Acting upon something without the proper information always leads you to failure. This is why you need to know how crucial it is to feed tetra fish fry properly.
After the breeding tetra fish, the bit hard part is caring for the fish fry properly. In most cases, a fish keeper or a breeder is aware of things like maintaining the water and environment hygienic, protecting the fry from adult fish, and proper nutrition for keeping fish healthy and alive. But feeding fry is often the stumbling block that new fish keepers have to face while rearing the tetra fish fry. You have to be very aware and careful about its whole phenomenon to keep your fish fry healthy and alive. So, today I’m going to share some vital information on how to feed tetra fish fry that will clarify your doubts. Let’s have a look;
Tetra Fish Fry Feeding Stages
As newly born tetra fish fry has a very tiny body, they can only eat the microscopic foods. Fish fry is a very critical stage altogether. Like a newly born human baby needs special care, fish fry also needs utmost care in this stage. The fish fry needs more nutrition and can die quickly due to starvation.
Once the fish fry completes it’s one or two weeks of survival, they are intended to eat similar foods as the parents, just in a small ratio. As tetra fish fry grow larger, you can feed large food particles until they can eat a similar food size that an adult accepts. But one crucial thing you have to keep in mind is that you have to feed your tetra fish fry often as they have a small stomach size.
What Are Foods For Tetra Fish Fry And How To Feed Them?
The food is termed as fuel for living beings. It is essential to feed your fish fry with quality food. With the immense existence of online shopping and rational growth in the market, there is the availability of a wide range of variability of fry food you can choose. Here some of the best fry foods that you can feed your tetra fish fry.
Infusoria
Infusoria simply refers to the small creatures that come to your aquarium naturally when you buy plants or even fish. Or you can even culture your own Infusoria. Most of it can’t be seen with our naked eyes, and fish tanks with plants will already have a small number of them.
It is very simple and easy to feed infusoria to the newly born tetra fish. Simply fill a bottle with aged aquarium water and add a small amount of fish food with a single lettuce leaf in a bottle near the sunny spot for a week.
After the completion of a week, the water will be almost cloudy with a bacterial bloom. Infusoria will start to appear after a few days, and the water will be clear and take on a pinkish tone as they feed on the present bacteria. And you are all ready to feed the small amount of water to your fry after the water has cleared up.
Brine Shrimp
It is one of the best foods for feeding your tetra fish fry. Brine Shrimp comes with high nutrients and protein, which is needed for your fry to be alive and healthy. And the most crucial point, that their movement through the water triggers the hunting distinct in fish fry and most finicky of fry will accept them.
It is very easy to culture brine shrimp, and the eggs can be kept for years in a dry, cool place. Eggs can then be hatched in a brine shrimp hatchery and will be ready for feeding your tetra fish within 1 to 2 days interval.
Green Water
The name ‘Green water’ simply matches its appearance as water that has turned green from algae growth. Your tetra fish fry will accept the green water with no doubt.
For culturing green water, you have to place algae scrapings from the tank in a large container filled with treated water simply. Then place the container near a sunny spot for about seven days, and the water will instantly become choked with algae. For distributing the algae through the water column, you have to stir the water every other day to avoid algae confining to the sides of the container.
After the water has become almost opaque with the formation of algae, you can start adding small amounts in your tetra fry tank as per requirement. And you can top up any water taken with treated water, just to ensure the continuation of the cultural renewal process.
What Can You Feed If You Run Out Of Food For Your Fish? (Alternatives fish fry food)
Unfortunately, you might run out of food for your fish sometimes. As fish fry can’t wait too long for the food, here the list of food you can feed to them instantly;
- Lettuce: Lettuce is the green leafy vegetable that your fish fry easily accepts. However, you will need to boil Lettuce before giving it to the tetra fish fry.
- Boiled rice: Boiled rice is a home-based food, and fish fry loves to eat it.
- Sprouts: It is another alternative for you fish fry and is easily acceptable by the fish fry too.
- Fish fillets: Tetra fish fry loves to eat frozen fish millets.
- Boiled Peas: Most of the fish fry accept boiled peas, and tetra fish also accepts it to eat with no doubt.
