Well, one at least. Caught the little guy around 8PM tonight, but judging from the size of the Daddy, we'll have many more tonight or tomorrow. Stay tuned. The other fry we have are now 2 weeks old and we have 8 left that seem pretty strong.
Don't know yet if the fry catcher works or not as we saw the one we caught swimming around in the main tank. Still no more babies yet this morning but the one we caught is still alive and seems to be doing well.
Well I guess the male was finally ready to give them up and had 80 fry this morning. Only 5 got past the fry basket, about 10 were in the tank so the catcher caught 65 of them. Pictures to come soon.
The ones that made it past the basket did make it - just harder to catch. We have 2 fry tanks and 4 brine shrimp hatcheries going right now. Not sure what we will do if they have another batch in 2 weeks. This is a lot of work, but worth it. Pics are below.
We'll keep some and sell some when they get old enough, but with fry mortality rates being as high as 80%, we will not have as many left by the time they are old enough to sell.
Stay tuned. It will probably be 14-16 weeks before they will be ready so we will probably start a waiting list in the FS Forum a couple weeks before they are ready.
It can be that high depending on the species. We've lost 4 from the intial batch of 12, but during the transition to frozen food, you can lose more. Erectus are supposed to be some of the better ones for first-timers like us to transition so I am hoping we beat the 80% by a lot more.
Your mama and popa came from a litter of about 350. I believe about 100 survived. You'll probably notice or may have already noticed that some are smaller than others. It's those little ones that you generally lose, I guess nature plays survival of the fittest even when we tamper with it! The little ones can hang on for a long time but eventually it seems they are destined to meet their maker earlier than later.
For me the 5th-6 week was my critical point. It must be that at that point their bodies start demanding more nutrients than what is provided with artemia (even enriched) and they need to start eating frozen.
Good luck with them! You sure are doing a great job. Does Spirit look like he is in the fatherly way yet again?
Thanks, Carolyn. Spirit does not look to be pregnant again, but with the way Mystery has been stalking him, it probably won't be long. :shock: Time to get the other nursery going. We are working on getting Spirit and Mystery's new tank going in the living room. Just need to plumb it and finish the canopy so we are almost there.
Lee and Shaundra, Congratulations again. Wow what fun you must be having. I could be wrong but it does seem that the ones who hitch at birth have a higher survival rate. But by no means 'have it made'.
We have Reidi and they are pelagic, don't hitch until much later. So they are 'swimming' and the food is floating. Whew. Any way good luck to you guys. You have many mambers of the board on your side.
Thanks, Shirley and Joe. It is a lot of fun even though our house is being taken over by fry tanks, shrimp hatchries, RO containers, fresh saltwater at the ready, etc. . .
