scarlet badis help

[Fluff]

A friend of mine got 6 tiny scarlet badis. He's had them for a week and can't get them to eat. To make a long story short, they are now in my quarantine tank. I've tried freeze dried bloodworms, small cichlid pellets, flake food, cyclops and crushed krill. So far I haven't found anything they will eat. I'm thinking of trying some frozen mysid. I don't have alot of experience with FW fish but would like to get these guys going. (my other tanks are guppies and goldfish) Any help in getting these guys to eat would be appreciated. They are only about half inch long. One is even smaller. TIA

 

[Fruitbat]

Try frozen Daphnia if you can find it. A lot of times Badis will only eat live food.

 

[TankGirl]

Right- I would really recommend getting them live food, and later on working them into frozen and freeze dried. Live adult brine is often just the ticket to get them going.

 

[Fluff]

Awesome. Thanks Fruitbat and TankGirl. I don't know if I'll be able to get daphnia but I'm sure I can locate some brine.

 

[Menagerie]

Definitely get them live foods--hatch the brine shrimp ASAP. My Badis badis wouldn't eat anything previously killed for a long time. I finally got them to eat frozen foods. Good luck with them! Treat them well and you will have a tank of the best fish out there (I'm jealous!).

 

[Fluff]

Thanks Menagerie. Gonna do my best with them. I've been doing some research but can't find much on them. Finding that they get to three inches but nothing on baby care. I just set up a ten gallon tank for them and it is cycling. I realise this will be to small eventually but it's the only thing I have available right now. I'll get them a larger tank later. So far I've put in a natural rock substrate, piece of lace rock that has several caves, some silk plants and I picked up a piece of driftwood. Does this sound ok? I'm open to suggestions. Also, how do I prep the driftwood? Thanks everyone.

 

[TankGirl]

You might be able to keep them in the 10-gal, right Menagerie?

What I do with driftwood is soak it in hot water, changing out the hot water every day. Sometimes it takes a couple of weeks for the majority of the tannins to leach out, unless you are going for the blackwater effect. I am not a big fan of boiling driftwood, but I am in the minority in that regard.

 

[Fluff]

I'll get it soaking. I'm on my way to get some brine. I can't believe no one around here has them. I called four fish stores in three states and finally found some in Frederick MD which is about an hour away. Thanks again.

 

[Menagerie]

Usually, you need to hatch your own--it's not hard.
As for tank size, I have 8 in a 10 gal hex along with a Rubber Lipped pleco and 5 pygmy cats. My tank is overstocked, but I keep up on water changes and everyone is doing fine. In the future, I would like to move them to a 20 gal, but for now, they are fine.
Badis like soft, neutral water. Their natural habitat is among roots. In my tank is a long piece of driftwood and a giant fake plant. They all have little areas that are "home" to them. They do not require a lot of space and are not avid swimmers. You may also find that they will not go after food after it gets past them (below them). They are funny little buggers!
These links won't offer any more help as far as fry care, but good links none-the-less.
http://aquaworld.netfirms.com/Other/Badis/Badis_badis_badis.htm
http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/breeding/Engelking_Badis.html
You're best bet is to fed baby brine shrimp and try to introduce them to cut up frozen blood worms.

 

[Fluff]

I got the brine shrimp and they ate!! Your right though, after the first one, they wouldn't go after anymore but I did see them snatch a few more as they went by. That's the good news. The bad news is, of all things, when I got home, the quarantine tank was half empty. It's leaking. So, into the new tank they went. It's only been cycling for a day. I hope they will be ok in there. I'll do water test every day. These little guys have had the worse luck so far. When I left them a bit ago, they were in there displaying at each other. Thanks again. I'm gonna try to get some pics to post later.

 

[Menagerie]

They are S L O W eaters. Feed only a little at a time over a 5-ten minute period.
That's too bad about the QT tank, but it didn't totally break and you still have the little guys!

 

[Fluff]

Here are some pics.

 

[Fluff]

next one. They are hard to photograph.

 

[Menagerie]

WOW!! It sure is cute! Mine are a plainer variety.

 

[Fluff]

That white spot on the fish is actually on the glass. The fish so far seem fine. Your right Menagerie. Thankfully I came home when I did.

 

[Fluff]

Thanks. They do seem to have alot of character. I hope they do well. I'm already attached to them.

 

[Menagerie]

I'm already attached to them.

Glad to hear that, because if you weren't I would come down and get them!

 

[Vumeter]

FYI scarlet badis are now classified as dario dario, and they don't grow much larger than 3/4 inch, not 3 inches- http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.cfm?id=60260

Here's a good link about breeding them and some info about food-http://www.svas.info/Newsletter/badis.html

I still haven't been able to get my dario darios to eat any flake, frozen or freeze dried food.

Good luck! I love mine.

 

[Fluff]

At 3/4 of an inch, I can assume mine are adults then. Of the six I have, I can only ever find five. Don't know if one didn't make it or not. If it didn't, I never found evidence. They hide really well. There is alot of aggression with these little guys and it looks like the five I can find I have four males and one female. I may have to go searching for a few more females to kinda even things out. I guess at that size I really don't have to worry about them ever outgrowing the ten gallon tank. To have them spawn would be neat but to breed them wasn't my intention. I just took them to try and help them. I am happy to report they are starting to fill out and have nice bellies on them now.

 

[Menagerie]

If you cannot find more females, I suggest separating the female from the males. She will be harassed and that will stress her to the point of illness and possibly death. Don't mean to be such a downer, but with that ratio, there may be trouble. Keep an eye on them!