First Food For Fry
Many times a new breeders question is: "What is Infusoria and how do I get it ?"
Betta breeders use Infusoria, Green water, micro
worms and or Vinegar Eels for the first food for fry.
Some immediately go to Baby Brine Shrimp. We saw this article in the Live Foods
Digest and thought
it a complete description of the "What's" and the "Hows".
Our thanks to Gay Hemsath for permission to reproduce it
on our web site.
First Food For Fry - by Gay Hemsath
Green Water & Infusoria
"Infusoria" is a generic term for the microscopic and near microscopic
life found in water. Examples are protozoa, rotifers, vorticella and unicellular
algae feeders, etc. Infusoria and the organisms found in green water are
probably the first food taken by baby fish after the absorption of the egg sac.
Whilst some of the coloring in so called green
water is indeed algae most is caused by microscopic organisms mainly of the
Euglena genus. While each individual is of minuscule proportions they are
present in such unimaginable numbers that the water appears green due to the
chlorophyll in their bodies. The requirements for green water are a pH greater
than 6.0, plenty of light, temperature, organic matter and carbon dioxide plus
of course a lack of predators that feed on the organisms. Light is the most
important as without it the organisms will be unable to produce the chlorophyll
then in importance comes the organic matter. The more there are of these two
factors, light and organic matter then the more the organisms will reproduce and
the greener the water will be. Spores of the organisms responsible for green
water are present in most if not all standing bodies of water. The term
Infusoria in its strictest sense applies only to single celled animals
(protozoa), they are also known as Ciliate from the cilia (hairs) on their body
which they use to propel themselves through the water. However as far as we are
concerned the term Infusoria applies not only to the protozoa but to all the
other bacteria and multicelled organisms (rotifers and vorticella) that exist in
water and damp places.
These vary from the microscopic in size to those that can be seen with the naked
eye such as Paramecium and even larger organisms that actually feed on the
smaller infusorians. There are a tremendous variety of these organisms (rotifers
and vorticella).
Rotifers
is a phylum
(class?) so there are probably thousands of species. They are probably not as
diverse as bacteria however. They are higher level organisms than single cell
organisms and feed on protozoa or water borne algae or any organic particles
which they can capture. They are easily visible under low power with a
microscope and the largest should be visible as specks to the naked eye.
Rotifers come in a variety of shapes but share a physical characteristic which
is used to give them their name. Rotifer refers to wheel like appendages which
have cilia which seem to rotate as they sweep particles into their mouth
orifice. Rotifers are generally classified according to their method of
movement: free swimming, crawling, hopping or attached although many are not
constrained to that single mode. They are extremely widespread but each type of
rotifer is adapted to a specialized environment. A rotifer found wild in the
temperate zones probably can not adapt to life in the tropical environment of a
heated aquarium however a tropical rotifer, say from the Amazon might be more
suited. Rotifers reproduce via eggs and are capable of producing different types
of eggs according to seasonal temperature changes similar to daphnia. Rotifers,
especially those which prefer to stay close to plant surfaces and in such hiding
places could survive easily in an aquarium with fish where the larger free
swimming daphnia can not. Rotifers can be feed on boiled rice, just a few grains
now and then and they stay very clean and odorless. Rotifers are much smaller
than freshwater Hydra and they use cilia, not the stinging tentacles of the
Hydra.
Vorticella are somewhat smaller in general than
rotifers and have a simpler anatomy than rotifers judging from the few pictures
I looked at. They also have cilia which appeared primarily to be for locomotion.
Pure cultures of various infusorians, specific species of microscopic animals,
can be obtained from Biological Supply Houses and the culture instruction
supplied should be followed to maintain and keep the culture pure.
