Tiny Bumble bee goby fry

Emg · 12-30-2006, 04:58 PM

I've got a few of these in a little hang on tank...moved the shell the parents layed their eggs in...now just waiting to see if they make it very far.

Here's the little hang on I keep them in. Just depending on infusoria to feed them.....they're so incredibly small !

nursie · 12-30-2006, 05:12 PM

Nice!

OrionGirl · 01-02-2007, 07:52 AM

Very cool! How often do you add infusoria? Have you tried anything else, like vinegar eels or microworms?

Emg · 01-03-2007, 03:52 PM

Nope, just infusoria....I have that tank stuffed full of plants, but I do squirt in some infusoria from a container of lettuce I have floating in my heated change water tank.

THis is the second time I've tried raising bb goby fry...so far they are the hardest I've tried. Lost the first batch...they were so incredibly tiny I never noticed they hatched out until after I had given up on them and did a 50%water change....haha....it was AFTER I did that that I noticed one lone fry swimming around in there....God knows how many I ended up syphoning out....

This time around I placed the shell in a smaller hangon tank with an airstone and lots of plants...(the one in the pic)......a few days after I noticed fry, I removed the shell from the little tank and a bunch of dead partially developed fry and dead eggs poured out of the shell. But I did have a good number of fry swimming around in amongst the plants.

I lost some....and up until yesturday I noticed at least 6 fry in the tank swimming around very actively....seemed to be healthy enough after a week or more of hatching so I figured they were getting enough to eat. I do change out some of the water each day...carefully being sure NOT to syphon out any fry..and I gently refill with clean aged changewater along with a squirt of two of infusoria.

I didn't notice any fry in there today...except for one floater...(dang)...so, I'm not sure I have any left or not...but...they ARE very hard to see. I'll keep looking.

As far as vinegar eels and micro worms....I'm not serious enough about trying to actually get any to maturity that I want to go to the expense and trouble of taking care of those cultures...I had micro worms once and I found it a very messy job feeding them..made the water all cloudy even when I tried the trick of putting a stick in the culture for them to climb up on. I've never tried vinegar eels and one of these days maybe I'll give them a try.... right now I'm just sort of experimenting with finding what will work for me with these tiny little guys. First time I ever had such a hard time trying to raise fry...hehe...even harder than bettas !

zanzimog · 01-03-2007, 04:09 PM

Just wanted to chime in that I love this thread. It's one of those things I would have thought impossible.

OrionGirl · 01-03-2007, 06:19 PM

Vinegar eels are much easier--you just pull out a cup, and run it through a coffee filter, then rinse the filter off in your tank water. And, the vinegar eel culture just smells a tad fruity, nothing like a microworm culture. If you do want to give it a try, it's cheap--just get some unpasturized apple cider vinegar, and drop in some chopped up chunks of apple. Takes a few weeks to build up a good population, and from then on, you just replace the chunks of apple every now and then.

Emg · 01-04-2007, 11:34 AM

So the vinegar eels are in the unpasturized cidar vinegar.....you don't need to add a culture or anything ?

I may just give that a try....btw......no more fry. I did a good look see and all I found were floaters. Next time I'll try raising them in brackish instead of fresh water. I had used the fresh because it's just easier for me to do water changes with that......the bb's spawn every couple of weeks, so I'm sure it won't be long before I get another chance at em. Perhaps I'll find some of that cidar vinegar and try that as well.

I love experimenting !!

OrionGirl · 01-04-2007, 12:09 PM

Yep--you start seeing them within a few days. Here's the 'real deal'

Quote:

The ingredients for the culture medium are easy to work with. In acontainer we add ½ of an apple. After we place the apple into the container, we fill the container about 1/3 full of tap water. The water does not need to be de-chlorinated. We then add enough apple cider vinegar to the container to bring the surface of the culture to about ½ of the way up the taper at the top of the jug. The ratio of water to apple cider vinegar is approximately 1:1 (or 50/50).

That's from The Bug Farm. They have harvesting info, too.

Emg · 01-04-2007, 01:25 PM

Thanks for the info Orion !