- Egg yolks: Most types of fish fry also accept egg yolks as a treat, and even tetra fish fry loves it.
Among the above-mentioned homemade tetra fry food, egg yolk is one of the best fish food alternatives for your fish fry as it has high nutritional and protein value in comparison. But you have to be thorough, careful, and aware while feeding tetra fish fry with egg yolks. Let’s have a closer look at this;
How to Feed Egg Yolks to Tetra Fish Fry While Avoiding Risk Factors?
Though egg yolk is one of the oldest and best foods for the fish fry, it is a bit risky if you’re careless with it. If you do not take care of the feeding habit, then egg yolk might foul the water and lead your fish fry to death. Simply feeding egg yolk to your fish fry might be messier and, to a certain extent – more annoying.
Egg yolk should be placed in a non-toxic material with numerous openings to feed it to your fish fry. Some people use nylon, while others use sterile gauze for assurance of safety. The point is to make the egg yolks in a small ratio so that fry can nibble on it. You can deliver egg yolk by hanging it from the side of your aquarium and allow it to sink halfway down the aquarium. The fry can easily feed on it from this height, and this is kind of a working tip for a most fish fry.
And one important thing is you have to remove and replace the egg yolk each day. If you leave it for a longer duration, it fouls the water, and your fish fry has to face the death penalty too.
How Often Should You Feed Tetra Fish Fry?
You should feed your tetra fish fry two to four times a day. Use the amount you measured previously to determine how much they will eat per day. A few flakes per fish fry is sufficient balance. But your tetra fish fry should eat all the food in just two minutes or less. Overfeeding can cause cloudiness in your water and harm your fish directly. In the wild, neon tetras are foragers, and opportunistic feeders and the multiple feeding also mimics their natural feeding behavior as well. If your fish fry doesn’t get food in time, they can die quickly due to starving.
What Should Be Done After Feeding?
After feeding the fish fry, the critical thing you have to be aware of is about taking out the uneaten foods and maintaining a hygienic environment of your aquarium. The remaining uneaten food can negatively impact on your fish fry health and cause a total imbalance in the whole ecosystem of your aquarium. The list of danger that uneaten fish food is given below for you;
- Uneaten fish food increases the level of toxic ammonia, nitrite, nitrate in your aquarium as it decomposes. High ammonia and nitrite levels can kill your fish.
- The decomposition process uses oxygen, which lowers the dissolved oxygen content (DO) in the water and stresses your fish as your fish fry has to face the respiration problem.
- Uneaten food can clog your filter, decreasing its efficiency in the aquarium.
- As uneaten food fouls the water by decaying itself, your fish fry can suffer from several water-borne diseases like fin rot and ich disease too.
How To Feed Tetra Fish Fry The Right Amount?
- Avoid overfeeding to the fish fry.
- Determine the proper required amount of food needed for feeding.
- Changing at least 25% of the water weekly and lightly vacuum the bottom in the process.
- Choose the best aquarium filter that is slightly oversized for the aquarium and cleaning it regularly.
- Remove the uneaten food instantly to prevent it from decaying.
- Hiring experienced fish keepers when you have to stay days out from home.
- You can check out and install the ‘automatic feeder’ machine in your aquarium as well.
Do You Have To Separate Your Tetra Fish Fry From The Adult Ones? How Long?
You need to separate the fry from adult tetra for their survival. Most of the adult fish have the nature of feeding their own fry, and tetra is unfortunately one of those fish. So, you have to keep tetra fish fry separated until they grow in size not to be able to fit in any adult fish mouths. According to some research, fish fry usually takes 4 to 5 weeks at least to be in an adult size. So, for 4 to 5 weeks, you have to maintain the distance between your tetra fish fry with the adult ones.
Conclusion
Just like rearing and caring for the human baby is a bit hard, the same goes for the tetra fish fry too. You have to be very aware and mindful about each and every small thing related to it to rear your fish fry properly. If you show any carelessness, then you and your fish will have to face the repercussions with no shadow of a doubt. Your small mistake can cause your fish to fry to the instant death penalty. So, like how you care and rear your baby, you have to do the same for your tetra fish as well to raise them properly and systematically.
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