will i stunt my fry if I, ????

[maxpain]

going on vacation for 5 days in a couple weeks. I have two fry tanks. by the time i leave, one tank of fry (35 in 29 G) will be 2 month old, the other (150 in 29 G) will be 5 weeks old. i will do a big WC right before i leave and right when i come back. i'm not planning on feeding them the day i leave. they will not be feed until i get back. so 5 days without food. will they become stunted?

thanks
maxpain

[warblad79]

Fry need to eat at least 4x a day, you need a automatic feeder just like a do. try to train them to eat beefheart flakes.

[jimg]

i don't believe lack of food will ever stunt them, they may not grow too much that week! I would use an automatic feeder too if your sure you can keep the water clean, otherwise don't feed them.


PS; Al says they won't get white feces either!!

[Sean Buehrle]

That's quite a few fish in a 29 gal for five days no waterchange, what size are they?


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[Larry Bugg]

I would be more concerned about zero water changes while you are gone than zero food.

[LizStreithorst]

IMO you will stunt them.

[maxpain]

Fry need to eat at least 4x a day, you need a automatic feeder just like a do. try to train them to eat beefheart flakes.

hi warblad79, I feed at least 6x/day and 10x/day on weekends. my wife feeds them while i'm at work. i feed them 5 diff types of food. they eat everything.


i don't believe lack of food will ever stunt them, they may not grow too much that week! I would use an automatic feeder too if your sure you can keep the water clean, otherwise don't feed them.

PS; Al says they won't get white feces either!!

hi jim. there will not be any WC while i'm gone. no one here to change water and i can't get anyone here to do the WC. i can probably play catch up when i get back. btw, the juvies i got from you are doing very well. will post pics soon.


That's quite a few fish in a 29 gal for five days no waterchange, what size are they?


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hi sean, the tank with 150 fry are very small. a little bit bigger than 1/4 inch but i'm anticipating them to get bigger in two weeks. i think i might move them to a 46 or a 55 g tank. the tank with 35 fry are over 1 inch. i will test the water. i do 90%/day, everyday.



I would be more concerned about zero water changes while you are gone than zero food.

hi bugman, yeah, like i said, can't do the WC while no one is home. lights out on the tanks for now.


IMO you will stunt them.

hi liz, is this something you have experienced or heard of? do you think i can catch them back up?

[TURQ64]

Aside from the food question, if you have any calcium additives, I'd add some to help stabilize the ph to avoid a crash from bioload,etc. JMO, Gary

[nc0gnet0]

I would be suprised if you didn't lose over half of the 5 week old discus in that 29 gallon tank. Trouble is, once you start to lose a couple, the problem will grow exponentially.

[jimg]

Chea what are they about dime size?

[maxpain]

Chea what are they about dime size?

they are not quite dime size yet. i'm guesstimating they will be a little bigger than dime size in two weeks. i'm just going by the set of fries that is a couple weeks older. you think a bigger tank will keep the water more stable?

[PAR23]

I would be suprised if you didn't lose over half of the 5 week old discus in that 29 gallon tank. Trouble is, once you start to lose a couple, the problem will grow exponentially.

Rick, interesting point. Is that once disease sets in, it spreads like wild fire resulting in massive casualties?

[ExReefer]

Rick, interesting point. Is that once disease sets in, it spreads like wild fire resulting in massive casualties?

No, the dead fry will quickly degrade water quality leading to more and more death.

maxpain - your situation is a problem. it's just very difficult to raise fry without daily feedings and WC's. It's hard enough when your home everyday. If this vacation is important to you then take your chances and the fry and enjoy your trip. You clearly have a spawning pair that will produce more fry in the future.

[maxpain]

No, the dead fry will quickly degrade water quality leading to more and more death.

maxpain - your situation is a problem. it's just very difficult to raise fry without daily feedings and WC's. It's hard enough when your home everyday. If this vacation is important to you then take your chances and the fry and enjoy your trip. You clearly have a spawning pair that will produce more fry in the future.

yeah, there's no way to get out of this vacation. the pair that i have are getting to be really good parents so i have faith that they will be able to produce more soon. i am giving some away to my friends so at least if the ones i have die, then there are some of my home grown out there. if they do survive, it will give me a chance to see how they compare to my friends, given that WC and feedings are fairly similar. it is a lot of work to get a nice batch of fry and to grow them out but it will be just another lesson in this hobby.

[nc0gnet0]

The larger your tank, the better your chances. If I was forced into this situation myself, I would place them in a 75-100 gallon tank and set up an automatic feeder with light feedings once a day. In this particular case I would probably also run some activated carbon in my filter. A UV would also be a nice option. Possibly a bottom feeder or two in there as well.

Rick

[nc0gnet0]

No, the dead fry will quickly degrade water quality leading to more and more death.