Sylvia · 01-09-2007, 03:46 PM

I have a question--how big is that hang-on tank? I need something for my betta...

Emg · 01-12-2007, 05:52 PM

It's about 5x5x3 inches......

Sylvia · 01-12-2007, 06:50 PM

Thank you!

reiverix · 01-12-2007, 07:04 PM

What SG do you plan on using to raise the BB fry?

Emg · 01-12-2007, 07:28 PM

I have no idea Reiv......I have read that they generally spawn in FW....mine spawn in BW....1.004 SG....but, it's easier to do the water changes with fw so I gradually introduced the eggs to fresh.........they seem to live for about 3 weeks then keel over on me. Twice that happened...

I'm just sort of playing around with tyring to raise them, just to see if I can. This is the first fish I've ever had difficulty rearing...so now it's a personal thing....hehe....

reiverix · 01-12-2007, 08:03 PM

I've read so much conflicting reports on these fish I don't know what to think anymore.

This article does mention vinegar eels for food and also raising them in BW.

12-30-2006, 04:58 PM	#1 (permalink)
Emg Moderator Join Date: May 2006 Location: Northeastern Ct Posts: 3,182	Tiny Bumble bee goby fry I've got a few of these in a little hang on tank...moved the shell the parents layed their eggs in...now just waiting to see if they make it very far. Here's the little hang on I keep them in. Just depending on infusoria to feed them.....they're so incredibly small ! __________________ Blog of my tanks and critters....come check em out and don't forget the archives ! http://emgstanks.blogspot.com/ Eileen

01-03-2007, 03:52 PM	#4 (permalink)
Emg Moderator Join Date: May 2006 Location: Northeastern Ct Posts: 3,182	Nope, just infusoria....I have that tank stuffed full of plants, but I do squirt in some infusoria from a container of lettuce I have floating in my heated change water tank. THis is the second time I've tried raising bb goby fry...so far they are the hardest I've tried. Lost the first batch...they were so incredibly tiny I never noticed they hatched out until after I had given up on them and did a 50%water change....haha....it was AFTER I did that that I noticed one lone fry swimming around in there....God knows how many I ended up syphoning out.... This time around I placed the shell in a smaller hangon tank with an airstone and lots of plants...(the one in the pic)......a few days after I noticed fry, I removed the shell from the little tank and a bunch of dead partially developed fry and dead eggs poured out of the shell. But I did have a good number of fry swimming around in amongst the plants. I lost some....and up until yesturday I noticed at least 6 fry in the tank swimming around very actively....seemed to be healthy enough after a week or more of hatching so I figured they were getting enough to eat. I do change out some of the water each day...carefully being sure NOT to syphon out any fry..and I gently refill with clean aged changewater along with a squirt of two of infusoria. I didn't notice any fry in there today...except for one floater...(dang)...so, I'm not sure I have any left or not...but...they ARE very hard to see. I'll keep looking. As far as vinegar eels and micro worms....I'm not serious enough about trying to actually get any to maturity that I want to go to the expense and trouble of taking care of those cultures...I had micro worms once and I found it a very messy job feeding them..made the water all cloudy even when I tried the trick of putting a stick in the culture for them to climb up on. I've never tried vinegar eels and one of these days maybe I'll give them a try.... right now I'm just sort of experimenting with finding what will work for me with these tiny little guys. First time I ever had such a hard time trying to raise fry...hehe...even harder than bettas ! __________________ Blog of my tanks and critters....come check em out and don't forget the archives ! http://emgstanks.blogspot.com/ Eileen Last edited by Emg : 01-03-2007 at 03:57 PM.

