I've got fry!

[Billsgate]

Okay, maybe not very spectacular, but I've got about 30-40 White Cloud Mountain Minnow fry. There still very tiny and larvae like, but I want to make sure I get at least 10 to reach full size. Any tips? I've already got some flake food ground to dust size ready to feed them. I'm not supposed to give them food already am I? The eggs hatched between yesterday morning and this morning. When do I start feeding? When they are free swimming? I have lots of plants floating in the breeding tank, as well as tiny (really tiny) piece of banana peel (for infusiora). I see them hanging around at the surface and on the sides of the tank. It's a 3.5 gallon tank.

Any advice?

On a side note I added turf to my filter yesterday in my 30 [acronym:3c2daeeb71="Gallon"]gal[/acronym:3c2daeeb71], and my keyholes are now showing some serious courting behaviour. Should have added the turf earlier now that I see the effect . My female is also getting a bit fatter over the last couple of weeks, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

[SerLunchbox]

i was always told to start feeding when they are free swimming.

Congrats to ya. I just lost all my angel eggs (not really surprised but hey)

[Menagerie]

Fun!! My white clouds are always gravid, but they are in a community tank, so I don't expect anything

[TankGirl]

The fry might have what they need for the time being if there are plenty of plants and the banana peel. For me, the best thing I ever did for white cloud fry was not realize the heater was broken! The cool (about room temp) water was the ticket for me. I feed when free swimming with Fry Bites, or I make a "flour" out of flake by grinding it up into a powder.

[Billsgate]

I saw some of my fry swimming just now, and I added a tiny bit of grinded flake food. It's still at the surface now. Is it important to have allot of surface agitation? Because my filter output is located underneath the surface and the surface isn't agitated allot. There's also a serious slime coat forming at the surface and sides. I'm afraid to change water because the fry is very sensitive to changes, so should I leave like this? Is the slime coat bad?

SerLunchbox: Thank you, and sorry to hear about the angel eggs....The tiniest amount of stress will make them eat their own eggs......

Menagerie: I too have them in community tank, and they are also gravid all the time, but I never saw any fry. That's why I want to have a go at breeding and raising them in a seperate tank (they are after all considered the easiest egglayers around) before I try that with more difficult species.

Tankgirl: I tried to breed them first without heater and the tank was around 62°F, but not a single egg hatched at that temperature. (At night it must have been allot colder because the heating in the house is turned off and the tank is located next to a window).
Now I'm keeping them at 72° F and all eggs hatched (they're all gone from the bottom of the tank and there are no more eggs sticking in the Java moss as far as I can tell.).
Could you describe what they look like Tankgirl? Or do you only notice them when they are already larger? I'm thinking they look allot like planaria in their larvae-stadium, but maybe they just are planaria and I'm not seeing the fry or they are all dead
I did see something else swimming around in there, but the minute I saw it, it swam under the sponge filter (didn't get sucked up I put the whole filter in a nylon [acronym:372ac7f818="By the way"]btw[/acronym:372ac7f818] so no fry would get sucked up).

Sorry for the long post, I'm just really trying my best to keep these little guys alive.

[TankGirl]

Mine looked like tiny black dots when I saw them, I don't know how long they had been hatched when I spied them, since there was so much vegetation. To me they could have been any kind of fish fry, and they did not resemble white clouds for several weeks.

Best of luck to you!

[Billsgate]

Thanks for telling me what to look for Tankgirl. I finally spied them. I counted 4 fry so far, and I'm sure there will be more.
They have 2 huge eyes in proportion to their body, which looks much like a glass splinter. They are now about 1/10th of an inch (Is there anything smaller then inches? in your length measuring system?) They are hanging against the sides of he tank at various heights, not specifically near the surface or anything.

Hope I can raise these wee little lads/lasses.

[TankGirl]

If you want to use millimeters we can handle it, Billsgate When I spotted my first fry they were literally ~3mm in length, and the glass splinter with eyes is a great description!