Nana & JJ Posted February 12, 2005 Report Share Posted February 12, 2005 Hi everyone. HELP... I'm getting Frustrated!! Got a call from JJ at some ungodly hours this morning to be told that 6 of our 7 platy fry had died. They looked so healthy last night as I sat there watching them chase they BBS. They were 6 days old. Last week we lost about 28, week old guppy fry. Again for no apparent reason. Doing partial water changes every other day, ph etc all stable. Feeding 01 baby food & BBS 4 - 6 times a day, All apair healthy and growing fast. What are we doing wrong? Can someone enlighten us as to why we are having the mass deaths? We have another batch (39) of 2 day old guppy fry in another tank and would like to avoid a repeat scene. Grandson of 3 can't come to grips with seeing them on the bottom of the tank not moving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billaney Posted February 12, 2005 Report Share Posted February 12, 2005 Hi First thing i would do is water tests, Ammonia ,ph, nitrate nitrite make sure all those are good. Water changes are go as long as temp is same or pretty close to tank water and has been treated with Aqua conditioner. feeding 4-6 times a day seems a little over feeding too , depending on amounts but i'd cut that back too as the more they eat the more ammonia they produce and that could be the problem... hope that helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nana & JJ Posted February 14, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 14, 2005 Thanks Billaney Admit we had only been doing ph tests and regular water changes. Purchased a test kit to do everything. Tested all the tanks sunday and again last night (to compare results in case we were doing these wrong) All the results were good according to the test charts. Ph in one tank 7.4 but it was the one we hadn't done a partial water change on Sat. Guess we'll just have to keep our fingers crossed and keep checking incase these results change. The 4-6 feeds are only small, as recommended in just about every book we've read on fry. The bottom of the tanks don't show alot of waste and what is there is removed every other day. Would over feeding kill them all off in a night? What started as a hobby is starting to take over our lives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Posted February 15, 2005 Report Share Posted February 15, 2005 Use snails in with the fry so as they can recycle any waste into a more safe product. Alan 104 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livebearer_breeder Posted February 16, 2005 Report Share Posted February 16, 2005 along with Alan's comment, everything in the tank should be cycled, my suggestion, Take water, filter and heater from a pre-cycled tank. Did any of the fry have pointed tails before they died? or were swimming funny? for example, seemed to be working perticularly hard to keep in one place or swim? It is not over feeding, i feed my fry huge amounts of food, wether they be livebearers or killies, however i suggest livefoods only, such as microworms and BBS, causes less problems with water quality as they are livefoods and your fish will love you the more for it. it might have been an amonia spike however i doubt that aswell, if there was little waste on the bottom of the tank and the water was as clear as it shoudl be then you can be pritty sure. Do put a snail or two in the bottom, not only will they put the waste into tidy little packages but the snail extetment help produce small organisms called infusoria that the fry will eat. Shae Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucid Posted February 16, 2005 Report Share Posted February 16, 2005 It is not over feeding, i feed my fry huge amounts of food, wether they be livebearers or killies, however i suggest livefoods only, such as microworms and BBS, causes less problems with water quality as they are livefoods and your fish will love you the more for it. So the more the fish love me the cleaner my my water stays for longer?? B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoninBoxers Posted February 17, 2005 Report Share Posted February 17, 2005 If all your water is ok, maybe the babies aren't getting enough of the food you're feeding. I keep mine in a breeding net so they are near the food at the top. Then there's the opposite thing (and forgive me if this is obvious!) sometimes people keep their babies in plastic breeding traps and there is so little water in there that it goes "off" very quickly. Like keeping the babies in a jar. Not good. Good luck! Helene Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HummingBird Posted February 17, 2005 Report Share Posted February 17, 2005 Whenever I'm using a breeding trap I put it near a spray bar so circulation isn't a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Posted February 17, 2005 Report Share Posted February 17, 2005 I keep my babies in a VERY small container so as the food is in their face I do 80 to 100% water change daily. I have snails with them as well. Alan 104 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nana & JJ Posted February 17, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2005 Hi Guys (& Gals) The babies are in a tank of their own. 10ltr, bare bottom, internal filter, about 70% of the water came from a pre cycled tank. 25% water changes every other day. The current batch of guppy fry now 9 days old. Touch wood still ok. As Helene said I did wonder if they had to work too hard to find the food. But they appear fine & love the BBS. All water tests still stable so hope we have success in getting them through the next week. Got another 3' tank, planted, cycling, ready to put the female platy in. Going to try leaving the fry in with their mum this time and see what happens. Hoping to have a tank full of platy in the not too distant future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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