Wee killifish fry - cool! yikes! help!

[lauraf]

So I decided to tear down my 5g and set up with new substrate. My pH was at, like, 4.5 and even though I know fish adapt, it still seemed to be ridiculously low. Best guess is my substrate, the Fluval Stratum for shrimp tanks, was breaking down and it's 'slightly acidic' properties combined with my extremely soft tap water were driving the pH down too far. This stuff was gorgeous when I first set up the tank, but with spastic frogs knocking it around all the time, there was this permanent sooty residue on all my decor and plant leaves. So between the residue and the pH, it was time for a substrate change.
I was sifting through the old substrate and an inch of tank water, looking for any trumpet snails, and lo! see this wee little fry! Must be a killifish fry! How cool! This stuff never gets old for me - I love little life things in water! I'd seen my killis (aphyosemion australe) in spawning behaviour, and even think I found an egg in the moss once, but didn't think any fry were hatching - I guess this guy managed to hide from everyone so far! So . . . . now what? I've got to finish the tank and do some research, but anyone know anything about killi fry they can share with me?

 

[Thyra]

Laura, I know nothing about killifish, but I would save the tank water seeing as how it is adapted to and adjust them to whatever it is going to change to gradually . I would be afraid that fry couldn't handle change as well as older fish.

 

[riseabovethesun]

Oh congrats Laura! I love killifish -- never have had fry though, so I won't be of much help. But I do completely agree with Thyra about keeping their water and everything to keep them in that similar environment until they are big enough to be switched around.

I love your adventures, too fun!

 

[lauraf]

I kept all of the old tank water and put it back in the new setup so there wouldn't be too big a pH swing, among other concerns, for the critters. I put the fry in a jam jar for now with old water. I can add more water from the tank - the pH is a little higher than before but not dramatically - and I think I've got some peat around here somewhere . . . now have to figure out what the feed the little guy. Can I give him infusoria for a few days while I sneak in a bbs hatchery and get it going? I've never deliberately grown infusoria . . . a lettuce leaf in a glass of water or something along those lines?

 

[riseabovethesun]

This is a pretty quick and easy way for the infusoria: How to Make Infusoria - wikiHow

I would definitely feed them that until you can get the BBS going. There is also (I don't fully remember) something about using egg yolk to feed fry? I'll look more into that and see what I can find.

 

[lauraf]

Thanks Mercedes! But if it takes a week to grow infusoria, what do I feed the fry in the meantime? Can I add a few tablespoons of water from my tank in the hopes it contains edible stuff? I've put a few plant leaves in already, but honestly, now I can't even see the little guy to make sure he's still alive . . . . I was not prepared for this, clearly.

 

[riseabovethesun]

True. Duh, me. There is always crushing up food into teeny tiny particles, or doing the egg yolk.

How to prepare and feed fry using egg yolk – FightingFish.com.au - Devoted to Siamese fighting fish (Betta Splendens)

That tells you about the egg method. Putting some of the plants and what not in may help too by having some edible scraps laying around. I know killi fry are a little more fragile than say guppy fry but I used the egg yolk for my guppy fry.

 

[lauraf]

So the fry is still alive, in a little jam jar - I've started calling him Smuckers
I went to one of my favourite lfs's, and the owner is a killi afficianado - he said they can be fed powdered flake food, and gave me some of his fresh bbs as well. Smuckers freaks out the minute I touch the jar, so I can't tell if he's eating though . . . ..

 

[riseabovethesun]

How is Smuckers doing now? Does it look like he's eating at all?

I totally picture this erratic 'spaz' fish swimming around crazily when you approach the jar, with big old cartoon eyes ha ha.

 

[Kiara1125]

lol, riseabovethesun!! Laura, you're very lucky about your lfs manager being a killifish fanatic. Smuckers sounds cute and I think that he'll do just fine. But good luck anyway!!

 

[lauraf]

Thanks ladies - Smuckers is still alive, so I assume he's eating something. Every day I've been using a pipette to remove a few tablespoons' worth of water and any detritus at the bottom of the jar, then carefully spooning water from my tank back in. Tomorrow I'll pick up some more bbs; meanwhile I'm trying to feed a pinhead of ground flake food . . . hey, anyone got an easy way to finely powder flake food????

 

[OrangeCones]

I used to put flakes in a zip-lock type bag, squeezing all the air out and then using a rolling pin to crush them over and over. If you can get to a LFS, look for 'Hikari Tropical First Bites'. It is a powder ground more than you could do on your own.

Just a suggestion, when getting new water for Smuckers, use the same pipette and syphon water from around any live plants you have. It will contain the most infusoria for the wee little one. Keep us posted and good luck!

 

[riseabovethesun]

+1 OC!

I have done it with a mortar and pestle, to grind it up very finely, but the ziploc idea or simply the Hikari First Bites as OC mentioned are a perfect idea for little Smuckers.