't eat many. I only ever fed mine finely crushed flake and left them to grow up in the tank with the parents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpidersWeb Posted January 3, 2007 Report Share Posted January 3, 2007 WCMM fry are fairly tolerant as far as fries (:lol: sorry Caryl) go. I haven't raised any myself but most fry have the same requirements: - Clean aerated water - Stable temperature - Food First off, the water needs to be clean, but dont do water changes (unless you have to). Secondly, stable temp, if you're tank is dropping real cold at night, it might be a bit too much for the little guys. As far as I know this isnt a big problem with WCMM, but if you wake up to them all dead then it's a likely scenario. If this is happening, a cheap heater turned down real low (like 18C) will stop the water going too cold overnight. Third, never move the fry, if you move anybody move the parents. It'd be good if you told us what you did the last two times because then we would be able to clearly say what might have gone wrong. I do hope that something from above has helped you Sorry I couldn't be more WCMM specific but I thought it's at least a good start to your thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zev Posted January 3, 2007 Report Share Posted January 3, 2007 Don't overfeed them either, pollutes the water. Do you have snails in your tank? I find my WCMMs don't like to feed off the bottom, so the snails clean up what is left over. I feed mine crushed flake, which sticks to the Riccia on the surface of the water, some does sink though. The quickest way to make the flake small is to put some in a fishfood container with a stone about the size of a marble and shake it until it is crumbs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karly Posted January 3, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2007 Thanks guys. I think you may have hit the nail on the head SpiderWeb. I have been doing water changes as I read that fry hate dirty water. Excuse my ignorance (but I am new to fishkeeping) but how do I keep the water clean without doing water changes....do I just syphon out the rubbish and return the same water once the rubbish has settled in the bottom of the bucket???? And also I was removing the fry and putting in a separate container, but every day one would be dead in the bottom of the container. I had read to do this on the internet somewhere, but it didn't work for me. So in desperation I put the remaining 14 or so back in the tank with the adults and every day or so I would see one floating around dead. I now have two left which have been alive for quite a while so I hope they will survive long term. However my big fat female has obviously laid her eggs in the last day or so and I'm expecting more fry any day now.....HELP!!!!! There conditions at present are that I have 7 minnows in a 30 litre tank with Java Fern and stones. I had an airstone in there (which I read to do) ...the smallest I could get, but it was still a bit strong for the fry (as I've read they don't like a lot of flow in the tank) so yesterday I took the airstone off and put a wee diver on the hose instead and the flow in the tank is a lot gentler now so I'm hoping the fry will like that better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karly Posted January 3, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2007 Sorry....SpidersWeb....(not spiderweb)! Thanks Zev. I was wondering whether snails would help as I have a friend who is currently getting overrun with them. But from memory when I had them before they leave a lot of droppings in the tank themselves anyway. But heh, I'm willing to try anything. Will give it a go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zev Posted January 3, 2007 Report Share Posted January 3, 2007 ummmm... I er, don't change my WCMM tank water.. just top it off. I have a sponge filter, which keeps my water clean. Like these ones: http://www.marinedepot.com/aquarium_fil ... sp?CartId= Leave the fry with the parents in the tank. Can you get some floating plants? Riccia will handle cooler water temps. Someone else may have some other types. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zev Posted January 3, 2007 Report Share Posted January 3, 2007 If your tank is bare bottomed, just syphon out the poop with an airline hose (6mm from memory), and top up with fresh water. My tank is planted, so you don't see the poop! And I keep my snail population low by taking the ones I see out every now and then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishboi Posted January 3, 2007 Report Share Posted January 3, 2007 ummmm... I er, don't change my WCMM tank water.. just top it off. I have a sponge filter, which keeps my water clean. . me too. some of them dont even have the sponge filter just java moss Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Insect Direct Posted January 4, 2007 Report Share Posted January 4, 2007 Keep in mind snails will eat the eggs so can limit the amount of fry you will get drastically. I think the best way with minnows is to feed the parents very well to stop them from getting hungry and eating the young and have heap and heaps of plants and just leave them to it! Otherwise move the parents to another tank once they have spawned in the tank. good luck with them :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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