My Fry Tray System

One of my personal goals this year is to breed more species of fish for BAP points at my local fish club.    As such, I wanted to find a systematic approach to being able to successfully raise fry of several species, simultaneously and particularly that critical first couple of weeks.     I don’t have a large fish room.     My fish are in the “man cave” so I want my setup to look somewhat nice.  I work full time but have some flexibility on hours.    I just needed something that works for me.

I’ve been using dedicated 2 ½ gallon tanks for each spawn.    This works but it’s a major pain setting up tanks each time a pair of fish spawns.   Even more so, it is a hassle and tearing down the same tanks if the spawn fails or after moving fry to a grow out.

I’ve seen various “fry systems” on the fishy YouTube channels.    I dismissed the shelves of plastic containers that several killifish people have.   It just seemed clunky and wouldn’t look right in the area I have for it.     I like the fry rack, quarantine setup that fellow club member Lucas Bretz of LRB Aquatics has.   But unless I could get a great deal on the specimen containers that he bought by the pallet load, I didn’t see that working for me either.    Additionally, since I like to breed temperature sensitive rams, I needed better control of higher temps than what I think I can do with that.   

I’ve also seen a couple of videos featuring a system used by Dean Tweedle, aka “Master Breeder Dean”.    There are aspects of that system that I like but some things I didn’t like.    Dean, being a teacher, is pretty good at explaining his system.  Lucas’ interviewing skills really drew that expertise out of Dean in the YouTube video titled “Wild Cool and Crazy Rare Fish Dean Tweedle’s Fish Room Tour”.

Dean’s system uses a 20L aquarium with a canister filtration system.    He then has acrylic freezer trays that he “hangs” in the tank.    Each tray has air and water pumped into.   The water overflows out of each tray, through a sponge, so the fry constantly a constant supply of fresh water and then the water gets filtered by the powerful canister.    The bio-load is pretty low for what the capability of the filter so the water should be pretty clean.      

What I really liked about Dean’s system is the temperature control, simplicity, and looks.     At least for my desires, I recognized a couple of drawbacks as well.     Dean admits that his fry system evaporates about a gallon of water per day.   This is because the trays sit above the tank’s rim preventing the use of any lid.  With Indiana’s humid summers, I really try to minimize water loss in my tanks.   Also, if I were to let that go a day or 2, the fry trays could easily be above the tank’s water line.    It’s not too much of an issue, but I don’t like that feature.   

The biggest drawback for me is that Dean’s design requires an internal water pump to circulate the drip system into the trays.    I’d like to grow into a single pump air line system for my fish room and try to do all my filtration via air driven system.    I wanted to take Dean’s system, but use an air driven drip system to circulate water through the trays.    I wanted something like Swiss Topical’s German Breeder Rings (GBRs) but with the acrylic trays.    I also want to be able to keep a glass top to cover the tank.   

To begin my fry system, I setup a bare bottom 20L with a 200W Colbalt Neo-Therm heater and filtered by an AquaTop UV canister.     The Neo-Therm heaters are completely submergible and can be accurately set to any of a wide range of temperatures.      AquaTop may not be a top of the line canister, but it has a very usable UV feature that can easily be turned on and off.    I only run the UV feature for a few hours every 3 or 4 days.   And since the filter was for a 40 gallon tank, I felt it was more than suitable for mine.    I then placed a glass top on the tank and installed a gang valve with air above.   

Without any other effort, I can use German Breeder Rings in the tank.   I could also fit a 1 gallon jar configured for angelfish eggs and fry in the system as well.       I wanted the acrylic trays for several reasons.   It was my intent to leave a fry tray in the system for up to possible 4 weeks at a time.    They acrylic seemed easy to clean up.    Also, the GBRs tend to drift around the surface more than I wished.   

Making a working, floatable air driven acrylic tray was the only real DIY aspect to this whole project.    I experimented with several iterations of design before settling on what I liked best.    I was able to find tray like what Dean uses at the local Container Store.    I was also able to find something similar but smaller on Amazon.    All of these had the handle that Dean uses to hang the tray.   This turned out to be problematic for my floating trays.     I solved that problem with a $9.00 blade for my table saw labeled for cutting plastic.       If I find similar trays without the handle, I’d rather use those.

Dean paints his trays with white Krylon spray paint.   While I used the Krylon, I painted some of my trays black and some “Blue Ocean Breeze”.     I don’t know that color matters but I did think the black could potentially be used for light sensitive fry.

Providing a sufficient opening for water drainage proved to be my biggest challenge.    I tried just a single 9/16” hole that could be plugged with a sponge.    This failed miserably as the water backed up in the tray and then over flowed the sides.    Any surface swimming fry would have been released into the main tank.    I ended up drilling 2 holes in the drain end, then cutting out the slot between them.   Once again that plastic saw blade came in handy.   

