Need some advise in a hurry.

[troyclark]

Hello all, I was wanting some advise on what I should do. Its been one year in the making but I finally have a large batch of fry from my really pretty red turks. The parents are feeding them and taking great care of them. They were spawned on July 14 and as of now are a little over two weeks old and growing fast. I feed them BBS 4 times a day and they are constantly feeding from both parents. My problems is that in two weeks I have to go to Texas for vacation and while my brother will feed my fish and watch for anything obvious he is not a hobbiest and therefor won't be able to do any water changes for me or feed BBS while I am away. Both he and I would be very upset if the brood was lost during his care. Should I leave the fry with the parents in hopes that they will continue their excellent care of should I move the fry to a larger aquarium and hope they adjust to flake food and tetra bits ??? They are currently in a 29 gallon aquarium with their parents. There are approximately 100 fry now. Any advise will be greatly appreciated. I leave for Texas on the 11th of August. Thanks for looking

[Giniel]

Hi, well it depends on how long you will be gone. If just a few days they will be fine either way . If you are gone longer then I would leave them with the parents IF the tank is big enough for them all.
HTH
Debbie

[troyclark]

Thanks for the reply, I will be gone for four days. I am planning on doing a large water change before I go and as soon as I get home after. I am balking on moving them because they haven't started to eat solid food yet (BH, TetraBits, or flakes). I could get some frozen BBS but don't know how they will react to the BBS if they aren't live. Any ideas ???? Thanks

[billeagan]

Crush up some tetrabits into a powder and put that into an auto feeder, the cheapest covers you 2x a day.

If your brother can come by 2x a day go get some Hikari first bites, a package is usually less than $2 at petsmart.

Soak a little inside a shot glass and then show him how to take pipette and squirt the first bites at the fry.

In any case, I always caution people that take care of my fish while I'm gone that is better to under feed than over feed.

Definitely do a large water change before you go and leave the fry with the parents.

However, have your brother watch if the parents lay eggs again. They may kill what you already if they are small enough.

[troyclark]

Just wondering if anyone thought moving the parents and the fry to an extra 55 gallon tank would work ?? I was think of doing this but also thought it might freak out mom and dad and cause them to eat their fry. Any ideas ??
Don't want to turn them into fry eaters. Thanks

[Robin764]

My last batch of fry had terrible timing. I was hospitalized when they were almost 3 weeks old. (Parents are in a 20g, about 100 fry) I spent 1 week in hospital, and 1 week home before I moved the babies. My son kept up on w/c's for me, but I must say the parents did really well with them.
They were just beginning to annoy mom & dad when they were moved.
I agree with Ginial that they will be fine either way.

Robin

[Willie]

T-Roy;

Its too chancy having someone else feed your fish, particularly in a fry tank. Here's what I suggest. Leave them with the parents in the 29-gallon. They can feed off the slime for 3 - 4 days with no problems. Put an egg crate divider to separate the parents so they won't spawn again. The babies will be able to swim back and forth between the two areas.

Willie

[Elcid]

Hi:

I have to agree with Willy but here's my 2 cents, What kind of flltration system do you have on this tank? If you are using a sponge filter only then you might want to consider adding another filter that has a large sponge in it or another sponge filter or three :D Then make yourself a large batch of BBS and after harvesting them freeze them in a ziplock bag. Ask your brother to feed them a small quantity 2 times a day and you should be fine. By small quantity I mean that the food should be finished within 30 seconds of putting it in the tank.

August 11 is a bit far off....Just a thought, but, you might want to consider moving 1/2 of the fry to that 55 gallon tank and they should get well adjusted by the time u leave. That way you can hedge ur bets ;)

How about some pics? It's always nice to see a pair of Red Turks with some babies!

take care,
Sandeep

[troyclark]

Ok, ask and ye shall receive. I took some pics tonight. Please forgive my picture taking ability. I am still trying to figure this digital camera out. Thanks for the replies.

[troyclark]

Another.....

[troyclark]

Almost done.....

