Frozen BBS

[dean_alicia]

iv lost at least half my fry in one afternoon.. is this right.... they still dont seem interested in the BBS and are still hastling there parents.. do i keep putting in the BBS in the tank? will the salt water coming out of the seringe be effecting the fry?

[mistakes r crucial]

How long have you been hatching BBS and how do you check to make sure they're ready? You're supposed to swill the BBS off in to fresh water before feeding but I doubt the salt water killed them. To be honest I used to cut a few corners too when I had a lot of batches of fry going at the same time and the salt content doesn't hurt them providing they're in enough water.

How old are the fry? It could be a host of reasons, gill fluke at a very young age will see them drop like flies as do a few other things. More info needed really, water params, all of 'em and anything else you feel relevant.
Cheers
MAC

[dean_alicia]

fry have been free swimming for just over a week. they are about 1cm in length..
ph is 6.3, ammonia,nitrate and nitrite are all close to zero. the only thing i have done is add the BBS.
BBS have been going for about 40hours now. i can see them moving around in the seringe.
tank is a 2 1/2 foot wide 1 1/2 foot high..
parents are happy and are still alowing fry to feed off them..

[mistakes r crucial]

What does close to zero mean and especially for the nitrite? At a Ph of 6.3 if there's am Ammonia reading it would be Ammonium anyway so not too much of a biggy but Nitrite will turn them over.

At 40 hours they are no longer BBS IMO, with brand new fry I would hatch BBS within 12-14 hours and discard them (throw 'em in a grow out tank) after 24. If you're either not hatching them out properly or feeding them too large for your fry you will turn them over.
Cheers
MAC

[dean_alicia]

ok i have retested the water nitrite is between .25 + .5 is that to much for the fry???

[Mr Wild]

Any nitrite is too much it must be zero. Change some water. HTH

[mistakes r crucial]

Nitrite is the evil of all evils with fry IME. You'll knock fry around with Ammonia but Nitrite will kill them at .5. You have to work out why you have Nitrite, you're either over feeeding, not changing enough water or your filtration system is not working adequately or is not big enough to do the job.
Cheers
MAC

[DiscusDave]

You'll knock fry around with Ammonia but Nitrite will kill them at .5.

I'm guessing that's because ammonia toxicity reduces as PH is lowered by Nitrite toxcitiy increases? I'm of the opinion that ammonia is blamed for many fish deaths when in fact nitrite was the actual culprit more often than not. Esp because people see an ammonia spike, then the fish die a little later so ammonia is blamed even though the ammonia spike is often going to be followed by a nitrite spike.

[mistakes r crucial]

Exactly my thoughts Dave and yes, Ammonia is far less toxic below a Ph of 7.
Cheers
MAC

[dean_alicia]

iv got my nitrite down to 0.25. all fry are gone aprt from 2, dads body has gone dark but mum looks ok.. will do another water change 2night.