We are working on some BAP for various species, and thought we'd share a few photos here as things are developing. It is always fun to buy new fish, but there's something much more rewarding about growing your own fry and raising them from newborn to maturity. Here's a bunch of photos . . .
PLATYS
MOLLIES
AFRICAN CICHLIDS
GERMAN BLUE RAMS
Nice work. Most have a hard time with the German blue rams so congratulations on raising some.
Thanks! The Rams are very special — a small triumph for us. We need to wait for another round to preserve at least 10 for BAP. The attrition rate is high between wk 1 and week 3.
Nice. Well done.
Thank you very much!
Congratulations!
Is the breeder box you have hanging on the outside of the tank purchased or DIY?
Thanks! It's a DIY set up. Just took a common "critter container," drilled two offset holes, siliconed on two different sized airline pieces for inflow and outflow, ran a hose from an air pump up the larger inflow, and then set it on a pile of books slightly above the tank. It keeps a small flow of water from the larger aquarium dripping in, allowing the water chemistry and temperature to keep _some_ similarity. In the BAP video we are making, we show some close-ups to make better sense of it all.
Sounds like a clever innovation. Am looking forward to seeing the video.
Have you measured the temperature of the water? It would be an interesting observation to use a thermometer to take the temperature of the water in the tank, in the breeder box, and in a container of water just set out in the room to see what the differentials are.
If I don't heat my tanks, the water generally stays about 70 - 72 degrees in the summer depending on location in the basement. Temperatures are cooler by 3-4 degrees in the winter. Since I frequently forget to plug heaters back in after water changes, I've inadvertently conducted many experiments on which fish tolerate these cooler temperatures. Angelfish, B. cupido, Corydoras adolfoi and many of my S. American tetras are miserable at cool temperatures. Corydoras knaacki don't miss a beat. Fire Barbs (Enteromius fasciolatus) seem to prefer the cooler temperatures (Seriously Fish gives range of 68 - 79 F).
@patchincurtis That's a neat idea! We'll give that a try. Our home temperature, above ground where this rig is located, ranges between 71-75 degrees Fahrenheit during the summer. The 10-Gal tank is set for about 78 degrees. With the fry tank set up on the opposite end of the tank from the heater, it surely is a cooler temperature. Let me ask you a question: when you've observed your fish in a larger sized tank without a heater for a period of time, did you notice any tendency of the fish to drift up towards the water surface? Just wondering if there's a temperature difference in the water between the top and bottom of the aquarium that fish may make adjustments on account of in cooler conditions than normal.