Banggai Fry Yippeeeee!

[Callie]

My male Banggai is on day 22 and has released his 1st fry!
Much larger than I thought they would be!
Do they generally release at a certain time of day or night?
Just want to make sure I catch them as they are released so he doesn't eat any, or should they be safe with dad?
He is in a 30 gal with about 30 lbs LR some caulerpa, halimeda and sargassum. There were 2 powerheads running but I shut one off so the little guys wouldn't get blown away.
The one I found looked to have a full belly, are they like that when released or did he just get plenty of pods? The tank has a good population of pods but I plan on feeding enriched bbs.
How does that sound so far? Any suggestions for continued heealth of the fry? Also I plan to put dad in one of my other tanks to feed him up before he goes back to his wife in the 80 gal.
Thanks!
Kathy

[Lock]

Kathy,
Congratulations. Your plans sound fine. The Fry will be OK while the father still carries, but remove him as soon as you can after they are all released....probably by tomorrow.
I have generaly found that fry are released over night when every thing is quiet, and thats probably a survival instinct of the father.

The belly is full because they have been living off the yolk sack.....you need the enriched BBS now, as they need plenty of food....your pods may or may not surfice.


Resting the fathe is also a ggod idea.

Regards

Lock

[Rod Buehler]

Here is a lil article on feeding the fry. http://www.rodsreef.com/banggai_feeding.htm
Good luck

[Callie]

Dad has finally released all of the fry. He released one on wed night, 12 on friday night and 32 sat night! A total of 45! They are all doing well and dad ate voraciously!
I'm feeding artemia naupali soaked for an hour in selcon. I've seen on other posts that it's important that the fry get enough HUFA. What is HUFA? Will they get enough from the artemia soaked in selcon?
Thanks!
Kathy

[Rod Buehler]

Callie, It would be better if the naupalli were gut loaded, and not just soaked.. Soaking them will not do the trick IMO/IME. (which is stated in the article above). For the first 12 hours, the naupalli is nutritious as they caan be.Between 12 and 24 hours, the loose their nutritional value and they must be feed. Keith has informed me that he is now feeding the naupalli phytoplanktons wwith good success. I tried the phytos way bak whhen my pair first started to breed, but I found the selco/selcon to be easier to work with, aand I have it for my other fish foods, so I prefer that.. (Hi Keith, Reply coming soon..sorry))( Hi Frank).
Good luck

[Clyde]

fourty five... wow :)

[Lock]

Kathy,
HUFA stands for Highly Unsaturated Fatty Acids. Basically its the same as the Omega 3 fatts that are so good for Humans found in Tuna.

If they don't get enough, they develop a nervous problem and die of heart attacks when frightened. (Like when you walk into a room or try to clean the tank.

I had this problem with my first batch......enriching the brine fixed it with the next lot. Basically I feed HUFA to the baby brine 1 day after they hatch, and then feed the brine to the fry a day after that. This is because newly hatched brine dont have a mouth as they still have a yolk sack. After the first day, they develop the mouth, and by letting them feed for the next full day, I ensure they are well and truly gut loaded. You need to have a couple of batches going at any time all at different stages so that you have a constant supply of enriched BBS.

[Callie]

Thanks Lock,
I have 2 batches of BBS going started on alternate days. I may start a third to let them develope their mouth. I've been using selcon for enriching the BBS, would that have HUFA in it? What do you use to gut load your BBS?
Thanks,
Kathy

[Lock]

Selco is hufa.

[saltbuddy]

I'd love to have several (terms to be discussed later) of your kids. I am planning a very large tank with refugium, and have room to spare. give me a blip.