baby fry's question

[joecool966]

Hi all, just wondering this is my first time breeding betta and my fry's is about 1 month old but i have a lot of fry's that can't swim is that common? I have around 50-70 fry's but 10 of them seem like they can swim or move right and some are really big than other like 2-3 time bigger. I feed them only bbs.

[Fabian]

Do you add in the bbs shells too?
Are they swimming sideways?
Those who can't swim should be culled already.

[joecool966]

well some bbs shell is in the tank i couldnt remove of shell from the bbs. The one that are handicap i feel bad killing them and most of them are swimming sideways. Is it bad to have the shell in there? And you recommend me removing the one that can't swim (aka kill them)? I feel like a killer now :( ...

[ChoclateBetta]

Do you have lids over the tank?

[joecool966]

No should I ?

[KirstenMarie]

Culling them would actually be a better idea, if you don't then your basically just letting them live with deformities. You could also just be lengthening the amount of time that they could be suffering.

[indjo]

Instead of harvesting BBS from the top, you can attach (IF you're using an up side down plastic bottle) an airline tube at the bottom (cap). Install a valve and a connector so you could connect it to an air pump when hatching them and disconnect when you want to harvest. Shine a flashlight near the tube so BBS gathers there then open valve to flush them out.
Or do everything regularly but shine a flashlight at the bottom of the bottle and siphon them out.

Never pour BBS out since egg shells will also be collected. These shells are harmful to the fry.

Swim bladder issues are common when feeding BBS. Since BBS are small, fry will eat as many and as quickly as they can, often then over eating.

Wait until they've digested their food (belly not bloating) and see if they can swim properly. Remove the ones that can't. By now (1 month) you can introduce other foods. See if they still have problems eating other foods.

Good luck.

[Oldfishlady]

Sadly, culling is part of breeding....Since we use closed systems it is up to us to cull the unhealthy, weak, small that would naturally be culled in the native ecosystem. By culling the weak, small and unhealthy will help your other fry grow strong. Also, IMO/E-especially for new hobbyist you should cull your fry down to a more manageable number. Quality-vs-Quantity....

Tell us more about your tank you have your fry...size, filter, live plants, additives, temp, what are you using to retain the heat/humidity over the water, how much and how often are the water changes.
How often and how much BBS are you feeding and how you are hatching and collecting to feed.

[joecool966]

Well im not sure what you call this live plant but i got it from petco and it pretty common and i have the temp around 75-82 and i feed them bbs 2-3 times aday. I don't have any filter yet Im still waiting for it to come in the mail and i clean the 10gal fish tank everyday with a turkey baser and replace about 10% of the water. I collect the bbs with the baser by puting a light near the top of the water and letting the shrimp come to the light than i suck them up and filter it through a coffee filter.

[Oldfishlady]

You might want to cover the top of the tank with plastic veggie wrap to help retain the heat/humidity over the water. I have found that fry tend to do better with the higher humidity and can help prevent buoyancy problems and mass die off due to when the fry start to develop their labyrinth organ at about 2-6 weeks. Also, I would try and get the water temp to at least 80F for this young of fry.

It is better to feed newly hatched BBS with their yolk sac intact to fry this young too...especially when its the only food source. You can have fry loss, health and growth issues due to poor nutrition. Once the BBS have used their yolk sac they have very little nutrition. I like to keep 2 BBS hatcheries going about 24h apart so that I will always have more nutritious food for the fry-Plus it is easier to harvest them IMO.

I also would cull all the fry that are showing buoyancy issues for the overall health of the other fry.