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Hello,
I am proposing a study if anyone would like to test this. This is something, as a casual breeder, I have noticed. So I started breeding fish about three years ago. So I started with livebearers and they would eat their fry constantly. The only solution... a Breeder Box. So my study is as follows. When fry are put into a breeder box with a little decaying food (Nitrate) they will have an accelerated growth rate. I have noticed this on several cases. Including my current fry, Convict Fry. I also tested on many others. I have tested it with one without decaying food and one with it. Can anyone agree or any Comments. Below is a little Chart.

Breeder Box 1 (20ppm nitrate) 1/2cm 3/4cm 1 1/8 cm
Breeder Box 2 (5ppm Nitrate) 1/2cm 5/8cm 7/8 cm

My basic theory is that raising fry in a breeder box with some nitrate is highly benificial verus minimal nitrate.

Chris

Why would you intentionally let your fish be exposed to decaying food?

The fish were probably just growing faster because they had a lot more food (hence some of it decaying), and the other ones stayed smaller because they were not being fed enough food to let it sink to the bottom and rot.

The experiment would only be valid if you fed the fish the exact same amount of food, but one water sample consistently had 5ppm of nitrates and the other 20ppm. Even then, I'm willing to bet the growth rates had nothing to do with the amount of nitrate in the water.

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

At first, my sister was taking care of the tank and she overfed. When I got back The fish appeared to grow a lot. Then I started to put a little more to get just a little nitrate in there. Dont think i am a bad person. Also yes I put the same amount in everday. Well what I do to get the uneaten food out is lift it and it rushes out causes the control fry to remain full.

Chris

Any further Comments?

Chris

No Comments?

Chris

You have too many variables for the experiment. The more frequently fry get to eat the faster they grow. The fry with leftover food will pick at it constantly and therefore grow faster. You are likely testing the effects of more food on fry growth not the effect of nitrates. If you want to test the effect of nitrates you would have to get liquid nitrate solutions and add those not food.

Ohh... Oh well then. It was worth a try...

Chris