Exactly

[MostlyDiscus]

Cull what you can. Dont feed. 5 days is no big deal. At the rate your feeding when you are home they will catch up to where they were fast. Ed

[maxpain]

thank you everyone for your advice and opinions. i really do appreciate it. i have a 10 more days to prepare for the trip. i will be taking all your advices into consideration and will more than likely use it. i will give you an update once i have done it. i'm going to post some pics soon.

[zman78]

yeah, there's no way to get out of this vacation. the pair that i have are getting to be really good parents so i have faith that they will be able to produce more soon. i am giving some away to my friends so at least if the ones i have die, then there are some of my home grown out there. if they do survive, it will give me a chance to see how they compare to my friends, given that WC and feedings are fairly similar. it is a lot of work to get a nice batch of fry and to grow them out but it will be just another lesson in this hobby.

Do you trust (in your home) a friend enough to do feedings/water changes? My friend has five tanks and just has his basement tenants feed/water change when he's gone. They have a tank of there own in their suite so they have an idea of what they are doing.

[nc0gnet0]

Cull what you can. Dont feed. 5 days is no big deal.

It's a breaze for adults, but 5 week old fry? Not so sure, but then again I have never tried it myself..........

Rick

[maxpain]

Do you trust (in your home) a friend enough to do feedings/water changes? My friend has five tanks and just has his basement tenants feed/water change when he's gone. They have a tank of there own in their suite so they have an idea of what they are doing.

you guys, my problem is solved. i am going to transport both tanks to my friends house. i'm very curious to know what would happen if i were to leave them in without food or WC for 5 days still. i'm considering leaving 10 behind to see what happens. we'll see, i'll let you know.


It's a breaze for adults, but 5 week old fry? Not so sure, but then again I have never tried it myself..........

Rick

i'm leaving my 9 (5 in a 90 g, 2 pairs in thier own 29 g) adults behind, and 25 10 month old juvies behind but they are in a 180 gallon. i think they all should be fine. dam, it would suck a** to come home to bunch of dead discus. fingers crossed.

let me know if you guys are curious to see what happens to 10, 5 week old fry left behind in a 29 G tank without WC and food. if enough interest, then i will do it as an experiment. if not, then i will probably bring them my friends.

another problem, my PB pair just spawned again so that means when i leave, the fry will be 8 days old. waited months and months to get some fry. just my luck huh? i bet the the rose reds pair are going to spawn this week.

grammer question. when i'm referring to 2 or more fry, should i be writing ( fries? ) or is fry correct? :)

[Larry Bugg]

fry

[maxpain]

fry

thanks.

[LizStreithorst]

Cull what you can. Dont feed. 5 days is no big deal. At the rate your feeding when you are home they will catch up to where they were fast. Ed

Really, Ed? Dimes with no food or WC for 5 days...You think that they'll be fine? Have you done this? I never have. It goes against my belief of what good husbandry is. When I go away for a few days either the fry are young enough for the parents to care for or I come home to eggs or wigglers. I would never put myself in the position of having the youngest most dependent fish go without food or WC.

[jimg]

I really don't think fry smaller than a dime with a good filter will have problems in a 29 for 5 days water quality wise (providing none dies). i am not sure about feed wise though.
I have done it 4 days with 30+ 2.5" in a 50 with auto feeder set to feed small amount 1X a day no problems. nitrates about 10+

[maxpain]

hello everyone. i did not end up going on vacation because of the flooding in MA. unfortunately, all my fry died due to unknown cause. i'm still trying to figure out what went wrong. i did everything exactly the same for two months and one day a couple died. they all started dying slowly shortly after. i moved them to a bigger tank and they still kept on dying. any ideas?

[Melissa]

Bacterial issue perhaps? It it's important to keep all surfaces in the tank wiped down, preferably daily... Otherwise slime and gunk in the cracks and crevices and on the glass can be the perfect breeding ground for nasties. Just a thought. Sorry for your losses.

[maxpain]

that's my original thought also. i gave some to my friends, 20 each and one has none left and the the other only has 4. they probably caught bacterial infection before i gave it to them. i wipe down tanks everyday along with daily WC. could it be flukes? i put a few of the fry in the guppy tank with no WC and they survived. what's up with that?

next time this happens, does anyone have any ideas how to treat the tank? I know i should be in the disease section but since you are reading this, maybe you can give me some advice here.

[Melissa]

Because its not clear what exactly killed them, its hard to advise a course of action if you were to experience fry deaths like this again. An excellent broad spectrum treatment, if you will, for any external parasite problem would be pottassium permagnate. It is not a medication, it works by oxidizing organic materials and a 4 hour bath at a gentle dose rate of around 2-4 ppm works wonders. Some people use pottassium permagnate (PP) as a preventative treatment for small fry to head off fluke or bacterial problems before they arise. Hth

[maxpain]

Great. Thanks. I will remember that the next time I have problems like this with future fry.