01-03-2007, 04:09 PM	#5 (permalink)
zanzimog smile! Join Date: May 2006 Location: Inside the Beltway Posts: 2,242	Just wanted to chime in that I love this thread. It's one of those things I would have thought impossible. __________________ XOXOXO, Dave Washington DC Area Marine Aquarist Society Hear that crazy rhythm Driving me insane Strike your partner on the bonce! Ooh, I fet no pain! -Spike Milligan

01-04-2007, 11:34 AM	#7 (permalink)
Emg Moderator Join Date: May 2006 Location: Northeastern Ct Posts: 3,182	So the vinegar eels are in the unpasturized cidar vinegar.....you don't need to add a culture or anything ? I may just give that a try....btw......no more fry. I did a good look see and all I found were floaters. Next time I'll try raising them in brackish instead of fresh water. I had used the fresh because it's just easier for me to do water changes with that......the bb's spawn every couple of weeks, so I'm sure it won't be long before I get another chance at em. Perhaps I'll find some of that cidar vinegar and try that as well. I love experimenting !! __________________ Blog of my tanks and critters....come check em out and don't forget the archives ! http://emgstanks.blogspot.com/ Eileen

01-04-2007, 01:25 PM	#9 (permalink)
Emg Moderator Join Date: May 2006 Location: Northeastern Ct Posts: 3,182	Thanks for the info Orion ! __________________ Blog of my tanks and critters....come check em out and don't forget the archives ! http://emgstanks.blogspot.com/ Eileen

12-30-2006, 05:12 PM	#2 (permalink)
nursie vroom...vroom... Join Date: May 2006 Location: Peoria, IL: USA Posts: 3,735	Nice!

01-02-2007, 07:52 AM	#3 (permalink)
OrionGirl Miss you, Old Man Join Date: May 2006 Location: California coastline Posts: 6,715	Very cool! How often do you add infusoria? Have you tried anything else, like vinegar eels or microworms?

01-03-2007, 06:19 PM	#6 (permalink)
OrionGirl Miss you, Old Man Join Date: May 2006 Location: California coastline Posts: 6,715	Vinegar eels are much easier--you just pull out a cup, and run it through a coffee filter, then rinse the filter off in your tank water. And, the vinegar eel culture just smells a tad fruity, nothing like a microworm culture. If you do want to give it a try, it's cheap--just get some unpasturized apple cider vinegar, and drop in some chopped up chunks of apple. Takes a few weeks to build up a good population, and from then on, you just replace the chunks of apple every now and then.

01-09-2007, 03:46 PM	#10 (permalink)
Sylvia The singing ring Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 515	I have a question--how big is that hang-on tank? I need something for my betta... __________________ "This is Nenya, the Ring of Adamant, and I am its keeper." - Galadriel, from Lord of the Rings

01-12-2007, 05:52 PM	#11 (permalink)
Emg Moderator Join Date: May 2006 Location: Northeastern Ct Posts: 3,182	It's about 5x5x3 inches...... __________________ Blog of my tanks and critters....come check em out and don't forget the archives ! http://emgstanks.blogspot.com/ Eileen

01-12-2007, 06:50 PM	#12 (permalink)
Sylvia The singing ring Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 515	Thank you! __________________ "This is Nenya, the Ring of Adamant, and I am its keeper." - Galadriel, from Lord of the Rings

01-12-2007, 07:04 PM	#13 (permalink)
reiverix Ach Join Date: May 2006 Location: Columbus, OH Posts: 1,764	What SG do you plan on using to raise the BB fry? __________________ John R Puffer Forum

01-12-2007, 07:28 PM	#14 (permalink)
Emg Moderator Join Date: May 2006 Location: Northeastern Ct Posts: 3,182	I have no idea Reiv......I have read that they generally spawn in FW....mine spawn in BW....1.004 SG....but, it's easier to do the water changes with fw so I gradually introduced the eggs to fresh.........they seem to live for about 3 weeks then keel over on me. Twice that happened... I'm just sort of playing around with tyring to raise them, just to see if I can. This is the first fish I've ever had difficulty rearing...so now it's a personal thing....hehe.... __________________ Blog of my tanks and critters....come check em out and don't forget the archives ! http://emgstanks.blogspot.com/ Eileen

01-12-2007, 08:03 PM	#15 (permalink)
reiverix Ach Join Date: May 2006 Location: Columbus, OH Posts: 1,764	I've read so much conflicting reports on these fish I don't know what to think anymore. This article does mention vinegar eels for food and also raising them in BW. __________________ John R Puffer Forum

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