Trilobite Posted August 2, 2012 Report Share Posted August 2, 2012 Since fish larvae eat plankton in the wild would it be possible to grow a them in an aquarium in large enough amounts for babies to eat through them whenever they please? Giving them a constant source of food so they dont get hungry waiting for me to give them their microworms and bbs. I have noticed my babies pick around the heater and filter at seemingly nothing and have tummies that are black instead of white or orange if they were eating microworms or bbs. But there isn't enough to sustain them and it only fills their tummies up halfway so can I make the population of these plankton increase enough to sustain a spawns first week or two? I've seen the occasional small ball like thing darting through the water but they are way to fast for the fry to catch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted August 2, 2012 Report Share Posted August 2, 2012 Are you talking about something other than microworms or brine shrimp? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted August 2, 2012 Report Share Posted August 2, 2012 One problem with your idea is that if you load up your tank with microbes they will probably be aerobic and use up all the oxygen and you will end up with the same problem as having a bacterial bloom. Your idea is not silly however. In a previous life when I was breeding heaps of fish I had an idea not disimilar for fish with very small fry such as fighters.I came across a number of illegally dumped sets of transfusion equipment. I realised that the saline bags, tubes and flow adjusters were what I had been secretly desiring for ages. I took them home and set them up with infosoria and had them dripping into tanks 24/7 Worked well until they got on to brine shrimp nuplii and microworms. This avoids overloading with oxygen users. Time to start chatting up the nurses you know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted August 2, 2012 Report Share Posted August 2, 2012 fresh water plankton = infusoria, easy to grow easy to add to tank without problem Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted August 5, 2012 Report Share Posted August 5, 2012 I had a 'pond' tank for a while. It was a 3ft tank with thick peat in the bottom, leaf litter, wood, leaves, aquatic plants and every so often I would throw in aquatic bugs from ponds and troughs and see what became self-sustaining populations. It was against a window, so the basis of the ecosystem was sunlight and peat decomposition. It was not the prettiest, but I found it fascinating, and was actually able to harvest daphnia over summer! When I finally dismantled the tank it turned out there were several bullies (native fish) in there that must have been fry when they went in. Just a random different idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caserole Posted August 6, 2012 Report Share Posted August 6, 2012 I've 2 x 20lt buckets out size that contain my spare spawning moss and daphnia which is sustained with decomposition of leaf litter, so the water is brown not green. My hi fin white cloud tank has moss from out side ( moss was put inside end of Autumn ), this tank has become very very green and says this way even with regular water changes ( it when green after an addition of a bristlenose). Over the last month and a bit I've noticed just visible micro organismic that accumulate under the light tubes and attract the just free swim fry which by chance makes them easy to scoop out with a jug. I also feed the bugs to rainbow fry even though micro worms work just fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trilobite Posted August 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 8, 2012 Alanmin, that set up you described sounds ideal but the chances of me getting my hands on something like that are almost impossible, I wish I knew a nurse or doctor haha Stella, that the idea I was thinking of do you think they would be able to survive tropical waters? Thats pretty awesome that you got some bullys in there were they just feeding on the invertebrates that were in the water? Casserole, hmm that sounds good too. So the moss from the buckets outside puts all kinds of little organisms into the inside tank? How long did it take to establish the green and get the buckets loaded with daphnia? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted August 8, 2012 Report Share Posted August 8, 2012 i grow rotifers and plankton in saltwater for fish fry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caserole Posted August 8, 2012 Report Share Posted August 8, 2012 Not long as I did it in summer, transferring the moss in Autumn into summer temps in the fish room. I didn't intend the tank to go green, it did this on it's own even thou the tank directly next to it is set up identically .l.. fish plants are the same but not green. I can only put it down to light. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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