ram fry - NEED HELP

[finfan]

ok, my german ram wigglers are almost free swimming now, i want to move them to the little baby tank i got, what is the best way to catch them????  

they are so small, they are still close to the gravel, but they are starting to swim all over, please help, how do i catch them without killing/losing them??

[dblondfemme]

Re: ram fry - NEED HELP

pray
sorry...I use a small net....even with a little gravel...I kind of wave the net to cause a current and they come up and I snatch them sometimes one by one.

[Zulaab]

Re: ram fry - NEED HELP

Easiest way to get them out.
Get some 5/8 or 1/2 inch tubing.
You take and put the hose into the tank close to them and with your mouth suck in enough water with fry into the hose.. then move the hose into a bowl next to the tank.   Release the fry in there.. continue until you have most or all of the fry.  Put bowl in the grow out tank.  Let the fry swim from the bowl on their own into the grow out tank.  This will tell you when they are free swimming.
Once free swimming start feeding them newly hatched baby brine shrimp.  (BBS)

[armthehomeless]

Re: ram fry - NEED HELP

Two words: turkey baster!!!

[mrairportjunke]

Re: ram fry - NEED HELP

yeah.  i used a little siphon.  like a mini python sold for like a 10 tank thatll get em

[finfan]

Re: ram fry - NEED HELP

ok tried the turkey baster, made a disaster, i guess i just don't know how to use one :(

i think i killed almost all of them in the tank and only got 4 out and those 4 died too :(  

i guess if there are a few left, i will just leave them with mom and dad, if any survive (highly unlikely at this point)

i feel terrible, i wish i didn't mess with it at all

[FishFan]

Re: ram fry - NEED HELP

don't feel bad you did your best.

[finfan]

Re: ram fry - NEED HELP

fishfan ur so nice, how about you come and comfort me tonight, i can use some tlc  :wink:

[dblondfemme]

Re: ram fry - NEED HELP

8O

[finfan]

Re: ram fry - NEED HELP

i think about 20 or so survived my attempts, mom and dad are trying their best to save them, but there are too many hungry mouths trying to eat them, i wish i could scoop them up somehow

[Brownsnoutuk]

Re: ram fry - NEED HELP

You clould always remove the other fish, leaving just the rams.

[finfan]

Re: ram fry - NEED HELP

i thought about that, but i feel like in trying to catch them i will scatter all the babies all over from the water movement and also kill them or something, don't know what to do, this is annoyingly helpless situation, i wish there was an easier way to catch, grrrrrrr

[finfan]

Re: ram fry - NEED HELP

kudos to my ram parents, they are excellent, with 20 tetras hovering above and dive bombing to eat the babies, the parents are doing their best, they are on guard continuously, yesterday when i put the turkey baster, the dad and mom were ramming it with all they had, they seem fearless, they are also trying to catch and bring the floating away babies and keeping them in one place, the babies seem completely clueless that there are so many things trying to eat them, since i could not save this batch, i think after this i will take all the tetras out and make this tank a ram only tank and see if we can have a successful brood, too bad this will be a sushi lunch :(

btw, so that no one thinks i'm a perv. fishfan is my lovely wife that puts up with all my fish crap (she actually likes them too)

[finfan]

Re: ram fry - NEED HELP

the frys are all scattered all over the tank now, they are sooo small, barely visible, but they move around quite a bit, the parents are really struggling to keep them in a close group, it seems like they are just they are out of control kids, the parents have generally done a good job of keeping most fish on the top half of the tank, the black phantoms are the sneakiest and have been eating fry's,  but i am surprised how diligent the parents are and how aggressive (relatively) they have become

[Zulaab]

Re: ram fry - NEED HELP

IF they are this aggressive about keeping them alive, you should when the fry no longer interests them move them to their own tank and you should be able to breed them with better success.  I am glad to hear more than you expected survived the turkey baster.  I still like the hose idea better.  I have seen someone else have great success with this method.. you should remove the fry when they are clumped into a big group and still not 100% free swimming like I said into a small glass bowl so they can swim out of it when placed in a small grow out tank.   Once they can free swim they are usually ready for food