quick note about feeding babu discus...

[mikel]

At 1-1.5 weeks, the babies are getting pretty big, and the BBS, both live and frozen, seem a bit too small now. I have begun to mix Nutrimar Ova (prawn eggs) with frozen BBS and shooting the mix to the babies. They absolutely love it! I think the prawn eggs, which are highly nutritious, can be a great food for the growing babies!!! I previously bought a bunch of these prawn eggs because my tank bred mandarin fish in my saltwater tank love this stuff. Now I can feed the fry this food as well! See link below (I am in no way associated with the company that makes this thing...I just happen to use it for my saltwater fish and now my baby discus love it too)..mike

http://www.nutramar.com/ova.html

[TURQ64]

Interesting read,Mike..Who carries it?..Pricing?

[William Palumbo]

What the hell is a babu Discus?...J/K...I have seen those eggs before and wondered about them. Also the frozen Cyclops-eze. Thanks for the info...Bill

[mikel]

haha...sorry for the typo. I tried to go back to edit the title, but realized I couldnt (or maybe I just dont know how). Yes, these prawn eggs, which are carried by more reputable LFS are generally used by salt water people. They are also quite pricy, at around $11 a small slab. But a little goes a long long way for saltwater people (they literally starve their tanks because of the fear of algae....they also dont change water like we do). In any case, I see my little guys eating these quite heartily. I also have cyclo-eeze and when they are bigger, I will try these too. My first batch of fry is a learning experience for me...I want to see if there are good foood for them, at what time to feed them what, and how to care for them. These BD fry are very nice, and I will do my best with them...but I have my eyes on my Albino LSS that I am hoping will pair up soon. mike

[dawrtw]

Angelfish Plus has some very good high protien powder food that I have used for angels. Would this do well for baby discus?

[roclement]

Angelfish Plus has some very good high protien powder food that I have used for angels. Would this do well for baby discus?

yes.

[dawrtw]

I thought they might have simular requirements at that stage but was not sure.

Thankyou,

[SeaDragon]

So what were u feeding them after they just hatched? I was wondering bc my Discus pairs always eat the eggs, so I thought i might try to raise them in their own tank

[discusdaddy]

Nutramar Tigrio i got these thing for days live in my tank allready. they taste like chicken.

[Eddie]

Cool find Mike! It's always great when folks think outside of the box! Keep us updated on how the fry grow-out on them.

All the best,

Eddie

[wendy9722]

My LFS dont carry that otherwise I would try it and see what happens. I have a bunch of 3 day old wigglers now and hopeing they attach to mom so I dont have to try raising them by hand.
Wendy

[John_Nicholson]

Interesting but I also wanted to add that they will eat and love BBS up to 3 inches If fact I have had some breeding pairs that would eat it when I fed the fry.

-john

[mikel]

Yup, my fry about 2 weeks old really do love their live BBS, but they like the frozen BBS too. I mix thaw the frozen bbs with Ova and the cyclopeeze now....I see them eating all three, so it seems ok. In saltwater hobby the Ova and the cyclopeeze are consider to be top end food for finicky fish with tiny mouths (like mandarin dragonetts) and corals....they are highly nutritious so I assume the discus babies should benefit too. Food is indeed food in the animal kingdom. On a side note, I have noticed both mom and dad getting annoyed at the growing fry and trying to eat them now. At two weeks, these guys look pretty healthy and robust, but they still like to hang out with parents so they dont swim away. Can I separate the family now? Thanks for your help. mike

[William Palumbo]

You can separate them now, as long as they are eating other foods, and they are. I just moved a couple batches that are about 2 weeks old myself. Normally, I wait until the fry seem less interested in the parents, and spend most of their time foraging around the tank before I remove them. But not always...Bill

[mikel]

Ok, great. By the way, I also notice the largest of my group, which at this point are the 50% who are growing really fast, to be nibbling at the BH/seafood mix on the glassfloor too. The other 50% are smaller, and I assume they may need to be ..... (yikes, I cannot do it). In any case, thanks Bill!

[mikel]

Here are some pics of my Bd babies at 2 weeks....they eat FBBS, Nutrimar Ova, Cyclopeeze, and I decided to keep them with the parents for now. I put away my "Martha" BBS hatching contraption for now...got tired of bubbling and syphoning. It's a mess and I just prefer dealing with FBBS, prawn eggs and cyclopeeze..the babies love the mix, and they are beginning to nibble at BH/seafood mix intended for the parents too. Grow fast! mike

[Eddie]

Nice pups mike!


Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk

[mmorris]

LOL Mike! I'm with Bill. I like to leave them a bit longer but if they appear to be in any danger, then they will survive on their own without the parents. I feed mine bbs until they lose interest - which is long after I lose interest in hatching it! I was under the impression fbbs doesn't have much nutritional value but that may be only adult fbs. 50% cull rate for size seems excessive. You might be jumping the gun to be considering it at this point. Fry look great!

[mikel]

Thanks Martha. I think the frozen bbs must be the same or close to the same nutrition as the live one...sinec they are just the frozen version? I know the adult BS are like lettuse to fish...just fiber for pooping. I am not culling at all, and it seems that mom and dad get into little spats but they seem to care about the babies.

The wierd thing is that my babies seem very reddish yellow in color. maybe it's their color at this point, or maybe it's the prawn eggs they are gorging on?? In any case, they seem happy, and that's what matters. Thanks mike

[nc0gnet0]

Why not feed decaps instead of FBBS?

[mikel]

Can I ask why you would decap the BBS for discus fry? I just did a small search for decapped BBS, and it sounds like taking away, or dissolving the outer shell before feeding the eggs to the seahorse. It is suppose to prevent intestinal blockage from eating shells, and also to get rid of hydroids. But frozen process for the fbbs, as I understand it, kills any parasite...also, freshwater also kills parasites normally found in saltwater? no? What are the benefits to discus fry?