To get the trays to float properly, that is above the tank water surface, I used silicone to glue a 1” X 1” piece of insulation foam to the container.    My initial prototype had the top of the foam match the top of the tray.    I found out that placing it about 1” down works much better.   This raises the bulk of the container and lets the over flow go through the slot as intended.    Yet again, that plastic saw blade worked far better than a box cutter knife for cutting the foam into uniform pieces.   

I purchased a couple of small Jet Lifters from Swiss Topical’s to circulate water through the containers.    To secure the Jet Lifter, I drilled a ½” hole in the foam glued to the tray.   The Jet lifter can be secured and removed simply and without much effort.         I didn’t like the output portion of the Jet for two reasons; (1) it sticks up too high for my lid unless I keep the water level a little low and (2) its height causes more water surface disturbance that I wanted.   I corrected both issues with a P-PVC street elbow from Lowes.

Overall, I am very happy with what I’ve put together.  It is very versatile.  I can use it to do an initial grow out for many types for fry, including rice fish, dwarf rainbows, rams, plecos, corys and even angelfish.    It is easy to maintain, and I don’t have to water changes on multiple, small tanks.  The trays are easy to swap in and out.  I have a variety of sizes too.    I can leave the trays in the system for as long as I like with out them getting clogged with detritus.   Each tray keeps the fry in a compact space, closer to food   And, as a bonus, all my littlest fry are all together making feeding times much easier as all I need to do is go down the line tray by tray.

You can find this and other fishy articles at my website www.JohnsAquatics.com.

The Care and Keeping of Japanese Rice Fish

oftThe October 2018 issue of the Amazonas magazine featured “Marvelous Medaka”, or Japanese Rice Fish on the cover. This article inspired me to obtain a group of 6 of these fish. The species, Oryzias latipe, has been kept in Japan for literally hundreds of years. But other than the magazine article that triggered my interest, I could find very little English language information on this fish. In this article, I’ll lay out the basics of their care and keeping.

In Japan, Rice Fish are mainly kept in small tubs or outdoor ponds. Thus, the fish are mostly viewed from above rather than from the side like American aquarists are generally used to. This subtle difference should be kept in mind when setting up your own Medaka environment. I can’t remember the source, but I heard that Medaka in Japanese means “light from within”, a reference to a sort of translucent reflection of light off the internal organs of these fish.

Medaka are an easy fish to keep. They are tolerant of an extremely wide range of temperatures, from the low 60’s to 90F. They like clean water, but will tolerate going for times with out water changes. Water hardness and pH do not seem to be critical factors. Even though some Japanese are able to keep them outside on rooftop tubs, we should give them the best care possible.

Shortly after becoming interested in these fish, I came across on online outlet that had groups of Japanese Rice Fish – Youhiki for sale. These were rice fish with a yellowish to orange coloration. I had great trust in the vendor so I immediately purchased a group.

When I brought the fish home, I placed them in an unheated, 10 gallon aquarium. This tank stays at 70F more or less. The water was city water. I kept a cover on the tank as Rice Fish are know to be jumpers. Initially the tank had a clump of Java moss as well. I fed the fish regular flake food, and Ken’s premium growth food. The growth food comes in very small granules and floats, much to the liking of the Medaka.

Medaka have an interesting breeding strategy. The female will carry eggs in her pectoral fins for several hours. This could be as few as 5 but as many as 40 for a mature female. Eventually, she will swim into some dense plant material and the sticky eggs are left behind. Medaka in good condition will spawn every day.

In Japan and Europe, many colors and “styles” of Medaka can be found. Colors can be white, yellow, red and sometimes blue. But also, some Medaka can exhibit reflective spots. The picture below shows these spots quite well. Americans not familiar with Medaka may mistake the spots for ich. But in fact, it is quite desirable in some strains. Breeders of these strains will attempt to perfect symmetry from left side to right side when viewed from above.

After first seeing the egg carrying behavior, I removed the Java moss and placed 2 yarn spawning mops in the tank, one on the bottom and one floating. Both seemed to work equally well so I discontinued the sinking mop as the floating mop is easier to retrieve. Thanks to advice from other Medaka keepers, I would leave the mops in the tank for 5 days or so, then pick the eggs off. I placed the eggs in deli containers. I checked on the containers daily, removing any swimming fry to a 2.5-gallon tank. The fry naturally come to the surface and are easy to capture with a small shot glass. Once in the fry tank, I would feed Hiakari First Bites twice per day. As individual fry reached about ½ inch long, I moved them to a 10 gallon grow out tank. Using this simple approach, I’m able to breed hundreds of these fish.

