Feeding L183 Fry

[longfinman]

It took a while but I finally saved some 183 fry. This is about the fourth batch of eggs with the first three batches all having fungus or not being fertilized. This fourth batch was kicked out of the cave so I put it in a net breeder. Most of them were covered with fungus but I saved about 15 which have now mostly absorbed their yoke sac. I put some shrimp pellets in there. Any suggestions on what else to feed these little guys? I never have any luck raising fry in a net breeder.

[MatsP]

Congratulations on saving some.
I'd feed them with soft vegetables, such as blanched courgette or perhaps well-ripened canteloupe melon, along with algae wafers. I would make sure that there isn't too much protein in the food. Depending on whether it is "pellets for shrimp" or "pellets made from shrimp", they may be fine or too high in protein, respectively. High protein diet is not good for vegetarian fish, which the

Ancistrus dolichopterus

are.

For more ideas on feeding, have a look at the article to the right of this post - it's all about feeding plecos.

--
Mats

[Jackster]

I have not spawned L183 but with the spawn of LDA08 I decided to feed my fry a much
higher protein diet (then in the past) especially until they reach almost an inch. I've
managed to keep 8 out of 12 of the LDA08 fry alive so far and as with L183, both
species are rather difficult while the fry are small. I have members of my group that
spawn L183 and I think everyone has adopted a higher protein diet for Ancistrus fry.
I think BBS would be a good choice but since I don't want the mess, I have found a
good artemia replacement (golden pearls) that comes in a range of sizes to best feed
fry of various sizes. Don't get me wrong in the fact that almost all of our group also
feeds raw zucchini, but it's our belief that very small fry need a "meatier" diet then
the adults. And sometimes when conditioning adults (females) to spawn an increase
of protein in the diet will work wonders. Remember many types of algae wafers
have fish protein as the first ingredient, so if you wish to feed "veggies" in the
form of a dry food, then I would suggest HBH wafers or otherwise one can use
a 100% spirulina flake (crushed).

I use mostly the cheap net type breeder traps with great success. One trick with them
is to make sure the breeder net is directly in the flow of current from a HOB filter.
It's also easy to overfeed so I like to have a few MTS snails inside the trap to help
eat any excess food along with the most important item, a small piece of driftwood.
Don't ask me to explain it scientifically, but baby bristlenose need wood and I've
found their survival rates to be greatly increased with a piece of driftwood in
every breeder trap I have. These cheaper type of fry traps also can become a sort
of protein skimmer. Once the surface of the water inside the trap becomes
covered with protein the exchange of CO2 and O2 is blocked. The simple solution
to this problem is just to skim the surface inside the trap with a small coffee cup
once a day. Hope my advice can be of some help to you.

[MatsP]

Right, lets get this straight: I'm not at all saying avoid protein for the fry. However, I have the experience (with common bristlenoses) that they die off quite easily if they are fed too much high protein with low levels of fiber content. It's not the protein as such that is the problem, it's the lack of fiber in most types of high protein diet. As long as the fish is ALSO getting fiber, high content of protein is indeed a good idea.

So, yes, feed protein by all means, but make sure they ALSO eat courgette/zucchini and such foods, so that they get a good amount of protein.

Common algae wafers are quite high in protein, such as Hikari (36% protein) and JBL Novo Plec (32%). This is not the highest protein levels you can find, but it's far higher than for example Zucchini (about 1.2% protein) - but that's not the dried form that the wafers are - the wafers are perhaps 20% water, whilst the Zucchini is about 95% water (cucumber contains a more water per weight than the water in a marine setup).

--
Mats

[Jackster]

Agreed fiber is very important and we humans need more fiber in our diets as well.
One thing people may find confusing is that 100% spirulina powder is 45% protein.
I can't find the specs for the 100% spirulina flake but if I remember correctly it is 35%
protein (due to binders). Most flakes sold as spirulina flakes, once again, have fish meal,
krill, or shrimp as the main (protein) ingredient(s).

[longfinman]

Thanks for all of the input guys. I breed tons of albino and calico bristlenose and feed them Hikari algae wafers and Wardley shrimp pellets. Just wanted to see if these guys ate something different. I will try some zucchini. I usually let the dad take care of the babies and leave them in the parents tank. They usually grow just fine. This dad doesn't seem to want to take care of them.

[apistomaster]

I highly recommend you try Spirulina and Earthworm Sticks.
They are suitable for both new fry and adults.
I use more one than the other depending on their dietary preferences.
I have not found a sucker mouth catfish yet whose basic needs can't be met between the use of these foods and it greatly simplifies feeding.

[Jackster]

This dad doesn't seem to want to take care of them.

This is very common for "blackwater" Ancistrus species.

[KrisA]

mine L183 male is good father.
He push fresh water at them all the time, mine has spawned today or yesterday