Waaaa! Lost All My Orange Aus Frys

[daguldfisher]

I wanted to cry last night when I noticed 1 of my fry tanks became oddly cloudy. 1 tank with around 20 of 2-week old orange aus frys crashed. Now I am left with 1 newly hatched orange australes. What could have happened? Why suddenly turned like that while the rest of the fry tanks still okay?

[Emokidz]

Could have been due to many reasons, water fouling duet uneaten food, nutrigen spike and mass die out. The cloudy water is probably due to a bacteria bloom from decomposing matter, maybe tr fry or uneaten food and that probably casedthe mass die out. Other reasons could be temperature control leading to deaths or stress. Do you check the tanks regularly for disease like white spot etc?

[daguldfisher]

Probably bacterial bloom because none of the frys looked sick in the morning when I fed them. They all looked so healthy cathing the bbs. I noticed in the morning when the water still looking ok, the pelia was still at the bottom of the tank. Then on nighttime when I noticed the water cloudy, the pelia was floating and the water a bit bubbly. I still cannot check for white spots as the frys were just under 1 cm.

[stoker]

the pelia was still at the bottom of the tank. Then on nighttime when I noticed the water cloudy, the pelia was floating and the water a bit bubbly.

Firstly I assume the pelia is some type of snail ,, bad move it can die and pollute the tank overnite.

The water was bubbling Pollution UNEATEN food .

when did you last do a water change ?? should do at least 10% daily more if possible . As a matter of interest Discus breeders do 100% daily .
#Guppy breeders feed on way past in one direction ,, water change on the way back.

Do you have a matured sponge filter remeber fry produce waste .

Mike

[Emokidz]

Actually, Pelia is a type of aquatic plant. Haha!
And yes, adding a sponge filter to your fry tanks helps a lot. Depending on the size of the fry, adjust the bubbling rate so that the fry feel comfortable. I keep apple snails with all my fry. Works wonders.

[RonWill]

Probably bacterial bloom because none of the frys looked sick in the morning when I fed them

Andy, cloudy water is never a good sign. Did you overfeed recently or fed a bad batch of BBS? These don't last as long in freshwater as daphnia and can quickly foul up small volumes of water. I'm pretty heavy-handed when feeding and that's probably why I dump lots of red ramhorn snails as clean-up crew.

Firstly I assume the pelia is some type of snail

No points for you, Mike.

Pelia, aka Monosolenium tenerum, is a liverwort and commonly used in aqua-scaping. Personally, I prefer mosses (any kind) for secondary bio-filtration and always have snails in my grow-out tanks, in particular, red ramhorn snails (which I cultivate as well).

[stoker]

Andy, cloudy water is never a good sign. Did you overfeed recently or fed a bad batch of BBS? These don't last as long in freshwater as daphnia and can quickly foul up small volumes of water.

No points for you, Mike.

Pelia, aka Monosolenium tenerum, is a liverwort and commonly used in aqua-scaping. Personally, I prefer mosses (any kind) for secondary bio-filtration and always have snails in my grow-out tanks, in particular, red ramhorn snails (which I cultivate as well).

Ok Ronnie

Must remember that if it`s a local name it`s new to me ,,, but I agree that the best is moss and also a sponge filter ,

Never use snails in my fry tanks just a lazy way of doing water changes .. still syphon out the muck from the base of the tank .

The problem sounds like overfeeding which is really uneaten food ( cloudy and bubbling water) as a matter of intrest Andy did the water have a rotten egg type smell .

Apple snails (infusoria snails) says it all as the waste from them makes infusoria but any snail can only clean up so much uneaten food if that was the problem .

How big is the rearing tank Andy ??

Keep trying and you will get it right eventually .


Mike

[maxima]

Andy, cloudy water is never a good sign. Did you overfeed recently or fed a bad batch of BBS? These don't last as long in freshwater as daphnia and can quickly foul up small volumes of water. I'm pretty heavy-handed when feeding and that's probably why I dump lots of red ramhorn snails as clean-up crew.

Totally agree with this. You don't have a better cleaning crew than snails, never underestimate their power. Don't put them in before your eggs hatch but put a good in number afterwards. You will never have a problem with your fry + uneaten food related problems again, I guarantee you that. Their droppings will fuel infusoria as well so it's only a win-win situation. It might look dirty to you because of their droppings but that water will be super clean.

What size was your tank ? 20 fry is rather a big number to keep in one place. You will have a harder time keeping water clean with that many in one place. It's also not safe in case of a crash as you've seen, you can lose everything overnight. If I were you I'd seperate them and keep 7-8 in one place.

Also a minor note, I think pelia is not a good choice for fry tanks; it's a rather slow moss. Java fern, moss, demersum, salvinia, pistia...etc are the ideal, fast working plants.

Sorry to hear of your loss, hope you have better luck next time.

[apistomaster]

Over more than the past four decades I have bred and raised over 100 species of Killiefish.
I will always have a soft spot for them even though my main projects now are breeding Plecos and working on an F2 gen of Nhamunda Blue Discus from adult F1's.
I also recently acquired a small young piar of Apistogramma cf. agassiz Tefe/
I am raising Gold/Orange Aphyosemion australe and Fundulopanchax scheeli. These are two old favorites of mine even if they are basic beginner's Killies.
Killiefish fry need frequent small feedings. I feed m,y live Artemia nauplii but another good and convenient food to use is freeze dried blood worms. You can powder it between your finger for fry.
It have found that Killiefish eggs are rarely harmed by common snails like Pond snails, red ramshorn and Malaysian Trumpet snails. Besides these helpers give common Cherry Shrimp a try. They will not harm the Killiefish eggs or fry.
Feed much less more often and make at leat 50% water changes a week. more often is even better.
Many Killiefish are prone to contracting Velvet and for the first few months(among African egg hangers) adding about a tsp of rock salt per gal can diminish the Velvet problem which is easily missed on small fry. Improve your basic husbandry techniques as described and you will mhave few fry wipe outs like the one described.