# How Long Before I Begin Feeding Fry



## Uncle Rico

I was wondering how long it usually takes for the fry to lose their yolk sac(I saw fry in my tank just yesterday). I am curious because I want to time the bbs hatch around this so that the fry will have something to eat once their yolk sacs run out. If they still have yolk sacs when the bbs hatch I will just dump it out and start another batch of bbs, but I was looking for a ballpark period of time so that I could time it better.


----------



## CLUSTER ONE

Uncle Rico said:


> I was wondering how long it usually takes for the fry to lose their yolk sac(I saw fry in my tank just yesterday). I am curious because I want to time the bbs hatch around this so that the fry will have something to eat once their yolk sacs run out. If they still have yolk sacs when the bbs hatch I will just dump it out and start another batch of bbs, but I was looking for a ballpark period of time so that I could time it better.


Start the bb now. They take about a day to hatch and the fry should be eating within 2 days max. I found there are usually a dozen or so that develop faster then the rest so you want to have a bit of food for them. Its better to offer a tiny bit and see if they want it then to not to as a tiny bit of food wont hurt anything


----------



## BRUNER247

Its usually a week after you see wigglers before the yoke is empty n they eat bbs. The fry won't eat bbs till at least the day after yoke sack is dried up!


----------



## CLUSTER ONE

BRUNER247 said:


> Its usually a week after you see wigglers before the yoke is empty n they eat bbs. The fry won't eat bbs till at least the day after yoke sack is dried up!


IMO a weeks too long to wait to feed. The yolk sac is usually gone within a day or two and they will eat soon after. There onyl limitation at this time is most arnt very good swimmers, but a couple early develpers are good and will eat.


----------



## BRUNER247

The yoke sacks dry up in a day or two after the hatch?? Lmmfao!! Good luck with that!! You must keep your tanks 86-87 for the sacks to dry up that quick!!!I raise mine without a heater! Tanks stay at 79-80.ultimately the op need to watch them depending on tank temp as to when they'll eat their 1st meal!when I see yoke sacks are dried up, I start brine, the next morning I start feeding! I have thousands n thousands of rbp from eggs to sellers.so must be doing something right!!but just cause I make it work for me doesn't mean you'll get it to work the same for you!!I do have the quantity to show my efforts!!how many do you raise to selling size per batch?? If you don't mind me asking.


----------



## BRUNER247

I miss worded that its a week after they spawn not after they hatch.but like I said you need to watch the babies. When the yoke sacks are empty they'll eat the next morning.you'll find what works for you. GL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


----------



## Uncle Rico

Thanks guys. I started the bbs hatchery a few hours ago. I'll keep an eye on the yolk sac like you said (though they are very hard to see).

*Do you guys happen to know how long a fry would survive without eating? (1 day? 2 days?)


----------



## CLUSTER ONE

BRUNER247 said:


> I miss worded that its a week after they spawn not after they hatch.but like I said you need to watch the babies. When the yoke sacks are empty they'll eat the next morning.you'll find what works for you. GL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


 Ok that makes more sense and are timelines are clorer now as i wasnt including a day or two to hatch.

Im honestly not sure how long the fry can go withouteating, but i doubt its that long. I would feed at least daily though as im sure youve heard up to juvies there pretty cannibilistic so they will reduce their numbers


----------



## BRUNER247

When n If they start cannibalism of each other use a 7day food block! Ime it will greatly reduce casualties!still feed at least twice a day, but if they get hungry between meals they'll graze on the food blocks.


----------



## Uncle Rico

BRUNER247 said:


> When n If they start cannibalism of each other use a 7day food block! Ime it will greatly reduce casualties!still feed at least twice a day, but if they get hungry between meals they'll graze on the food blocks.


Fry cannibalize each other?! When do they start doing that?


----------



## BRUNER247

Lol they are piranhas! By time they get 1/2"-3/4" they'll be grazing on each other If you don't keep them fed! Spawning them is the easy part! Its keeping them alive to selling size that a lot of people have problems with!


