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i am confused about infusoria or 'green water.' it sounds confusing... but last night i read an article in an old magazine about 'egg yolk' infusoria, which sounds a lot simpler to prepare than the banana peel or oak leaf varieties.

the article said to boil an egg, then remove and grind the yolk. then, the yolk is placed in a close-woven cloth which is tied around it. this cloth containing the yolk is then swished in the fry tank to release fine particles of yolk.

does this sound right?
any clarification or suggestions on the subject would be great!

thanks!

yup it works to

Yep..that was a common fry feeeding technique in the 1930s-1980s. Be careful, though, as it will cloud your tank something fierce if you get too much in.

Oh this takes me back. I used to feed my livebearer fry egg yolk back in the old days when I first started raising them. Toirtis makes a good point: The egg yolk will cloud the fry tank horribly if you use too much of it. Honestly with the other options there are available for feeding fry I would only use this method as a last resort.... as in "I have no food for these unexpected babies and the LFS is closed and there's a snowstorm and they HAVE to eat!"

Green water/insuforia is actually very easy to culture!

Here is an article that goes into more depth: [link=http://fins.actwin.com/live-foods/month.9903/msg00030.html]http://fins.actwin.com/live-foods/month.9903/msg00030.html" style="COLOR: #ffffff[/link]

Personally, what I do is take some yucky dried lettuce that I have left out to wilt and dry overnight on some paper towel (you can even microwave it) and sprinkle it over a jar of old tank water. Water change water that you remove from the tank works best for this. Set the jar on a windowsill in the sun with some plastic wrap covering the opening loosely so that air can still get into it but it gets fairly warm and humid. After a few days it should get really gross looking and cloudy, use a magnifying glass to check for the little insuforia, they should look like little tiny specks moving around. use an eye dropper or turkey baster to collect the insuforia from the jar and feed them to your fry.

Keep a few cultures going as the culture will spoil. You will know when this happens because it will start smelling REALLY rancid and looking fungused and disgusting.

Java moss and sponge filters will both culture insuforia in fry tanks naturally without any intervention from you so they are both good to have. The insuforia from these will provide something for the fry to nibble on between feedings.

Java moss is good to have in fry tanks not only for insuforia but also because it will consume nitrogen in the form of ammonia/nitrite/nitrate and provide a tangled mass of greenery for the fry to hide in.

If you still don't want to culture your own food, liquifry is an OK alternative to use instead of egg yolk.

Not to mention the egg yolk makes the water smell nasty so daily water change is a must.Oh but anyhow if you feeding egg yold then you have fry so daily water changes is a must anyhow. I find my livebearers grow bigger and faster if feed this way the first 3 weeks.

The commercial fry food is often basically just egg yolk anyway, so you need to take the same precautions with it.

The easiest way, is to just let the mulm or detritus build up on the bottom of the tank. Get a large snail or two, and you will have a natural continuous availability of infusoria. What I usually do, is have a large clump or bottom covered with java moss. Then a couple of large snails, like large rams horns, or apples, ect. run the tank as they want. They will rummage through the mulm build up. Do your water changes, but do not clean the detritus off the bottom of the tank. As this is where the infusoria will thrive. I have used this technique many times, and still continue to use it today.

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There is always a bigger fish...

The easiest way, is to just let the mulm or detritus build up on the bottom of the tank. Get a large snail or two, and you will have a natural continuous availability of infusoria.

I would never advise of this method of rearing fry. Here's why: I use bare bottom tanks for rearing fry with java moss for cover and the culture of insuforia. The mulm and detritus on the bottom of the tank is basically excess food and waste, which, if left to rot in the tank, will contribute to the level of nitrate in there: not something you want in a grow out tank.

Excess waste is also a perfect breeding ground for harmful bacteria and fungi, also things you don't want growing in your fry tanks.

This is why I suggest culturing insuforia in a separate container and using an eyedropper to collect it for feeding. If you do it that way you can avoid picking up the mulm on the bottom of the culturing container and keep it out of the tank. That way the fry get to eat the insuforia without having to live with any detritus in the tank.

I also prefer to culture my own food because I can control the amount that fry are given with each feeding. If you're leaving the tank to culture insuforia on its own, you can't be sure how much they're actually getting to eat. If you've ever seen an insuforia culture, it is very concentrated and is delivered directly to the fry. I do use java moss in fry tanks to give them something to snack and graze on between feedings but I really prefer the peace of mind in knowing that they are getting a concentrated food source a few times a day from me, without having waste left to rot in the tank.

I have tried the other method, leaving detritus and mulm in the bottom of the tank and I have personally found that I have a higher success rate in growing fry with a sparkling clean tank and separate culture. Every hobbyist has his/her own methods, I just advocate what's worked best for me.

So, for grow out tanks, this is my set up:

Bare bottom tank
java moss
Sponge filter
Heater
Air Stone

Pretty easy....If I'm REALLY concerned about cleanliness I actually use those old box corner filters in addition to the sponge. This has given me the best survival rate.

Missmoppet, when you have fry you`ve got to do daily water changes so that`s not a problem.

Yes, the water changes keep everything under control. As for the Java moss, the reason I use this, is actually to help to collect the mulm under it. As it creates an area that has less current and movement, and thus the mulm will collect there regularly. When I first heard of this idea, I was a little scepticle as well. Even though the persons telling me this, where some of the most highly well known breeders in the world (and still are). But I tried it. The growth rate among the first few fish I tried this with, was more than double that of those being fed by me each day, with cultured infusoria. And the loss, was very substantially lower with this method, sometimes as much as 50% less. The reason I suspect, is that this way creates a food source that is always available, and the fry can eat continuously all day long. Not just several times, but any time they need it. This is the reason, for many fish, to use live foods for feeding, so the foods are available to the fish all the time, and the food does not die in the tank.

Another reason I like this method, is the next level up for food sources for my fry. When they are large enough for micro worms, I then put large amounts of micro worms in the tank, and those that do not get eaten right away, will survive on the mulm as well. I add enough micro worms to the tank, that I can see them in there for days. When their population starts to deminish, I just add more. The fry continue to have a continuous food source at their needs. The same goes for the next step, of white worms and dafnia. As both of these food sources will thrive on the mulm, and live in the water.

When the fish are large enough for larger foods than this, they are moved to another tank. Then a new batch of fry are placed in this tank to start all over again.

As for bare bottom tanks, all of my fry tanks that are used for fry that are this small, and need these requirements, are raised in bare bottom tanks. In other words, all my tanks I do this way are bare bottom tanks.

Another note, when ever I have fry in a tank, I rarely clean the bottom to any of them, until they are of a larger size. As they will eat infusoria, even at larger fry size. The exception are those fry the stay on the surface all the time, such as Rainbow fry. These tanks I always clean the bottom, as they are the few that get RPR for first foods.

Another note, I do not do this with catfish fry however. As the catfish fry will actually eat more of the detritus. And I have found this to be the only fish, that there has been a higher loss doing it this way. But, most catfish fry are born large enough to take micro worms and/or white worms and finely crushed flakes. So these tanks are kept very clean bare bottom tanks, and fed first foods not of infusoria.

As for all the different fish I have bred, I would guess that I have done 100 or more different species this way. And I continue to do them in this way. Currently I have 19 tanks set up this way.

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There is always a bigger fish...