dwarf albino bn deaths ??

taraNY · Post by **taraNY** » 15 Oct 2004, 14:42

Hi all,
I'm new to this forum and am enjoying it immencely.
I have a very prolific pair of BN that have spwned regularly every 3 weeks.20 gallon ph 7.0 temp 70 ammonia .025 nitrate .20 2 hydro 4 sponge filter 1 aqua clear 200 driftwood and pathos.I clean bb tank of waste daily (20 % )wc well fed on algae wafers broccoli lima beans and spinach all organic.
Just recently I have had a large % of death that I haven't experienced before , this morning lost another just after w/c tap is 7.0 kh 1 out of tap , I do use dechlor since I don't believe the water reports I get from my town. My question to all is their something I'm doing wrong and also are these species sensitive to metals or any other chems that may be present in well water ???
thanxs in advance
tara

davidkozak · Post by **davidkozak** » 15 Oct 2004, 19:39

Is the water you're putting in the same temp, and dechlored before you put it in the tank? or do you add the water to the tank and then dechlor??
Are the water people perhaps doing some work on the lines in the area??
Oh, I re-read and you said it's a well--Is it your well?or is anyone else on the system as well??
David

taraNY · Post by **taraNY** » 15 Oct 2004, 20:13

hiya
I use an instant dechlor prior to filling and no work being done at the moment

taraNY · Post by **taraNY** » 15 Oct 2004, 23:43

David, thanks for your reply. I'm really in a quandary here.

I just reread my original post and ammonia is in fact less than .25. I don't think my water is a problem because I'm also keeping and breeding discus.

The thing is, I probably have 100+ BN fry. I've spoken to another BN breeder and he says he finds the same thing. They get to a certain size and a large percentage die. I'm not wanting to just accept that this should be the case.

Any other BN breeders out there?

davidkozak · Post by **davidkozak** » 15 Oct 2004, 23:55

I've only had three spawns, but I lost VERY few...Some things that I do:driftwood in the tank...changing lots of water...always have plenty of food in front of them...From reading your posts, I can't think of ANYTHING..

If you find out what it is, please let me know...Always handy to have any new info/things to look out for..
regards,David

pleco_farmer · Post by **pleco_farmer** » 17 Oct 2004, 13:36

How large is the mortality rate?
How long after hatch is it occurring?
Is your experience based on a single pair of parents?

In advance of your answers...

After a month, 5-10 out of one hundred, is not unusual.

There seems to be a critical point about two weeks after hatching. Some point in their development where if everything has not come on line, the fish don't make it. If I experience some die off around that time, I don't panic. Since this window has been consistent across many occurrences, external factors are probably conincidental.

Finally, I have had pairs which produce iffy offspring. Side by side with other spawns, die off occurs in one batch, and not the other, so genetics may be at work.

As far as husbandry is concerned, the only suggestion I have is to bump the temperature up to 78F. We get a better growth rate in the warmer water. Good growth is usually an indicator of good health.

Also, what kind of driftwood are you using? I get best results with softer Malaysian Driftwood. It is easily eaten by the fry, in fact it must be eaten by the fry.

taraNY · Post by **taraNY** » 17 Oct 2004, 19:58

Thank You so much for your reply, the loses are not necessarily near birth , since i have 4 or 5 broods together I seem to be losing them at about the 1 inch size .I thought they were overcrowded but setting up a new tank hasn't helped with slowing down the deaths ... seems like 3-4 per day I cant tell you what kind of driftwood I have but they do eat plenty of it , also with the first 2 batches I never noticed any die off .Wish I could get a grip. I did witness the moment of death the fish just went crazy swimming up and down along the glass for 45 secs then expired very confusing

thanks for listening

tara

pleco_farmer · Post by **pleco_farmer** » 18 Oct 2004, 12:46

I am trying to recall all of the different ways I have killed fry...

1. Poor husbandry...bad/insufficient feed, lack of wood, lack of snails, poor water chemistry
2. Pesticides from grocery produce
3. Bad genetic mix
4. Predation from unruly playmates
5. Pathogens

It seems that you have the first four covered. (Although, have you checked your water testing gear? This stuff can be notoriously inaccurate, and I have been caught out with expired reagents on more than one occasion. Also, I like to pack an aquaclear with ceramic/carbon/zeolite, trying to remove as much ammonia as possible before it has a chance to be processed into nitrates.)

I might try to eliminate the tank itself as a variable, by raising a spawn artificially in a separate tank, using aged water from a different, but chemically similar tank.

Its tough, but take heart, this is great experience. I learned almost everything I know by raising bn's...and tapping the wonderful community here...and as a result, all of my fish are much better off.

(Forgive me if I am a little philospohical today, I just returned home from a lengthy business trip to find three zebra fry hiding under some driftwood! Gotta love this hobby.)