----------



## Uncle Rico

BRUNER247 said:


> Lol they are piranhas! By time they get 1/2"-3/4" they'll be grazing on each other If you don't keep them fed! Spawning them is the easy part! Its keeping them alive to selling size that a lot of people have problems with!


Oh ok, they are not that big yet since they are only two days old (almost). I was just worried about them not eating for two days. They still look good though and the brine shrimp is just about ready so I think I'll be ok (with the food issue at least). I'll get another batch going shortly. How long in your experience did bbs last in a 2 liter bottle after hatching?


----------



## BRUNER247

Uncle Rico said:


> Lol they are piranhas! By time they get 1/2"-3/4" they'll be grazing on each other If you don't keep them fed! Spawning them is the easy part! Its keeping them alive to selling size that a lot of people have problems with!


Oh ok, they are not that big yet since they are only two days old (almost). I was just worried about them not eating for two days. They still look good though and the brine shrimp is just about ready so I think I'll be ok (with the food issue at least). I'll get another batch going shortly. How long in your experience did bbs last in a 2 liter bottle after hatching?
[/quote]
I start my bbs in morning-noon its ready in the morning the following day (22-24 hours) I feed half in morning half in evening.if you let that batch sit overnight(2nd night) there will be none left your water will be bbs colored with no shrimp. 1/2 in morning 2nd half in evening n they'll be done(none left) you can grow them into adulthood. I don't. Have to google that I can't help ya there. If you let them settle for a minute before you drain them from bottom unhatched eggs will float to top by time evening feeding comes around almost all will be hatched by then! They say 24-36 hours hatch time. I feed at 1st half at 24hrs rest are ready at 36hrs. Idk best way I've found!


----------



## Uncle Rico

BRUNER247 said:


> Lol they are piranhas! By time they get 1/2"-3/4" they'll be grazing on each other If you don't keep them fed! Spawning them is the easy part! Its keeping them alive to selling size that a lot of people have problems with!


Oh ok, they are not that big yet since they are only two days old (almost). I was just worried about them not eating for two days. They still look good though and the brine shrimp is just about ready so I think I'll be ok (with the food issue at least). I'll get another batch going shortly. How long in your experience did bbs last in a 2 liter bottle after hatching?
[/quote]
I start my bbs in morning-noon its ready in the morning the following day (22-24 hours) I feed half in morning half in evening.if you let that batch sit overnight(2nd night) there will be none left your water will be bbs colored with no shrimp. 1/2 in morning 2nd half in evening n they'll be done(none left) you can grow them into adulthood. I don't. Have to google that I can't help ya there. If you let them settle for a minute before you drain them from bottom unhatched eggs will float to top by time evening feeding comes around almost all will be hatched by then! They say 24-36 hours hatch time. I feed at 1st half at 24hrs rest are ready at 36hrs. Idk best way I've found!
[/quote]

Do you turn off the airstone in the hatchery (a two liter bottle in my case) once they are all hatched or do you leave the airstone on and let it throw them around?

*Also, how many batches do you guys stagger. I was thinking two would be enough, as soon as one hatches I'll start another so that it will be ready when the other one dies the next day.


----------



## BRUNER247

I use 2 hatcheries.I start 1 every morning-noon for it to be. Ready the following morning. Like I said 1/2 in morning 1/2 in evening. It'll feed 3-4 batches in different tanks. After 1st week can start giving them baby bites between the bbs meals. Be sure to rinse your bbs with a lil clean tank water before you feed em!


----------



## Uncle Rico

BRUNER247 said:


> I use 2 hatcheries.I start 1 every morning-noon for it to be. Ready the following morning. Like I said 1/2 in morning 1/2 in evening. It'll feed 3-4 batches in different tanks. After 1st week can start giving them baby bites between the bbs meals. Be sure to rinse your bbs with a lil clean tank water before you feed em!


Oh crap, that's a good point. I figured a little brine water stuck on the net won't hurt anything, but with so many feedings it probably adds up especially in my little ten gallon. I'll be sure to rinse them from now on.

