Loricariidae fry growth tank

fishfarmer · Post by **fishfarmer** » 20 Feb 2003, 18:46

I have a little device that makes raising the lazy-feeding-fry of certain loricariidae much easier and more successful. A friend of mine has had good success over the years raising royal farlowellas with some fairly labor intensive methods and has worked on automating a system that combines a few necessary steps- concentrating the fry in a small tank so that food can be concentrated right in front of the fry, large amounts of aeration and good filtration.
I took his suggestions and had a Plexiglas tube tank built that stands upright in a 10 gallon or 20 gallon long tank and attached to it a Tetra billi-filter to deliver tank water into the small tube tank. The water escapes thru a hole drilled in the side of the Plexiglas, which I plug with a piece of open pored foam. At feeding time I can slow or stop water circulation thru the small tank and then later come back and increase the flow rate to keep the water quality good. The larger tank has its own filtration to keep water quality good. The amount of food needed so that the fry feed well is smaller compared to feeding them in a larger tank. The details and pictures are on my web site in a report at

http://cinci-fishfarmer.com/reports/Lor ... eport.html

I've had much better luck with L010a fry so far.

Steve

BK · Post by BK » 20 Feb 2003, 22:07

Seems like a good idea. Couldn't a clear empty plastic soda/juice bottle be used as a cheaper alternative?

fishfarmer · Post by **fishfarmer** » 21 Feb 2003, 02:26

As long as it is heavy duty enough to support the weight of the filter attached to the side of it and stand upright in the tank, anything could work.

I'm still experimenting with the flow rates of water and what to feed the fry, etc. How important is the drift wood, how much aeration, etc.