By the way, Nutrimar Ova is a really expensive saltwater food (prawn eggs) for small fish like mandarins (which I have two of), and I accidentally found that baby discus love it. Thanks mike

[William Palumbo]

Mike, I think the main advantage is just being able to feed them right away. No hatching times. Plus, there are no eggshells, which can pose a bloating/choking hazard, so I hear...but I never had a problem with them. I guess in a nutshell...it's more of a convenience thing...Bill

[mikel]

Thanks Bill. It does seem logical, but I figure the frozen BBS is just a frozen version of the live, so there must not be much difference in the nutritional value between the two? I think frozen is pretty convenient....I am patient with daily water changes and making my own Bh/seafood mix, but for the life of me, I got so sick of hatching bbs within just a few days that it's funny. mike

[MostlyDiscus]

Interesting but I also wanted to add that they will eat and love BBS up to 3 inches If fact I have had some breeding pairs that would eat it when I fed the fry.

-john
Ditto John. If I get new young discus in I make it a point to feed BBS just to get the newbs eating. Ed

[nc0gnet0]

BBS is at its nutritional best for fish just after it has hatched. This is due to the fact the majority of the nutritional value comes from the unabsorbed yolk sack of the newly hatched brine shrimp. It's hard to say how quickly they manage to freeze the baby brine shrimp after hatching, but I am sure it is less than optimal. Then the freezing/processing will rob some additional nutrients. With decaps, you have all the nutrition of the yolk sack left, they only thing you don't have is the movement of a live food that stimulates eating.

[stanlee]

what is the size of one decap egg in micron, anyone?
thnks

[mmorris]

BBS is at its nutritional best for fish just after it has hatched. This is due to the fact the majority of the nutritional value comes from the unabsorbed yolk sack of the newly hatched brine shrimp. It's hard to say how quickly they manage to freeze the baby brine shrimp after hatching, but I am sure it is less than optimal. Then the freezing/processing will rob some additional nutrients. With decaps, you have all the nutrition of the yolk sack left, they only thing you don't have is the movement of a live food that stimulates eating.

Very well put.

[Vern Archer]

An interesting topic, as pointed out in an early article by Jim Quarrels (NADS 1993) on Atemia brine Shrimp and I quote "The brine shrimp has been known for years as a source of great food for our tropical fish. However, it should be pointed out that while newly hatched brine shrimp is almost a perfect food for most tropical fish fry, frozen brine shrimp, adult or in baby form, is next to useless as a food source. Fresh live brine shrimp should be fed when it can be obtained. Once frozen however it loses most of its value as food." The reason for this as newly hatched brine has the nutritional properties for a newly hatched brine to grow and these same properties are what makes this so valuable for fry. v

[MostlyDiscus]

Hey Vern, Do you feed your babies newly hatched BBS? I didnt remember seeing BBS hatching stations when I visited your facilty a while back? What do you feed babies? Ed

P.S. for those who dont know Vern I would say that he is by far one of the best and most knowlegable breeders I have had the pleasure to have met.:antlers::antlers:

[mikel]

If frozen BBS is next to useless, and I have been feeding my BD fry this almost from the beginning (go sick of hatching after only the third batch), then given the fast rate of growth of my fry, it must be two things...

1) I let the Bd parents feed the babies for as long as possible by keeping them together
2) I added the Nutrimar Ova in with the frozen BBS...if the BBS is useless in frozen form, then most of the nutrition must have come from the prawn eggs (Ova). I guess I am lucky that I know about the OVa because I have such finicky marine fish like the mandarins (will only eat ova and cyclopeeze).

Funny how things work out the way they do. Now my fry attacks the Ova and the BH mix I give the parents....I want them completely on BH mix soon, with only Ova as a snack. mike

[Vern Archer]

Hi Ed thanks for those kind words, yes I do feed newly hatched brine shrimp until they are about 3 weeks of age around the time I am introducing my BH Salmon food mix which I make extra fine. I keep 3 pop bottles going and rotate them aprox 8 hours apart so I always have newly hatched brine. Nature has provided the newly hatched artemia with the amino and vitamin building blocks for growth which the artemia quickly consumes as it grows so it is important to have the newly hatched for the best growth and development. Once harvested the pop bottle is cleaned refilled with hot water salt is added then its allowed to sit for 2 to 3 hours until the temperature lowers and then I add the eggs. I keep a light above them at all times as well to provide light and heat. Brine can also be a good source of bacteria so it is important to keep the containers clean and to cleanup after your fry. v


Hey Vern, Do you feed your babies newly hatched BBS? I didnt remember seeing BBS hatching stations when I visited your facilty a while back? What do you feed babies? Ed

P.S. for those who dont know Vern I would say that he is by far one of the best and most knowlegable breeders I have had the pleasure to have met.:antlers::antlers:

[mmorris]

I want them completely on BH mix soon, with only Ova as a snack. mike

You might want to consider getting them on flake, pellet and fbw also so they will be used to them.

[mikel]

Martha: I tried giving them crushed Sera Blue pellets and crushed Omega Spirulina flakes yesterday....they gobbled everything up within minutes. these little pirannahs will eat anything. I want them on my mix because my Bh seafood mix also have these pellets and flakes and vitamins all mixed into it. So when they get the mix, they get the best of all of these things. I do not like handling frozen blood worms...if fact, I just stay away from FBW altogether. They also like a marine fisf food called cyclopeeze...which is a frozen form of copepods that saltwater fish, like my mandarin dragonettes, love. mike