I have been using sally's brine shrimp mix to hatch and found that half a packet is more than enough to feed them since I only have about 50 babies. The packet is supposed to be added to one liter, but since I do half a packet in one liter I add half a teaspoon of salt (since I am only adding half the mix so am probably missing about half a teaspoon of salt. After I add the half teaspoon of salt I assume there is about 1 teaspoon of salt in the water). Does that sound about right? It seemed to work out ok but I'm not sure if it is ideal.


----------



## BRUNER247

Man I sounds about right for the mixing part.I have heard a lil to much salt is better than not enough. but I must say your on your own there.I tryd using the pre-mixed packages at 1st with various results.and as I'm feeding thousands of babies I need bbs everyday with no surprises.and the package just weren't cost effective for me. So I quit messing around n bought the coffee can sized can of brine eggs.I use a cough medicine cup for my measurements of the salt and brine eggs too.I fill it level with salt everytime(which is a tad over 2 tblsp) its says better a lil too much than not enough.n add the amount of brine I am needing the next day. I don't know if I said it here or another post but a brine net you buy will let a LOT of brine to escape thru the meshing! My girl sewed a piece of fabric from a Halloween costume on the net handle n now NO brine slips thru! And rinsing the brine in a lil fresh water minimizes the fry eating a bunch of salt.a lil in your tank won't hurt anything I don't think but to be safe I don't want them eating to much salt with the brine.hope that helps. I put a lot of other info In a couple other posts here also. Like fine leaved plants for micro algae ect. Might wanna review those too. PM me your email address n I send you a couple quick videos of brine setups if you like or think it might help ya. But sounds like you got it going good now.n watch your adult rbp there will be MORE! May I ask why you only have 50 or so left?


----------



## Uncle Rico

BRUNER247 said:


> Man I sounds about right for the mixing part.I have heard a lil to much salt is better than not enough. but I must say your on your own there.I tryd using the pre-mixed packages at 1st with various results.and as I'm feeding thousands of babies I need bbs everyday with no surprises.and the package just weren't cost effective for me. So I quit messing around n bought the coffee can sized can of brine eggs.I use a cough medicine cup for my measurements of the salt and brine eggs too.I fill it level with salt everytime(which is a tad over 2 tblsp) its says better a lil too much than not enough.n add the amount of brine I am needing the next day. I don't know if I said it here or another post but a brine net you buy will let a LOT of brine to escape thru the meshing! My girl sewed a piece of fabric from a Halloween costume on the net handle n now NO brine slips thru! And rinsing the brine in a lil fresh water minimizes the fry eating a bunch of salt.a lil in your tank won't hurt anything I don't think but to be safe I don't want them eating to much salt with the brine.hope that helps. I put a lot of other info In a couple other posts here also. Like fine leaved plants for micro algae ect. Might wanna review those too. PM me your email address n I send you a couple quick videos of brine setups if you like or think it might help ya. But sounds like you got it going good now.n watch your adult rbp there will be MORE! May I ask why you only have 50 or so left?


Well its around 60 when I tried to count today, thats about how many I started with in the ten gallon(haven't found any dead babies yet). The parent tank was not set up for breeding it was just incidental, so I think some got sucked up or buried in the gravel (there is an undergravel filter, that may change in the future). I also don't think I caught all of them. * Do you know if I am supposed to be using marine salt or just aquarium salt (like doc wellfish) for the brine shrimp water?* Very few of the new batch hatched and I used plain brine shrimp eggs for it (and marine salt meant for saltwater aquariums). I used the mix for the first batch and it turned out very well. I would rather use the plain eggs since it is cheaper but I think I'll do both for a little while to be safe while I experiment. I had to dump out the second batch since it was 90 percent unhatched eggs and dead shrimp. Luckily, the first batch lasted way longer than I thought it would. Almost all of them are still alive and its the third day. The third batch will be ready tomorrow morning so I can finally dump the hardy first batch tonight.

]


----------

