Should "wigglers" be wiggling?

[Corey]

I have a bunch of several day old GBR fry in a bare 5.5g tank with a heater, air stone and filter. They hatched, fell of the slate piece they were attached to, and seemed to be wiggling a bit this morning.
Upon inspection tonight, I can distinctly see eyes and a tail - but they're all just laying on their sides. It looks like a graveyard to be honest. A few twitches here and there.
Should they be moving a lot, or have I probably lost my fry?
Tank parameters look good.
Any input is appreciated,
Thanks!

[Zagz]

I would think they should be moving. I have never bred GBR's but all my other fry move when they are fry. Granted I have only bred livebearer's and cichlids, never any fish from egg hatching. I'm going to move this to the breeding forum to help you get some better responses.

[Corey]

Originally Posted by Zagz

I would think they should be moving. I have never bred GBR's but all my other fry move when they are fry. Granted I have only bred livebearer's and cichlids, never any fish from egg hatching. I'm going to move this to the breeding forum to help you get some better responses.

Thanks.
Some are definitely wiggling.
But most are laying on their sides, largely still, with occasional twitches. You almost can't tell if it's the fry moving or the current moving them, and you have to look very close to see anything at all. They look very lifeless to me - I imagined them wiggling a lot, but maybe I'm just wrong. I imagined little white circles with tails constantly wiggling, but these guys almost look like lifeless debree at the bottom of a tank, occasionally being pushed by a current.
The thing is, my water parameters look good, and the tank is filtered and aerated?
Oh well, I guess I'll have to wait and see.
BTW, do these guys need any light before they're free swimming?

[BrianNY]

Most fry are only wigglers for a day or two. That is until they use up their yolk sac and need to feed on their own. If they look lifeless after being wigglers for two days, they probably are. I stress probably because it might be difficult to tell. They don't need lighting at all at this point.

What have you fed them so far?

[Corey]

Originally Posted by BrianNY

Most fry are only wigglers for a day or two. That is until they use up their yolk sac and need to feed on their own. If they look lifeless after being wigglers for two days, they probably are. I stress probably because it might be difficult to tell. They don't need lighting at all at this point.

What have you fed them so far?

Haven't fed them yet - there are no free swimmers.
But the closer I look, they are definitely twitching - just not as much as I thought they would be.
I thought 5-7 days after the initial hatch they would become free swimming? The eggs were only laid Friday night/Saturday morning.

The one thing I noticed with my GBR's was that they didn't move as much as my say Apisto fry did. They layed around with just a little movment every so often. It took them longer to become freeswimming also. Around 3 days longer then the Apisto's as well.
If after the 11th day they aren't free swimming. Then I'd take a peice of air line tubing and swing over the top of the fry frocing them to move more and make them stronger for simming. It helped out a lot with in a day of doing this 2 to 3 times a day. They where free swimming.

[Corey]

Originally Posted by Weasel F.

The one thing I noticed with my GBR's was that they didn't move as much as my say Apisto fry did. They layed around with just a little movment every so often. It took them longer to become freeswimming also. Around 3 days longer then the Apisto's as well.
If after the 11th day they aren't free swimming. Then I'd take a peice of air line tubing and swing over the top of the fry frocing them to move more and make them stronger for simming. It helped out a lot with in a day of doing this 2 to 3 times a day. They where free swimming.

Cool, thanks for the advice. I will try that if they don't change in a few days.

Is it normal for them to clump together? I've read that they search for the spot with the least current. A bunch of them are now in clumps.

Also, should I be doing PWC at this point, or only when they are free swimming?
Thanks!