Can you overfeed fry BBS?

[Melissa]

So the title pretty much sums up my question...

I have about 40 2wk old fry at the moment, and I'm constantly throwing freshly hatched BBS in the tank throughout the day and they always go WILD and just eat and eat and eat... They're still with the parents, but I'll be removing them next week...

What do you guys think?
Could I be hurting them by letting them eat TOO much?:confused:

[William Palumbo]

I don'y believe you can, since BBS are mostly made up of water. The more the fry eat...the better.... BUT...You can overfeed the tank. Uneaten BBS fouls the water pretty good and fast...Bill

[stanlee]

depends on how long the bbs can last in the tank.
what's the max hours the bbs can be alive in our discus tanks?
:)

[merk175]

I'm in a similar situation with fry about 3 weeks old. Great question as every time I feed them, they eat. I've been doing big WC every day so my water is fine but do wonder if i can or am over feeding them......

[John_Nicholson]

No.

-john

[merk175]

here's a picture of my fry today. 27 days after the eggs hatched. If I'm not constantly feeding them, they start feeding on the parents again. The way they "dig" into the parents side, I can't imagine it being helathy for the parents. Is it time to remove them or should I keep them with the parents...

http://s695.photobucket.com/albums/vv320/merk175/?action=view&current=IMG_1766.jpg

[John_Nicholson]

Probably time to remove them. They are more then old enough.

-john

[Melissa]

I was worried about removing the parents too... since they readily take BBS i went ahead and did it and the fry are just fine :-) I was worried they'd be scared and huddle together- NOPE! They (and the parents!) were ready! They're exactly 2 weeks free-swimming today. :)

Thanks for the responses everyone. I wont worry anymore lol

[merk175]

I'm going to move my fry to their own tank this weekend. I don't doubt they're ready....and I'm certain the parents are ready to get rid of the little pests! So far everything has gone so well I hate to change anything but it's time. Hopefully all goes well and I don't lose any.

[merk175]

I removed the fry this weekend and all is well....so far anyway. Seems like an awful lot of fish for a 20 gallon tank though. I'm guessing there are over 100 fry. At what point does a 20 gallon tank become too small to grow out?