Medaka are enjoyable and easy to keep fish. I look forward to having some in tubs outside over the warm months. If I have an opportunity to purchase more red or koi-like variations, I definitely will.

The Care and Keeping of Rams

EBR Fry

Microgeophagus ramerizi has long been a staple fish within the aquarium hobby.      These fish have a long list of trade names as well; German Blue Rams, Butterfly Cichlid, Ram Cichlid.    In recent years, a number of color variations have also been developed, each with its own trade name; Electric Blue Ram, Golden Ram, and more recently Black Rams.    A guide to the color variations of this beautiful fish is worth its own article.   In this article, I would like to lay out what it takes to successful keep rams.  

In the 1970’s, when I first kept rams, they were extremely delicate and died very easily.   Around 1992, I again kept the German Blue variety.   I eventually bred those by the hundreds.    Today, I breed the Electric Blue variety.   Surely my fish keeping skills have improved over the years, but I do think that rams today are much hardier and easier for the hobbyist to keep.

Water Parameters

Rams are native to tropical South America. In the wild, they will inhabit ponds and shallow somewhat stagnant waters. The blazing sun beats down on these waters and heats them to a level uncomfortable to most fish. Our little rams thrive when the water is kept between 82 and 84 F. I think proper temperature is the single most important factor in successful ram care.

I would be negligent to dismiss the fact that like most South American cichlids, rams prefer their water on the softer, acidic side of the scale. This is especially true for breeding them. But it is not as critical for keeping them. A pH in the range of 6.8 to 7.0 is ideal.

Water quality is also extremely important. Rams, even the hardy modern ones, are sensative to the slightest levels of amonia and nitrates in the water. These byproducts of fish keeping must be kept in check. Because of the warmer temperatures, certain diseases can spread quickly. Keeping the environment clean helps our rams immensely. Depending on the tank, I prefer to use over-sized sponge filters. This type of filter is effective without an uncomfortably high water flow .

Foods

My own rams are not finicky eaters. They will do well on a diet of quality flake foods. I prefer black worm flakes available from KensFish.com. Rams will also eat live foods such as baby brine shrimp and especially Black worms. My rams also enjoy a frozen treat of Daphnia or Brine Shrimp. I think a key to successful keeping is to provide a varied diet.

Tank Mates

Rams typically inhabit the lower 1/3 of the water column. This needs to be kept in mind when selecting tank-mates. I like to keep a school of cardinal tetras with rams. Obviously a beautiful fish in its own right, the cardinals occupy the upper water levels giving the tank a balance of activity. Other tetras of your choosing may work well too. I will also keep a group of Corydoras catfish with rams. Rams are not compatibly with larger, aggressive cichlids. They will get beaten and battered. Shrimp, on the other hand, will get eaten by the rams. I have seen rams, however, display very well in a large tank tank where Discus were the main focus. The rams create their own side show along the bottom.

Tank Amenities

For the rams to show off their best, a planted tank with a sandy substrate and a black background seems to create the desired environment. I’ve seen rams do well with a lighter (white) substrate. In my own tanks, I prefer a black sand. Plants and driftwood enhance the tank’s appearance as well as help the rams to be more comfortable. Small flat river stone rocks scattered about the bottom will create preferred areas for the rams to develop a territory around.

Lifespan and Diseases

Healthy rams should be swimming around with erect fins. They should be displaying their colors depending on their color strain. They should be defending little territories, and confronting each other. Well cared for rams can live up to 3 years in captivity.

Ich is a common disease in the aquarium hobby. If rams get ich, that generally means they are being kept with a temperature to low for their liking. There are many ich cures sold in the hobby that can be used. But for sure, make sure the temperature is in the correct range of 82 to 84F.

Columnaris is less common disease in the hobby, but every ram keeper should be familiar with. Columnaris is a aerobic bacterial infection. It will often look like a white fungus spot on a fish. This bacteria prefers the higher temperatures that rams like. Treatments include Kanaplex, Mardel Maracyn, and aquarium salt.

Summary

My ideal ram tank would be a 20-long with 5 rams. I would keep the temperature at 82F and pH of 6.8. I would not use pure RO water, but I might use some RO to lower the hardness. The tank would be well planted. The plant species don’t matter, just some that I’m able to keep alive. I would use a black sand substrait and a black background. The tank would have some driftwood and a few smooth round rocks scattered about. I would use a large sponge filter, and a small HOB type to keep the water polished. For tank mates, I’d have 6 cardinal or rummy nose tetras and a school of 4-5 Corydoras.