Most Aquarist
will in fact want a mixed culture which will provide animals of different sizes
to suit the mouth sizes of all the fry in a tank. Such a culture is easy to set
up and start. While it is most probable that infusorians are already present in
the fry tank the problem is that there are so few Infusoria that they can not
support a batch of fry. It is better to be sure and add some water that is known
to contain infusorians to the fry tank. Therefore, you must cultivate them. It
turns out that the trick is to keep the Infusoria on the exponential part of the
population growth curve, which you do by (1) keeping water clean and (2) feeding
them. What a concept and cultivation is simple. Simply add some of the starter
culture water, some organic feed and stand the culture container in a good light
source, a window sill. Within a few days the water will go green and be ready
for use. A good Infusoria culture will appear cloudy and may be slightly
offensive in smell. That's Infusoria growing. Check with a magnifying glass for
the presence of Infusoria, normally seen as small white moving spots. A thriving
culture can be maintained over a long period of time but it is advisable to set
up fresh cultures at regular intervals by seeding from an established culture to
avoid the odd disaster and have a source at all times.
The water from a vase of flowers is full of Infusoria. Infusoria are already in your tank, the sponge filter in your tank will also cultivate Infusoria. Fry will pick at it. Water from stagnant ponds in which algae or a profusion of aquatic plants are growing. Tap water to which you have added a hand full of wilted lettuce and left in the sun for a few days. These are all good sources for starter cultures.
Dried Lettuce Culture
The best medium for starting the culture is dried lettuce. Lay the leaves in the
sun until the leaves are dry and crisp, these are then crushed and stored in
sealed containers for use latter. Simply sprinkle a covering of crushed leaves
onto the surface of the culture were they will absorb the water and sink.
The
water should be examined under a low power microscope or high power hand
magnifying glass when the larger Infusoria should be visible. This starter
culture water along with food is then added to the culture containers and fed
until the culture is thriving. Many different materials have been used to
successfully feed and raise Infusoria cultures such as the widely advocated
banana skin, rotting lettuce leaves, milk, died peas, boiled hay, raw potato, a
few rabbit droppings, and powdered cereals. The boiling of any vegetable used as
food is recommended as boiling breaks down the tissues of the plant and it will
decompose faster. Obtain seven one half gallon to one gallon jars to use as
algae culture containers. Obtain enough from a fish tank or tap water to fill
the algae culture containers. Alkaline water with a pH greater than 6.0 works
best. Sit these algae culture jugs on a South facing window sill to get the
maximum amount of light. An air pump with a manifold to split off 7 air lines
for circulation in the algae culture jugs.
This is critical so that algae
doesn't grow on the sides of the jars and block the sun light. Now, to the fish
tank or tap water add a soluble garden fertilizer (Miracle Grow) at the rate of
one TBS per gallon. This fertilizer water is used in the algae culture jugs and
this system is then seeded with green water in algae culture jug #1 - two days
later seed algae culture jug #2 - two days later seed algae culture jug #3 - you
get the picture. When algae culture jug #1has turned bright green (about 7 to 14
days), pour it into a Daphnia or Infusoria culture tank as food for the little
guys. Refill the jug with the fertilizer and water mixture and seed it with
green water from algae culture jug #2 which should be about to turn bright
green. This is repeated with each of the algae culture jugs as they turn bright
green. As you might be able to tell, this will provide about one half gallon to
one gallon of fresh green water every two days.
Now, a few words of warning:
1) Clean everything after use to prevent fungus infection.
2) Empty each jug as it turns bright green even if you don't need it as food.
This will keep the cycle going. If you don't do this, you end up with everything
out of sync. and a big dark green mess to boot. Gram flour obtainable from any
Indian food shop or market seems to be a cheap, good maintenance food. Gram
flour is made from ground Chick Peas, Pigeon peas or Garbanzos beans. In India
these are called Chana Dall (Dall means Pea). So Chana flour is the same as Gram
Flour. Besan is another name for Gram flour. It should be easy enough to buy
dried peas and a mortar and pestle, and grind a week's worth when you need it.
Whole wheat flour, which GRAHAM crackers are made from, is occasionally refereed
to as GRAHAM flour. A Gram flour liquor made up of four tablespoons Gram flour
mixed into a smooth paste in one half cup of water then made up to a pint (½
litter) with water and stirred well. A few drops of this liquor are added to the Infusoria culture daily with great success. The unused portion can be stored and
use at a later time as required. You can feed Infusoria cultures LiquiFry for
egg layers. Go easy at first, just 3 - 5 drops per quart as starter. Then wait
and see. These buggers are visible to the eye so it's easy to check if they
reproduce. Water clearing? Add a couple of drops of LiquiFry for egg layers.
