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I started out with 17, now im down to 7. They seem fine, there active and eating well. Then next thing I know, another ones dead. Before they die, they can't swim. They just kinda jitter in place but end up going on their side again... Tank is fine, no problems there. They are being fed hikari first bites, tetra fry food E, and bbs. There is nothing visibly wrong, no ick or velvet...

Whats the species? Its also worth remembering that the young are more susceptible to mycobacterium than the adults.

lacustris.

They don't show any symptoms of any mycobacterium infections (scale loss,pop-eye, dropsy, open wounds, fin rot, ect ect)....water is kept very clean. There are also a few betta fry in with them, all of which are healthy...

Damn this is gonna be a hard one, kutubus are usually pretty tough.I guess all we can do is run through a few options.

A rainbow fry isnt gonna give you a lot of disease symptoms before it dies, their metabolisms are so quick.It actually doesnt sound like youre doing anything wrong per se. Unless its disease,protozoa have been known to cause neurological problems. I guess it could be something nutritional, but it does seem like theyre getting most of what they need.Female lacustris often browse algae when in breeding condition. Perhaps theres something thats missing that algae would provide? Perhaps theyre coming up a bit short on beta carotene ,thiamin or not getting enough oxygen?

I guess you could try feeding them some crumbled algae wafers, or some tetra colour food and maybe upping the bubbles? The fry might also be missing some cover or mature plants to peck micro-organisms off, what do you have in the tank?

Can you post a pic so I can see the setup and the fry? It might help, you never know.



Last edited by longhairedgit at 01-Dec-2005 00:57

Well I know First bites and Tetra fry food have algea in them, not sure about beta-carotene tho. The trouble with them is there so damn small, its hard to crush food up small enough for em! But I'll give it a shot.

They have a little side filter thing, ya know that ones that stick to the side. I have it bubbling so it doesn't push them around too much. They've just got a fake floating plant in there, which they stay away from anyway. I don't have pics of the set up, cus my camera died. But I have some pics of the fry, they were taken a while ago tho.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v429/ontariobetta/rainbows.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v429/ontariobetta/rainbows2.jpg

thanks

Well on the food front, you can crush most things with a spoon against a hard surface and smooth it into powder if you dont happen to have a pestle and mortar (handy bit of fishkeeping equipment that!).

I couldnt really tell how they are being kept from the pic or if there is anything in the setup that may cause the fry stress.Common problems with fry tanks include lack of oxygenation and filtration. Its common for people to underdo it while trying to create an environment free of powerful intakes that suck the fish into and so on.Sometimes fry can be extremely vulnerable to incorrect temps, and sometimes a bit of heat can give them a growth spurt.Sometimes folks completely go the other way, hoping for sterility in the tank to protect the fry when a few plants and a slight excess of protien in the water can increase the availability of microfoods.My personal preference with rainbow young is to raise them in a heavily planted tank, with major filtration, but also having prefilters that stopped them getting sucked up.Ive even been known to kick other fish out of mature tanks to allow the fry to be exposed to the conditions and bacteria they will have to be exposed to in later life once they have quadrupled in size. Since I have a lot of rainbows anyway sometimes the poo from the older fish may provide beneficial gut fauna for the babies, but obviously it helps not to use poo from unhealthy fish or parasitised fish. The risk is up to you, but it seems to help my fry. Coprophagy is normal for a lot of young fish, sometimes it gives them a kickstart.

Whats the growth rate like, and how long have you had them now?



Last edited by longhairedgit at 05-Dec-2005 02:14

any updates, how are the little fellas doing?