[troyclark]

2nd to the last one for tonight. Thanks

[troyclark]

Thats all folks.......

[Elcid]

Hi:

Thanks for the pics, ur pair and babies look awesome and ur tank's so clean!....Congrats and good luck! That's the kind of thing all us hobbiests are working towards! It's nice to see the results of all ur hard work!

take care,
Sandeep

[Greg Richardson]

Very nice fish Troy!
Is your background white, or very light blue?
I like it.

[troyclark]

Thanks for the compliments. Greg, my background is a light almost baby blue. It really shows off the blue in the turks. All my tanks are painted this way. Thanks again.

[Robin764]

Very purty....
I like Elcid's idea for doing the half/half thing except for one small issue. I've noticed if my pairs are with a nice sized spawn, they show absolutely no signs of wanting to spawn while they have fry. But....
If they have a small spawn, they usually start cleaning cone after about 10 days or so. It wouldn't be so nice if they laid while you were gone, because the fry they have left is a small number.
Just a thought....I still like the half/half thingie, kinda like a small insurance policy...lol

Robin

[Elcid]

Hi Robin:

Yea that is the worry, but u also have to worry about 100 almost 1 month old fry eating mommy and daddy alive :) There's no easy answer!

take care,
Sandeep

[Giniel]

Hi, with my first batch of green turk fry ,they had 150 to 180m and the fry stayed with parents for 6 to 7 weeks only because I was unsure of how long to leave them. I moved them when the parents started nipping at the fry. I think if you feed the parents with the auto feeder they will all be fine.
Debbie

[troyclark]

Thanks for all the advise. I think I am going to seperate them either tonight or tomorrow night. I have noticed that they are making the parents pretty ragged. I am going to put the babies in a 33 gallon breeder next to the parents for now. They will eventually go in a couple of 55 for maximum growout. Any suggestions to make the move really smooth ??? Thanks

[Giniel]

Hi I would use the breeder water to put in the 33 gallon baby tank ,that will help some as conditions will be exact and with less water it will be easier to catch them.
Debbie

[troyclark]

I finally moved the spawn last night. Dad was really upset and came out of the water a couple of times. I took half of the water out of the 29 and put it into a freshly cleaned 55. I then filled the 55 half way up with some fresh aged water that I normally use for water changes anyway. Fed BBS and kept checking on them every hour or so. As of this morning all is well. I will start to fill the 55 fully as I do daily water changes.

When I was checking the water temp to make sure the temps matched before moving I noticed my pair had spawned and successfully raised this spawn in 82 degree water. I Initially thought his a bit low but they are very healthy and happy (judging by the spawn). I will keep it at 82 and see what happens. What does everyone keep their breeder temp at ???

I have solved my original delimma. My wife has agreed that I have put too much time and work into this to take the chance of leaving them now. She is going with her parents to the reunion and I will stay home and watch the kids (two dogs, one cat and a bunch of fish). I have a very, very understanding wife. I couldn't think of anyone else I know who's wife would let them take over half the basement and put up 25 aquariums. Everytime I bring home another tank she just rolls her eyes, shrugs and says oh well.

Thanks for listening and replying to this thread.

[Greg Richardson]

T-Roy. Your wife knows where you are though with all those tanks.
That's a good thing. LOL!
My wife has two garbage cans in her master bedroom.
She wants her room back. LOL!
Yep, good understanding wifes. We are blessed!

[Giniel]

My breeder tanks are set at 82 to 84 degrees and my grow out tanks are at 86 , all my community tanks are at 84. hope that helps some .
Good luck on the babies and having family members that understand and help is really helpful in this addicting hobby ..
My kids help with water changes
Giniel

[Elcid]

Congrats on successfully transferring the fry, mom and dad may not be happy now but soon they will thank you for it with another batch ;) The biggest thing you have to worry about now is gill flukes, I'm sure there must be lots of posts on when and how to medicate fry.....

Good luck and enjoy time alone with ur babies,
Sandeep