When you feed the Infusoria culture with a couple of drops of milk you'll see a
clouding of Infusoria at the surface within hours. I don't mean the milk
clouding but the Infusoria reproducing; i.e. rotifers can be seen as tiny dots
in the water. One method of culturing Infusoria uses a one gallon clear plastic
bottle; two teaspoons of sugar, one quarter to one third of a 1/4 oz (7g) packet
of Fleischmann's Rapid Rise yeast; enough chopped up lettuce to cover the
surface (add more lettuce as it decomposes). Cover container and set in the sun.
Keep outside or plan to be single, if you're married. It stays white, but is
more opaque than just yeast and sugar in water. It smells foul, but the liquor
is rich in yeast, Infusoria, and other critters the daphnia love.
Filter some of
the mess through a coffee filter and feed a couple of ounces, just enough to
begin to cloud the water. Use a bubble wand to keep water moving. Just add more
water and a little lettuce from time to time to the one gallon plastic bottle to
keep it going. The main problem that occurs is the presence of too much organic
matter causing pollution and the offensive odor a thriving culture should be
fairly clear and odor free. If the culture goes bad it'll be dirty and start
smelling. Let your nose be the judge as well as the color of the culture as
while the best cultures will be high on carbon dioxide content it is very easy
to tip the balance from thriving culture to a jar of smelly polluted muck. The
Gram flour liquor feed is the most successful in avoiding this problem.
The addition of a few snails will help break down
the organic matter and assist in keeping the Infusoria cultures going as well as
provide a rough guide as to water quality. The large Ampullaria snail is also
know as the Infusoria snail as it consumes large quantities of plant matter
which is only partly digested and the snails droppings contain organic matter
which is available to the Infusoria. All aquatic snails perform this function
but several smaller snails will be required to perform the function of one large
Ampullaria.
Simply feed the snails flake foods or boiled spinach or dandelion
leaves. If all the snails start to leave the water then the bacteria are not
converting the ammonia to nitrites and then nitrate quickly enough. If this
occurs the best method is to pour off two thirds of the culture and top up with
aquarium water. Sometimes adding strong aeration will also aid the bacteria in
their conversion process and prevent fouling.Infusoria is not of great
importance to the live bearer enthusiast as Mother Nature has ensured that live
bearer fry can eat larger foods than Infusoria from birth. It can be used for
the fry of the very small species to supplement the various other foods they can
take to good effect and should not therefore be disregarded.
Egg layer fry do
need Infusoria and some of the species have such small mouths that only the
smallest Infusoria can be eaten, if this is not provided the fry literally
starve to death which probably accounts for the loss of more fry than any other
cause. Even those Aquarist feeding Infusoria make the common mistake of only
adding water containing Infusoria two or three times a day. Infusoria should be
present at all times and the simplest way of doing this is as follows. From the
culture container siphon out a pint or quart of the greenest Infusoria culture
for use and top up the original culture with water form the tap or from an
aquarium. Place or suspend the pint or quart jar above the fry tank. Take a
length of air line tubing and place one end in the pint container and start it
as a siphon. Using an air line clamp restrict the flow of the siphon to about
one drop every minute or two. Direct this output into the fry tank. In this way
a constant supply of Infusoria will be supplied to the fry who will soon
identify were the Infusoria are entering the tank and will feed as they require.
By observing the container you will soon be able to judge how long a container
will last. Also the bellies of the fry should be full all the time and if they
are not then increase the flow of Infusoria. Larger containers can be used to
regulate the period between each feeding set up. One other point to bear in mind
is that although Infusoria do better in alkaline water some fry are raised in
soft acid water and the addition of hard alkaline water to the fry tank can be
harmful. While twice daily partial water changes with the correct water can
alleviate this it is probably simpler to set up a few cultures in water the same
as the fry will be raised in.
For out door cultivation set up a kiddie wading pool. Simply pour some old tank
water in, top up with tap water and add some organic matter such as a few rabbit
droppings, dried or wilted lettuce leafs, a few wheat grains or throw in a few
tablespoons of dry dog food. Wait a month. Result: All the green water you can
use. A few tablespoons of dry dog food, a couple of rabbit droppings or a dried
lettuce leaf should be added once a week