Fry dying :/

[bmarine]

I have some F2 Aulonocara Usisya fry that i'm growing out in a 20 gallon, but they are slowly dying. I started with 49, now at 44. The fry start looking weak, with their tails starting to bend upwards, then within the next week, they'd die. i've noticed its skinnier looking fish too, with not as big of stomachs, but i feel pretty sure that they are getting food because the powder food i feed spreads throughout the tank. Am i doin something wrong? Whats goin on!?

Its a 20 L with a sponge filter and heater set to 80 degrees. I feed them the Repashy Super Foods-Soilent Green powder, and WCs every week. Using test strips, the water seems fine, but i just ordered the API test kit so we'll see if that gives me different results.

[danielratti]

Strip tests suck. 80 might be a little to high. Id do water changes maybe every other day or 2 days. Plus 44 in a 20 long is kinda a lot of fish for that size tank. That's all I can really tell you I only loose fry when I do something stupid like put the tank too close to a fire place...

[Ron]

Is the sponge filter established with bacteria or is this a new setup?

The powder-type food might be too small. For species such as peacocks, I feed crushed flake food to fry.

I agree with Dan that 80F might be a bit hot.

The number of fish in the tank doesn't strike me as crazy. I'm assuming they are probably 1" or less? At 2" or larger a bigger tank is definitely in order for that many though.

[Mastiffman]

I have some F2 Aulonocara Usisya fry that i'm growing out in a 20 gallon, but they are slowly dying. I started with 49, now at 44. The fry start looking weak, with their tails starting to bend upwards, then within the next week, they'd die. i've noticed its skinnier looking fish too, with not as big of stomachs, but i feel pretty sure that they are getting food because the powder food i feed spreads throughout the tank. Am i doin something wrong? Whats goin on!?

Its a 20 L with a sponge filter and heater set to 80 degrees. I feed them the Repashy Super Foods-Soilent Green powder, and WCs every week. Using test strips, the water seems fine, but i just ordered the API test kit so we'll see if that gives me different results.

 Aren't you preparing it?

http://www.store.repashy.com/soilent-green-4-oz-bag.html

DIRECTIONS: To prepare one cup of product, add ¼ cup of powder into ¾ cup of cold water and stir until blended. Microwave until it starts to boil (typically 2-3 minutes), remove and stir. Alternatively, bring water to a boil on stove, remove from heat, and stir in powder. Immediately pour into a storage container or mold, and let sit at room temp until firm. The finished gel can be cut into cubes, shredded, or used as a whole slab. Whatever is not used immediately should be treated as fresh food. It can be stored sealed in refrigerator for up to two weeks, and in freezer for up to six months. To adjust firmness of gel, use more or less water as desired.

[bmarine]

Ok so turn the tank down to about 78? And the fish are all probably between .5-1 inch so still quite small. I havent been preparing the Repashy yet because the guys at Blue Fish told me to feed them just the powder while they are still small then slowly convert them to the prepared stuff as they get bigger. And yup the tank has established bacteria and its been running for about a month, and the sponge filter ran a week before that in another tank.

And i figured the test strips werent accurate, and i wanted a more reliable tester, so i got the API one, which should be coming on Monday.

[Mastiffman]

Good idea. any way to get a clear photo of the fry with the bent tails?

[bmarine]

 Heres one of them, sorry for the poor quality. Just did a 50% WC, lowered the temp.

[LoveTheFishies]

If all of them look that way, and are dying, it's probably a genetic defect.   

[Mastiffman]

If all of them look that way, and are dying, it's probably a genetic defect.   

 Or a Vitamin deficiency from the food. You should try a quality flake and mash it up as fine as you can in a zip lock bag. Like to a powder.

 Try that. With Human body, if there is not enough Poly and mono unsaturated fats in a diet is can lead to vitamin deficiencies because the vitamins need the good fats to be optimally absorbed. If they are not present, the deficiencies start and diseases can manifest in many ways.

 If is genetic, this is wy I believe that it's a best practice to start with the best Genetics with largest Gene pool that you can afford. 

[bmarine]

 it may be genetic. Sorry, i forgot to mention that there were 3 F1 mothers who made this group of fry, it wasn't just one spawn. So it could be that the fry that have died all came from the same mother. And not all the fry have a tail like that, just the few that seem the weakest or are about to die. And i feel like it just suddenly happens, and that they haven't had it the whole time.

Whats a high quality flake that you guys recommend?

[Mastiffman]

Gotcha. well if they are F2, you should see to much in genetic issues. but if it's only been a few then it just may be some weak fry. No Big deal.

 HBH makes some good flake from what I hear. I only feed a Spirulina Flake to my Fry when they are young at this point.

 But I mainly have Tropheus.

[bmarine]

Gotcha. Yeah there were 49 and now 42 with a couple more not lookin so good, so i'm kinda thinking its not just a few that were just weak. I'm going to try moving some of the bigger fry to a new tank though soon, and lessen some of the stress for the smaller guys, see if that will change anything.

[Mastiffman]

Honestly I would increase filtration and water changes first to see if that helps. Maybe throw a large Box filter in there that has some Zeolite and Carbon in it.

 Just to be safe and ensure that it's not the water.

[bmarine]

Sorry i havent replied in awhile. Its been a very busy week.  I stopped feeding the Repashy and have used spirulina for a bit, and i havent had a fish die yet this week, so it may have changed things! Will be testing the water tomorrow so hopefully there will be good results!

[Mastiffman]

NICE!

 Sounds good and thanks for the update!